It’s been a year of accomplishments and once-in-a-lifetime experiences for Freeborn County DFL Party Chairman Art Anderson and his wife, Rose.

In August, the couple got the chance to go to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. They had the opportunity to see many of the country’s Democratic leaders and to see who has since been elected as the nation’s new president.

This past week, on Dec. 15, Art became one of 10 electors for the state of Minnesota to cast his ballot for President-elect Barack Obama.

Each district in the state has an elector, and Art was elected by the 1st District.

The last time someone from Albert Lea was an elector was Ray Hemenway Sr. after the 1976 election for Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale.

“That’s something I’ll never forget,” Art said.

And as if all of those experiences weren’t enough, in January, thanks to being an elector, the couple will get the chance to go to Obama’s inauguration.

“It’s something we won’t do in our lifetime again,” Art said.

Art, who is in his mid-70s, considers himself lucky that he’s been able to take such an active role in the political process locally and nationally.

He explained what went into being an elector last week.

He said on the morning of Dec. 14, he was presented with a certificate that said he was an elector for the state of Minnesota, and then on Dec. 15 at 9 a.m., he and the other electors met at the state Capitol building.

He got to choose from the alternate ballots to select an additional elector because one person was absent.

After the 10 electors were set, directions about what was going to take place were given and then the group was given a tour of the Capitol building. There was also a luncheon.

Then, exactly at noon, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie led the group down into the Capitol Rotunda for the vote.

Ritchie asked the electors ahead of time how they were going to vote. The commitment had to be made before the ballots were passed out.

The electors voted first for president and then for vice president.

Ritchie told them they should be honored they were chosen as an elector, as only 10 in the whole state get chosen every four years.

“That made me feel really good,” Art said.

After signing several forms, posing for a few pictures and then listening to the rest of the program, the state’s vote was cast. It was official. Former Illinois Sen. Barack Obama was Minnesota’s pick for president, and Joe Biden would be it for vice president.

All of the other states within the United States cast their electoral votes at the same time.

Afterward, Art said, he got the signatures of all of the other electors, and there were probably 70 or 80 people in attendance.

Now as the couple moves forward to the inauguration, they have booked their plane tickets and hotel room. They leave for Washington, D.C. on Jan. 18.

“It’s something we’ll never going to forget,” Art said. “We got to the national convention and now we’re going to this.

“I’ve been in Washington before, but this is going to a lot more special,” he added.

Tickets are hard to come by.