In 1994 I had just established my Massachusetts residency and was living in a small apartment on the third floor of a drafty old farmhouse in Newton Centre. One of those great first apartments for a couple with odd ceilings, some cool features, and a nice walk to the T.
Since then, the house and the barn that stood next to it have been turned into a massive single family house. The apartment is long gone.
In November I voted in my first Massachusetts election, this one for Senate. Other than a Kennedy/ Romney battle, I don’t recall what else was on the ballot, but I remember the bake sale. I proudly walked into the Mason-Rice school, voted, and then walked over to the bake sale to buy a brownie.
It made me feel like I was truly part of a community. To me, the bake sale was as much a part of voting as the vote itself.
I vote in a different elementary school now and the bake sale isn’t there for every election (only the biggest ones). I’ve also put a few of my own goodies in there, and always buy something.
The state almost killed the bake sale earlier this decade, but it managed to survive. Now I wonder, as beneficial as early voting is to the entire process, what happens to the bake sale?
Chuck – Count me in as one who loves the Election Day bake sales! When I voted on Monday and saw how many people were there, I actually thought about what would happen to them.
But think of all the procrastinators in the world. They’ll be at the polls on Election Day, and they deserve a brownie too.
Have you ever been at City Hal Plaza in Boston at 11:30 on April 15th? It’s quite a scene. A friend told me about it ;)
When I voted Thursday, I looked around city hall for the bake sale but all I found were stale, plain donuts left in an office.
I have always felt the same way about bake sales and voting – the same community feeling. Over the years, voting in several states, sometimes it seemed the bake sale was the only good choice.
The potential of there being a bake sale is the major factor that pulls me towards the polling place. To paraphrase Charles Dickens’ work in “A Christmas Carol”:
“I will vote but I insist on being fed.”
Mason-Rice 5th graders do a bake sale every year to raise funds for their graduation celebration, yearbook, gift to the school etc. For any any voters headed there you will be able to get your baked good fix. As I have a 5th grader this year I will personally be helping my daughter and her friends bake many cupcakes and muffins. Please support their efforts. There will be a table in the gym and weather permitting some tables outside before and after school.