BOSTON — Ted Kennedy opened his family’s famous Hyannis Port compound to throw a clambake yesterday for some of the Democratic Party’s biggest givers and fund-raisers, kicking off several days of donor rewards that include bowling with actor Ben Affleck and a policy briefing with Bill Clinton.
The event for roughly 320 Democratic National Committee supporters was held at the oceanside estate under a large white tent on the lawn where the Kennedy family used to play touch football. With Mr. Kennedy as host, guests feasted on clams, lobsters, chicken, sausage, rolls and cookies.
The reception was the first on a busy social calendar for the DNC’s “Finance Honored Guests.” Today, they are invited to a welcome party with DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe at the Boston Harbor Hotel before the convention officially opens.
Tomorrow morning, they can attend a two-hour policy briefing by Mr. Clinton. In the afternoon, top donors and fund-raisers can join Mr. Affleck for pool and bowling, or take part in a tour and reception at the John F. Kennedy Library.
Clark releases delegates to Kerry
BOSTON — Wesley Clark, one of only two Democrats to win a state primary before bowing to John Kerry, has released his delegates to the Massachusetts senator.
Mr. Clark sent an e-mail Friday directing delegates pledged to him in primary contests to cast their first ballots for Mr. Kerry on Thursday, Clark spokesman Erick Mullen told the Associated Press.
“It is my hope that every Clark for President delegate will assume a leadership role at the convention,” Mr. Clark wrote in the e-mail. “The most important way you can do that is to stand with John Kerry and John Edwards and cast your vote for them on the first ballot.”
New site honors Rose Kennedy
BOSTON — Just a stone’s throw from Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy’s birthplace, in the shadow of the city’s North End, rose bushes and pin oak trees have sprung up overnight in preparation for today’s dedication of the greenway that will bear her name.
The temporary terrarium is complete with two kinds of azaleas, Japanese painted ferns, grasses and 23,000 square feet of sod.
The site was chosen for the dedication of the Rose Kennedy Greenway — the strip of parkland that will wind through downtown Boston along the former course of Interstate 93 — because of its proximity to the Kennedy family’s roots.
But because the greenway created in Mrs. Kennedy’s honor has yet to take form, workers trucked in what Dusty Rhodes, president of Conventures, which is coordinating the event, said will be a symbolic park with “plantings that are germane to the site that will be here when it is permanent.”
When completed sometime next year, the greenway will be one of the centerpieces of the $14.6 billion Big Dig highway project, which buried the elevated Central Artery under the city’s downtown and added a third tunnel under Boston Harbor.
Balloons, confetti ready for Kerry
BOSTON — Think politics is nothing but pressure? Try filling up 100,000 balloons.
The balloons are waiting in the rafters of the FleetCenter, the Boston sports arena hosting the Democratic National Convention. On Thursday night, after John Kerry accepts the nomination for president, the balloons will drop on delegates.
But it’s not as easy as it sounds. Overinflate the balloons and they could pop before they drop, says Alan Collier, the project manager with Boston Balloon Events. Underinflate them and they could look like red, white and blue golf balls falling from the heavens.
The balloons — some as large as 3 feet in diameter — were inflated and raised a week in advance. They are being held in 80 nets, which have seams designed to be pulled open in a carefully orchestrated release.
The company is also providing 1,000 pounds of confetti, which will be blown out from the stage.
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