My son and I were invited to a reception last night hosted by Oregon Congressman Greg Walden at the Roxy Ann Winery in Medford, Oregon. Walden represents the 2nd congressional district of Oregon in the United States Congress in Washington DC. The congressional district covers all of eastern and central Oregon and also crosses over the Cascade Mountains to take in the Rogue Valley of Southern Oregon. The district is so large because so few people live in Eastern and Central Oregon. The Districts largest city is Medford where I live. The Congressman actual lives in Hood River (when he is not in Washington DC) which is in northern Oregon along the Columbia River. The reception was to thank the GOP faithful in southern Oregon for their help in reelecting him to Congress. Walden is known in Washington DC as a very hard worker. He makes many cross country trips to visit his district and in fact his family continues to live in Hood River....... a long commute. There were about 200 people at the reception. The most moving part of the program was when Congressman Walden presented an American flag that had flown over the Capital in DC to a wounded veteran of the war in Iraq. The Congressman talked about how organized the left is becoming in this country. He said his office gets 500 faxes each weekend of which 498 are from Ashland. That got a big laugh as Ashland is a small island of left wing politics in our conservative part of Oregon. Ashland is the home of the Ashland Shakespearian Festival and is very "artsy craftsy." A sort of a southern Oregon "Carmel" without Clint Eastwood. A very nice place to visit and eat in their restaurants and go to their plays .... But very into left wing politics. If you go there and have a Bush bumper sticker on your car it is likely to be "keyed". My car was spit on about a year ago.
My son who is President of College Republicans at Willamette University and his friend John, President of Oregon College Republicans (Both from Willamette) had a good time meeting all of the party officials and "working" the event. I met a friend of mine from The Southern Oregon Duck Club and also met a legislative assistant of the Congressman named Matt Byrne. Matt works with the Congressman in Washington DC but grew up on a ranch near the Oregon /California border in South Central Oregon. It was a nice August night in Southern Oregon and there was even a nice cool breeze. I love hanging out with Republicans. The Congressman's web site is http://walden.house.gov/
