Kiwanis Briefed on Census Plans - Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Contributed by Jim Town, Kiwanis Club Publicity Chair  850-773-8000   Jim_bea@bellsouth.net

At the weekly club luncheon on Tuesday, November 3, Kiwanis members were briefed on planning for the 2010 Census and its importance to Washington County.  Guest speaker was Stephen Wielenga, Partnership Assistant, U.S. Census Bureau.  Wielenga is part of the organizational effort at the community level that has been underway for several months. 

In addition to the allocation of elected government positions at the federal, state, and local levels, the census data is used each year to allocate $440 Billion dollars in federal money back to tax payers, which computes to about $3 Trillion over each 10-year census cycle.  Getting the accurate count of residents during the census period matters to every taxpayer if tax money is flow correctly back to the local level.  Even disaster relief funds are allocated based upon census data. 

According to Wielenga, Washington County had a 55% response rate to the mailout questionnaire for the 2000 census.  Final results were better, but not good, as census representatives then attempted to visit all the addresses of record that did not respond to the mailout.  For 2010, the mailout questionnaires will be mailed in March with the manual follow-ups in April for Washington County.  Wielenga also passed around a sample questionnaire to demonstrate how much it has been simplified since 2000, and now only has 10 multi-part questions.  Wielenga also emphasized that all census workers for the 2010 Census involved with public contact or the data management have passed FBI background checks, which was not the case for all the positions in 2000.

The main message from Wielenga was that: (1) completing the mailout census questionnaire is easy and safe; (2) if you are contacted in person, census workers have federal identification and have passed an FBI background check; (3) all census information is coded to addresses of record and personal information that would identify individuals or households is not released until 72 years after the census; (4) participation in the census is an important duty for citizens and residents.

In addition to the speaker, the club received a special treat from Roger VanLandingham and Harry Barton, who are members of the Troy University at Dothan Community Band. 

The brass duo accompanied the meeting opening patriotic song on flugelhorn and tuba with  Roger VanLandingham playing the flugelhorn and Harry Barton the tuba. 

The flugelhorn was developed in Germany and has a more mellow tone than a trumpet or cornet.  It is popular with jazz musicians and was introduced in that role by Miles Davis in 1957. 

The tuba is the largest and lowest pitched brass instrument and is held in front of the player, while the Sousaphone version is used in marching bands.  VanLandingham was also Kiwanian Barton’s lunch guest.