11th Congressional District candidate Marty Ozinga spent the 4th of July weekend marching in several local parades and meeting people from all across the district.
Ozinga began the morning of the 4th with the annual Mokena parade, which drew people from across the suburban Lincoln Way area. Joined by more than 60 volunteers, Marty and his wife Ruth received a warm reception from the crowd. Armed with candy for the children and campaign literature for the adults, Marty and the rest of the marchers were met with smiles, questions, and words of encouragement.
The campaign then traveled south to join several dozen supporters at the Beecher parade in eastern Will County. Marty marched through town to Beecher High School, meeting hundreds of people along the way. Ozinga enjoyed the slower pace of the parade because it gave him the chance to talk in-depth with people about the issues they care about.
The festivities continued on Saturday with a parade in Walnut (Bureau County). Despite the smaller size of their town (pop. 1,461), the people of Walnut put together a large parade that was worth the journey to the outer edges of the 11th district. Marty felt privileged to be the only 11th District candidate-participant in the parade.
Ozinga concluded the weekend in Streator (La Salle County) on Sunday, which gave him the opportunity to talk with voters of all backgrounds in this working-class community.
Marty and his wife Ruth had a great time at each parade because they had the opportunity to chat with so many working families of the 11th District. These folks made one thing abundantly clear to Marty during those conversations: this district is hungry for a new direction, and they're excited to have a change-agent like Marty running to represent them.
