Category: PACG Parties - PACG - Progressive Action for the Common Good

Holiday Party - After Action Report

12/11/2024

Annual PACG Holiday Party - After Action Report

A Message from the Board

We had a record turnout of almost 100 people at our Annual Holiday Party in Davenport! This is a time for us to welcome new members, acknowledge our appreciation for our members and friends, and start thinking about our priorities for the coming year.

Once again, we enjoyed food catered by Maria's Tamales for Hope. We presented the annual Dick Fallow Endowment for Social Justice award to Clock, Inc and Kinna's House of Love. Attendees donated over 50 gifts for children funded by Quad Cities Alliance for Immigrants and Refugees (QCAIR).

Unfortunately we only got a few pictures from the event this year, but it was still a wildly successful evening.

PACG Holiday Party Committee

Our Holiday Party was a lot of fun! - PACG Events

12/23/2023

PACG Holiday Party - After Action Report

Over 75 people sat down to a wonderful dinner catered by Maria Lopez of Tamales for Hope on Saturday, December 2nd at the Progressive Action for the Common Good (PACG) Holiday Party held at The German American Heritage Center in downtown Davenport.

The PACG Holiday Party is also when we announce the recipient of The Dick Fallow Endowment for Social Justice annual grant award. The Dick Fallow Endowment was established in 2013 to carry on the life work of the former PACG member, activist and union member. Each year, the Endowment issues grants to worthy local organizations that fulfill his mission of working in the areas of labor/economic justice, environment/sustainability and/or democracy/human rights.

This year, a $1,500 grant was awarded to Quad Cities Interfaith, a coalition of congregations and community groups that have come together to address issues such as civil rights, immigration, social justice and housing in the greater Iowa and Illinois Quad Cities. Of particular interest this year was QCI's partnership with the Quad Cities Housing Cluster to form the Quad Cities Tenant Alliance. Since 2021, QCTA has been actively helping residents living in substandard housing to know their rights, advocate for them with landlords and local politicians and register them to vote.

Tapestry Farms also received a $1500 grant from the Fallow Endowment for their work in helping provide fresh, healthy food to ten food pantries throughout the Quad Cities. The food they grow at their eight locations in the QCA is grown using organic practices. They also offer social services to and employ refugees in our community. With the leadership of talented staff members and approximately 300 volunteers, they grew and distributed 6,041 pounds of fresh produce in Iowa and Illinois this year.

PACG forum leaders also spoke about this year's community organizing and many other accomplishments of each of our four currently active forums: Civil Rights, Environmental, Gender Equity, and Health Care Reform.

For our party this year we partnered with Quad City Alliance for Immigrants and Refugees (QCAIR) to collect gifts for children 6 months to 12 years of age. Thanks to all of you that brought gifts! We were able to fill up four large boxes!

Thank you to our committee members Allison Ambrose, Ann McCluskey, Caryn Unsicker, Ed Broders, Loxi Hopkins, and Susan Leuthauser for working to once again make our holiday party a success, and to all of you who were able to attend.

Happy Holidays and thank you all for fighting for social justice throughout our community!

If you have not done so already, please sign up here for the PACG Progressive Action Update, our weekly email, to keep on top of our activities now and going forward into 2024.

Glenda Guster

11th Annual Picnic and Pie Auction - After Action Report

9/24/2023

11th Annual PACG Picnic and Pie Auction - After Action Report

Lagoon Shelter
Bettendorf’s Middle Park

PACG Board and Picnic CommitteeOnce again, over 60 progressives gathered for this year's PACG Picnic and Pie Auction! The weather was beautiful, and everybody enjoyed eating really good food from Taste of Ethiopia and visiting with old friends and new!

Forum leaders gave us a brief update on all the things they've been doing this past year, and over twenty homemade pies were auctioned off to lucky bidders!

Last, but not least, PACG honored it's cofounder, Cath Bolkcom, for all her years of service to us and to many other organizations in the Quad Cities community! Cath will be moving out of state to be near her sweet grandson in just a few weeks, but she has guaranteed us she will stay in touch!

If you couldn't make the picnic this year, we hope you can join in the fun next year! But meanwhile, try to come the showing of our Civil Rights film, I Am the Future: Standing on the Shoulders of the Past at the Putnam Museum on Sunday, October 22nd from 2 pm to 4 pm. Bring your friends! It's a free, family friendly event - and it's well worth seeing!

Caryn Unsicker
Glenda Guster, PACG President

Caryn Unsicker
Glenda Guster, PACG President

Wishing Grant Tietjen well! - A Message from the President

7/16/2023

Goodbye and Thank You! to Grant Tietjen

A Message from the President

PACG Board member, Grant Tietjen, has been in the Davenport area for ten years. He relocated to Iowa from Lincoln, NE to take a faculty position at St. Ambrose University (SAU) as an Associate Professor of Criminology in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice. For the past year at SAU, he was also the Assistant Program Director for the Masters of Science in Criminal Justice program. In 2017 Grant became involved with the Juvenile Justice Coalition of the Quad Cities, a group that PACG's Civil Rights Forum has supported for a number of years. This group has worked to promote sensible programs and ethical policies to protect our youth from unnecessary incarceration and undue harsh treatment.

