&8220;To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.&8221;

&045; Anatole France

Several of our fellow citizens have thrown their hats into the political ring; seeking the opportunity to represent and serve the rest of us via elected office. They each have plans and dreams for making our communities and county better.

But one difficult part of running for political office is finding a way to share those plans and dreams with potential voters.

Voters also find it difficult at times to determine which candidate will receive their vote. That&8217;s where the idea of creating a non-partisan electoral forum in Shelby County originated.

To that end, an electoral forum is being sponsored by the South Shelby Chamber of Commerce and the Shelby County Reporter and will be hosted at The American Village barn on May 4th from 7:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.; gates to The Village will open at 6:15 p.m. Seating will be very limited so please plan to arrive early.

The purpose of this electoral forum is to provide an opportunity for citizens of Shelby County to learn more about those seeking elected office and to create an unbiased forum for candidates to share their ideas as they relate to the future of this county.

All candidates seeking county-wide office or state legislative offices and who face opposition in the June primary have been invited to participate in this forum. 27 candidates have been invited to participate.

An official timekeeper will be on hand to keep the forum on schedule and to make certain that all candidates are provided an equal amount of time. Each candidate will have time to address forum attendees directly and will then have an opportunity to answer questions posed by the forum moderator.

Our hope is to create an opportunity for candidates to share their plans and dreams with voters and for voters to have an opportunity to be better informed before heading to the ballot box.

We also hope that you will choose to attend the forum, whether you are a candidate or a voter. I hope to see you there