I am looking forward to speaking at the longest consecutive running Lincoln Day Dinner in Lake County, going on now for 72 years. Please check out this narrative from Lake County Chairman Keith Brin.
Grant Township Lincoln Day Dinner
More than 15 years ago I found myself driving over an hour in the cold and dark to a political event. I arrived at a crowded parking lot in an unfamiliar place. Was this it? I looked up at the sign, “Maravelas”.
I had arrived.
I was a pretty new precinct committeeman from a township on the other side of the county, and I didn’t know anyone outside of my small bubble. I hoped some of my fellow precinct committeeman had arrived or I’d have to hang around the food and the bar, desperate to find a friendly face. I finally found a parking spot and headed inside.
Once inside the vestibule, I shook off the cold and became one of a dozen people trying to check a coat. I already could tell this was a group that had familiar membership – everyone seemed to know everyone else, and the hugs and “hello’s” of attending the same event, year after year, were unmistakable. I still didn’t know a soul, but at least they seemed friendly.
I joined the line to check in, and finally arrived at the front. Since I was unattached to any conversations, I got to watch everyone else. Checking people in was a woman on a mission. With a friendly bit of small talk, she was able to aggressively move people through the line quickly and answer questions about seating and the like. This woman was in charge. She knew everyone, and everyone knew her.
Well, except me.
When I got to her, she paused with some measure of surprise. We came to the conclusion at about the same time that I was a bit of an anomaly: she didn’t know me, and I didn’t know her, and I basically looked lost. Her demeanor changed from somewhat determined to compassionate and welcoming.
“Can I check you in?” she asked.
“Yes, please. I’m Keith Brin, a precinct committeeman from Moraine Township,” I blathered, as if she he not only asked to check me in, but for my life story.
“I see you here on the list.” She gave me my table assignment. “You’re with the Moraine table.”
“Thank you,” I responded.
“Welcome to Grant Township,” she said. “It’s good to have you here,” with a big smile.
I nodded my head. I looked up and caught the eye of my Township Chairman and spent most of the evening being introduced to other attendees, whose names I embarrassingly quickly forgot. But the feeling of warmth I got when that woman checked me in – like seeing family – was something that carried me through that event, and every Lincoln Day Dinner, since.
The attendees at the Lincoln Day dinner welcomed me as a guest into their home the same way, every year. Year after year, I began to join the group up front with hugs and “hello’s,” seeing people I hadn’t seen since the event the year before. We would quickly catch up, before I’d be in line to get checked in. By the second year, the woman checking me in welcomed me with a hug and a smile, too.
“Welcome back,” she said.
Politics is about more than just ideas. You connect with people in unexpected ways, some of which can last you a lifetime. The Grant Township Lincoln Day Dinner has been going on consecutively since 1951. The dinner began as a fundraiser for the Grant Township Republican Club. It has remained a staple of the community and attracts guests from Lake, McHenry and Cook counties. Since 1951, five people have chaired the dinner: Albert Smith, Jack Smith, Gordon Kiesgen, Nancy Kubalanza and Marjorie Kubalanza. The current location, Maravelas, has been the home of the dinner for more than 30 years.
I’m proud to say I’ve attended every year since I first became a precinct committeeman many years ago (except for one year with a blizzard, and I got a well-earned earful for that - like I missed a family holiday). I attended as a PC, as a candidate for office, as a candidate seeking re-election for office, and as a candidate who lost re-election. I’ve never been treated differently than a member of the Grant Township family every time I arrived in from the cold and dark. I’ve always been welcomed warmly and been the recipient of one of the biggest pieces of beef I’ve ever eaten at a political event for a price I can’t get in any restaurant. Over the years I’ve met scores of people from all walks of political life, elected officials from congressmen to mayors, precinct committeemen from Moraine to Antioch, and so many more. And they come back, year after year to the same feeling that that I got. It’s a reminder politics can often bring you to something special that transcends mere politics.
This will be the second year I won’t see that smiling face at the front of the line to check me in as I did so many years back. I will see her daughter, Margie, up front and the rest of the family, for sure. They are all just as wonderful as Nancy, but it’s not quite the same when you turn the corner and expect to give a hug to a person who you realize a moment later will not be there.
I can’t ever tell Nancy what her smile and kindness meant to a reserved precinct committeeman all those years back, and how much the memory of it means to me even today. I can’t help but think she will be watching us as we gather to see people we haven’t seen in a year, out of the cold and dark, in a warm and welcoming place to celebrate the Grant Township Lincoln Day Dinner.
And this year, I look forward to meeting you all there, too.