In 2018 Grant was elected to the PACG Board of Directors, where he has served faithfully as an active member.

Grant will be moving to Tacoma, Washington where he has taken a tenured faculty position as Associate Professor of Criminology at the School of Social Work and Criminal Justice at the University of Washington - Tacoma. The position starts this fall. We will miss you, Grant, but we are so happy for you. Congratulations!

Glenda Guster

Save the Date - the 11th Annual Picnic and Pie Auction

7/11/2023

Save the Date - 11th Annual PACG Picnic and Pie Auction!
Sunday, September 17th from noon to 3:00 pm

Middle Park's Lagoon Shelter
On Parkway Dr (off 18th ST)
Bettendorf, IA 52722

PACG Board

We have started making plans for one of our most popular events of the year - our Annual Picnic and Pie Auction! Save Sunday, September 17th from noon to 3:00 pm for this gathering. In addition, we need volunteers to help with all of the preparation involved. Working on the Picnic Committee is a great way to get more involved with PACG and to make new friends. Please contact our Office Manager, Maggie Davis. We hope to see you there.

PACG Webmaster

9th Annual Picnic and Pie Auction - Save the Date

7/6/2021

Save the Date: 9th Annual Picnic and Pie Auction
Sunday, September 12th at 12:00 noon

Fejervary Park
1759 W. 12th St.
Davenport, Iowa (map)

We are back LIVE for our Annual Picnic and Pie Auction with some exciting new, family friendly activities in the works! More details provided in the coming weeks.

Allison Ambrose

Toasting the New Administration - A Message from the President

1/26/2021

A Toast to the New Administration

A Message from the President

Dear Progressives,

I wanted to share with everyone the Toast given at the Inauguration 2021 Virtual Parade and Dance Party this week:

"Here we are... January 20, 2021. I know many of you thought this day would never come! And what a gorgeous day it was in DC today - and all went peacefully, so let's include a thanks for that in our toast.

"Let's also toast to our front-line workers, who have been tirelessly devoted to the American people during this pandemic. I'd also like to include a moment of silence in honor of the victims of Covid.

"Now, for the happy part: Toasting to Joe Biden's principles of Decency, Unity, and Competence.

"Everyone raise your glasses in honor of our new 46th President and our 1st woman Vice President.

"May they lead our nation with grace and dignity. May they surround themselves with informed advisors. May they listen to all points of view and act in the best interest of the US people. May they bring back respect to the United States in the global arena. May they work tirelessly for racial justice, that is so needed in our country. Finally, may they lead with inclusivity so that all Americans are proud to call them our leaders.

"I am excited about the possibilities that the next four years will bring and I know you all are too. So, raise your glasses and CHEERS to President Biden and Vice President Harris!"

Allison Ambrose

Inauguration 2021 Virtual Parade and Dance Party

1/12/2021

Inauguration 2021 Virtual Parade and Dance Party
Wednesday, January 20th from 6:45 to 8:30 pm

PACG invites you to the Inauguration 2021 Virtual Parade and Dance Party!

Wednesday, January 20th from 6:45 to 8:30 pm via Zoom.

We encourage people to connect to share their hopes for the new administration going forward. In addition, we have created some patriotic-themed games and will provide a platform for people to show their dancing skills, patriotic attire and parade signs. There will be prizes for best sign, attire and the games!!

Our DJ, Andy Fischer-Price, will play music from our "PACG Inauguration Day!!!" Spotify playlist to set a celebratory mood for us! You may download it here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2ywi6N6ApJFSCP79Gsd6OL?si=5LbEbUNiRM6cy8zIjqjVQQ

Music begins at 6:45 pm. The program begins at 7:00.

You must register to attend. Register here.

You will receive a Zoom log-in link 24 hours before the event and another reminder an hour before the event.

To fully participate in our gathering you will be using Zoom Chat and Breakout Rooms. Go to our Home page to learn more about these features.

Contact the PACG Office Manager with questions.

Allison Ambrose

Show Us Your Creative Side - Celebrate the Inauguration With Us!

1/10/2021

Show Us Your Creative Side at Our
Inauguration Parade and Dance Party!
Wednesday, January 20th from 6:45 to 8:30 pm

A Message from the President

If you wish to compete in our Inauguration Parade and Dance Party, start working on your parade posters and get your patriotic attire together! Both of these will be judged at our inauguration celebration on Wednesday, January 20th. Here are some examples of what our members are already doing!

You do not need to participate in the parade or dancing if you don't want to. Feel free to celebrate in whatever manner feels right to you.

The music begins at 6:45 and the program starts at 7:00 pm. Join us for dancing, parading and games! And, of course, prizes!

Allison Ambrose

Inaguration Celebration Help Needed! - What You Can Do Now

11/26/2020

2021 Presidential Inaguration Celebration Planning - Volunteers Needed!

A Message from the President

Hello Progressives!

Interested in ways to get involved? I am looking for a few volunteers to help plan a fun and interactive virtual Inaugural Celebration! Young people, we could really use your perspectives!

This commitment will involve a few idea-sharing meetings and tasks to complete independently, and then meetings to work on the implementation plan. We always have a lot of fun planning events so please JOIN US!

If you are interested or have questions please email me at [email protected].

Allison Ambrose