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RoCo gets personal with local luminaries of all stripes.

community organizations

Getting the Down Low on Improving Your Community With Sue Geckle

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Sue Geckle loves people. People love Sue Geckle. I am a person, therefore I love Sue Geckle! Sorry–but I was just having a conversation with Colleen, and she was remembering how they learned a lot of logic in her Master’s program in rhetoric and composition. But it’s still true: I really do love Sue! She and I met last week at The Common Kitchen to talk about her membership on the executive board of the local community service organization, HopeWorks. “At HopeWorks I’m a member of the Board of Directors,” she said with her hands resting politely in her lap. … Read more

A D’votional to Sustainability With Chiara D’Amore

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I was a few paragraphs into reporting on a few lovely hours I spent with the founder and president of the Community Ecology Institute, Chiara D’Amore, when it hit me–I was inside. You dolt, Colleen, I thought! I should have been writing this from the outdoors, a bench in a local park, perhaps. A bird would alight on my shoulder, and I’d smile at it. As I looked down at my computer screen, a rainbow would shoot across the sky behind me. I’d take a deep breath in, inhaling the a slightly spicy freesia scent, as Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons played and…okay, … Read more

On Gun Violence Prevention In Central Maryland and Beyond

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While Colleen and I have pretty much all the same opinions on political issues, there are some that one or the other of us is more active in than the other. Gun violence prevention is sort of my thing. Soon after the wife and I came to Howard County, there were two shootings in Maryland, at Great Mills High School and the Capitol Gazzette. And while there’s something awful in its own way about violence in places that it’s less common, the long-term story of gun violence is how it harms communities of color and economic disadvantage on a daily … Read more

On Labor Organizing With Bryan Coster

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A few months back, dear readers, I sent a Facebook direct message to Sue Geckle. She’s the president of the Ellicott City and Western Howard Democratic Club (EC&WHDC) and someone we can always turn to for help of any sort. The day I messaged her, though, I was inquiring about the position of Vice President of EC&WHDC. Colleen and I had heard both that position and that of secretary of the same club were available. “Robert, I was just going to message you about the same thing,” Sue said to me. It’s funny how these things work out, I thought … Read more

On Friendship With Latin America With Leslie Salgado

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As I walked into the Starbucks in Wilde Lake Village Center, I thought about how I didn’t have a clear picture of what Leslie Salgado looked like. I was meeting her, the chair of Howard County Friends of Latin American (FoLA), a local advocacy group at 1:00 p.m. Oh, the joys of “Campaign Brain,” as Colleen and I have come to call the phenomenon of being overwhelmed by all there is to do in campaign season. Sure, it was the day after the election, but my head was still spinning, readers! We managed to meet up, of course. But still–I … Read more

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