The buzz throughout the auditorium was palpable. A high level of anticipation and excitement existed. As if the president of the United States or, at the very least, a celebrity entertainer was about to enter.
Men, women and children — about 200 in all — gathered in the auditorium of Dalewood Middle School on a sunny Thursday night when they easily might have been elsewhere. They were all there for … wait for it … a Hamilton County Board of Education debate.
Which candidate won or lost the debate, which was sponsored by UnifiEd, and which one got the most cheers mattered less than the size of the crowd that attended a meeting on the subject of public education.
The District 5 race for the seat being vacated by Jeffrey Wilson has drawn seven contenders, seven times more than the number of candidates for two Hamilton County Commission seats this year.
Whether the crowd present was herded there by UnifiEd, a new organization which wants to rally more community interest in education, or whether members came on their own, they were there to hear from people who had put themselves forward to make a difference.