The goal of the Democratic Club of Sarasota:
- Growing and strengthening the Democratic Party in Sarasota
- Providing a forum for Democrats to meet and share ideas and concerns
- Promoting the Democratic position on issues
- Electing Democrats!
Policy Statements:
Policy on Petitions and Resolutions
Club history:
In 1996, Club member Lois Prentice did some research and came up with what she titled “A Concise History of the Sarasota Democratic Club.” More recently, member Bob Clark spent time perusing back issues of FOCUS excerpting information that he felt illustrated what the club had done since 1996.
Here are a few tidbits about our early beginnings from Lois’s “concise history.” Did you know that?
Our earliest records show that in 1973 Barbara Ford-Coates, current Sarasota County Tax Collector, was the secretary of the Sarasota Democratic Club, but we don’t know who the President was. (I guess our forbearers were not great record keepers!)
In 1978-1979 the club apparently was for all intents and purposes defunct. The club treasurer, Dick Cooper, said that no meeting was called and that he invested the funds in a savings account to draw interest (a wise move, considering the high interest rates at that time.)
In December of 1980 a meeting was held in the home of one of the members in an effort to revive the club. Club meetings were held in 1981 and although the membership increased, the meetings were poorly attended.
By September of 1981, the members decided to try having four meetings a year. From then on, the club began to grow and prosper.