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Wellstone Elementary holds Wellstone Day tomorrow; October 25 gathering will commemorate crash

"Letter to Editor"

10/16/2007






October 25 will mark the fifth anniversary of the plane crash that took the lives of Paul and Sheila Wellstone, their daughter Marcia Wellstone Markuson, and campaign aides Mary McEvoy, Tom Lapic, and Will McLaughlin, along with the plane's two pilots. Two events in the coming weeks present media opportunities around the anniversary.


Tomorrow, October 17, Wellstone Elementary School in St. Paul will hold Wellstone Day, in which students will honor the Wellstones. The green bus will be at this event, which begins at 9:45 am will be held at the school, which is located at 65 East Kellogg in downtown St. Paul. Media outlets are welcome to attend.

On October 25, a Gathering of Remembrance will be held at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul to commemorate the lives of those lost in the 2002 plane crash. The event will begin at 7:30 pm and is free and open to the public.

Since we began in February of 2003, Wellstone Action has grown into a national center for training and leadership development. Since our founding, Wellstone Action has:

  • Trained 15,314 people to become candidates, campaign workers, and citizen activists,

  • Held 182 trainings in 36 states,

  • Trained at least 98 successful candidates in 20 states,

  • Grown to 132,481 members nationwide,

  • Published two books, Politics the Wellstone Way: How to Elect Progressive Candidates and Win on Issues and the forthcoming Winning Your Election the Wellstone Way: A Comprehensive Guide to Candidates and Campaign Workers (both from the U of Minnesota Press),

  • Created Campus Camp Wellstone, political training specifically for college students,

  • Established the Sheila Wellstone Institute, a major advocacy organization for domestic violence prevention,

  • Created the Advanced Campaign Management School, an intensive training for senior campaign staff members,

  • Participated in a national coalition that successfully passed the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, federal legislation that Paul and Sheila Wellstone championed in 1994.

  • Trained thousands of campaign staff members and volunteers,

  • Added 15 full-time staff members and dozens of regular volunteers,

  • Established the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Online Archive, which includes dozens of transcribed speeches, archived articles, and educational material about the lives of Paul and Sheila Wellstone.

    In addition to Wellstone Action's work, a wide range of buildings, schools, documentaries, and books have honored the Wellstones' memory, including:

    - Wellstone Action, St. Paul
    - Sheila Wellstone Institute, St. Paul
    - Paul and Sheila Wellstone Center for Community Building, St. Paul
    - Paul and Sheila Wellstone Elementary School, St. Paul
    - Wellstone International High School, Minneapolis
    - Paul and Sheila Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Center, University of Minnesota
    - Wellstone Regional Hospital, Jeffersonville, Indiana
    - Wellstone Memorial and Historic Site, Eveleth, MN
    - Sheila Wellstone Center, Cornerstone Advocacy Services, Bloomington, MN
    - The Wellstone, Hope Community, Minneapolis (49 units of affordable housing)
    - Wellstone Memorial Garden, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
    - Sheila Wellstone Memorial Peace Garden, McKinley Neighborhood, Minneapolis
    - Wellstone Commons, Northfield, MN (30 units of affordable housing)
    - Wellstone Hall – Duluth Central Labor Temple
    - Wellstone Fellowship for Social Justice, Families USA, Washington, DC
    - Paul Wellstone Citizen Leadership award, Campaign for America’s Future
    - Paul Wellstone Award of the American Public Health Association
    - Paul and Sheila Wellstone Award, Freedom Network USA (working to end human trafficking)
    - Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act

    Books:

    - Twelve Years and Thirteen Days by Terry Gydesen
    - Paul Wellstone: The Life of a Passionate Progressive by Bill Lofy
    - Politics the Wellstone Way by Wellstone Action
    - Winning Your Election the Wellstone Way (forthcoming, University of MN Press) by Wellstone Action

    Movies, Plays and DVDs:

    - Wellstone! the documentary
    - Wellstone, a play by the Minnesota History Theater
    - The Magic Green School Bus: Paul Wellstone
    - The Green Bus vs. the White House
    - Vote!

    For more information about Wellstone Action's work, visit wellstone.org.

    Posted by Staff
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