Discuss & Listen – Formal Meetings
For the past year, we’ve been meeting at the Sun City Villas Clubhouse. Sadly, our beloved member, Frank Demeo, passed recently; he lived in the Sun City Villas, and graciously allowed us to use the Clubhouse there. For a month now, we’ve been virtually homeless, but we are relieved to announce that we are moving our meetings back to the Menifee Library at 28798 La Piedra. That’s east of the 215 between Newport and Holland Road. Specifically, the library is east of Mt. San Jacinto College, at the corner of La Piedra and Menifee Road, and across from Wheatfield Park. We’ll be in the Community Room, which is straight ahead as you enter the library.
Topics, formats, dates, & locations for past meetings:
There is never a hidden agenda at our meetings. Everyone is welcome who is genuinely interested in understanding why people believe political ideas that are different from their own.
For over a year our regular monthly meetings had a set format: a 5-minute topic presentation, followed by 55 minutes of discussion either in pairs, threes, or fours. Since then we’ve moved to a full-group discussion format centered on one or two articles on some specific topic.
At the beginning of our meetings there is usually time for participants to share a snack and chat informally, to get to know each other a bit. The core leaders then present the article up for discussion, and then members begin discussing a political issue and really listen to others as they speak.
One of our primary goals is for our members to practice speaking to their listeners about political issues in ways that are honest, yet respectful and polite. We suggest that, instead of citing statistics and facts as they see them, or quoting the commentators on MSNBC, FOX, or CNN, they should speak from their own personal experiences, or those of their family or close friends.
We encourage members to picture the other attendees in the room as beloved elder relatives or close childhood friends — folks that they would never want to upset or offend. Likewise, we urge everyone present to show that they are sincerely listening. After all, when you’re listening to someone share a traumatic personal event that is an underlying reason for their political opinions, it isn’t that hard to listen with a more open mind — in fact, it becomes pretty hard to mock, dismiss, or hate them.
Our first meetings were online through Zoom in the fall of 2021. We sent links to folks for whom we had email addresses, and we depended heavily on slideshows to present information. Folks who attended were able to participate and discuss, and we are grateful that we were able to utilize this digital format.
Purely Social Events!
We had quite a few purely social events back in 2021-2022, but since then we’ve focused on keeping it simple and consistent — that is, having regular meetings! Here are some pictures from the past. These social events early on provided opportunities for our members to hang out together, relax, get to know each other better, and have some laughs! Our last event was a Holiday Potato Bar Party on Saturday, December 10, 2022, at the beautiful home of Lee and Donna Ervin, the fabulous co-chairs of our Social Committee at that time.
The Ervins transformed their home for eight days in October 2022 into a fantastical Haunted Walkthrough open to all, with a kick-off party on October 8th.
At least 25 kind, interesting neighbors from all over Menifee and beyond came to the Pasta Bar Social at the Ervins’ on September 17, 2022. Even more folks came to the Taco Bar Social on July 30, 2022, and stayed for hours. What an incredibly comfortable yet intriguing setting, from the candles in every nook and cranny, to the arcade machines, to the plentiful seating inside and out! Every guest, from age 19 to 82, felt immediately at home and welcome. The compliments just keep coming in on the friendly, peaceful, enjoyable atmosphere that surrounded everyone that evening. Sure, politics came up here and there, as we all got to know one another — but with genuine curiosity and mutual respect.
Our first social was November 6, 2021, at Spirit Park on Newport Road — our first in-person event of any kind, since the lockdown was still going on. It was so great to share an afternoon with folks we’d only met online before.
Group meeting space sponsored by DeMeo Statistics – many thanks!