Marta and I had a 1 on 1 with a sitting US Senator and former US President last night

[Omaha Steve]

This has been a week to remember for me. Tuesday night was my local union meeting. Due to health reasons our Vice President is taking a disability pension. My name got considerable mention as his replacement. It is a full time job.

Wednesday night was the monthly meeting of the Omaha Federation of Labor AFL-CIO. I had missed a few meetings while recovering from my shoulder surgery. Let me just say people enjoy my comments on current labor topics. I'm speaking on labor tomorrow on the steps of the State Capitol.

Thursday afternoon I was in the audience for the Worker's Memorial Day (http://www.workingamerica.org/blog/2011/04/28/workers-memorial-day-2/) services. Even I didn't know Nebraska was so high on the deaths per 100,000 list at 5th (http://nebraska.statepaper.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2011/04/29/4dba2bd2ab25a) in the nation. The memorial was held at Omaha's tribute to Labor Sculpture. The second largest in the US. The name of all that died in Nebraska on the job over the last two two years were read. The Memorial Bell was rung once after each name was read. The peacefulness of the Missouri River added to the solemness of the occasion. Also read were those in the armed forces that made to ultimate sacrifice for "peace in our time" from Nebraska over the last two years.


The Omaha Labor Sculpture

Last night was the crowning event of my big week. It was the second annual Democratic Legacy Dinner by the Sarpy County Democratic Party. The fund raiser of the year. Oh what a night. So many stars were shinning. From the grunts to the future leaders of "our" local area party. It was a perfect night.

Marta and I arrived half way through the opening casual drink up mixer hour. We bumped into old friends the moment we walked in the door. It was old home week. We put on our name tags and had an escort to our table. On the way there Peg O'Day Lippert (the event chair) made a big smile and came straight over to Marta and I. She was obviously glad to see us there. She said "be sure you talk to President Truman before sitting down".

We didn't know for sure we would be able to attend. Marta is on call this entire weekend. She has to do system updates tonight starting at midnight and will be at it a couple hours from home.

Immediately after being shown to our table, we headed to the silent auction area. I wanted to see how well our union grown and packed coffee and wine gift basket was doing. By the end of the auction it got it's full value and I was very happy about that. We also won three different items as an icing on the cake.

I picked this for our middle granddaughter:

Marta and I grabbed one bottle of beer each and started mixing with the filled room of party members. After shaking hands and saying hello to everyone we knew, we walked over to talk with President Harry S. Truman. It was some talk. Marta knew several things about his home in Missouri. He was impressed with the trivia we both knew. I talked about his relationship with organized labor. FDR, Truman, and JFK are by far the best friends the house of labor ever had in the White House. I must admit some of the knowledge about his relationship with labor I learned from my "Today in Labor History" posts in the DU Labor Forum. Marta mentioned that Harry is her favorite President. With his vast knowledge and accurate portrayal, it was easy to believe we were talking to the real deal of a man. We bought an autographed copy of his book.


Niel M. Johnson as President Harry S. Truman

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Niel-M-Johnson-Harry-S-Truman-re-enactor/170677886279739?sk=app_2309869772

The book for sale here: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Power-Money-and-Women/Niel-M-Johnson/e/9781585974511/?itm=1

Not to dominate the central figure of the evenings time, we excused our selves as others came over to chat. I saw Senator Ben Nelson and had to use the time wisely. I have written the Senators office a few times this year about labor issues and his distancing from EFCA. His office has extended me the chance to come in any time to talk things over. The first thing I mentioned was that I pretty much run the Labor Forum on the DU. It got his attention. He is well aware of us. :-) He knows the DU can be critical of him at times. I said that every chance I get, I point out that Nebraska will never elect anyone that even mentions the word liberal. I thanked him for voting at about 80% with labor lifetime in his senate career. I also mentioned five years ago I was in the room of Omaha labor elite that pumped over a quarter of a million dollars into his campaign coffers in an hours time.

Marta and I had a wonderful evening. We put a couple hundred dollars into the county party war chest. The low point was me in a suit for the first time in years. I'll be in a tux next week for a local film event.

I want to thank Peg O'Dea Lippert and Bellevue Councilwoman Carol Blood for the hard work they do to benefit our party. I wish every county party had two just like them.

Omaha Steve