DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Good morning. I'm David Greene. The government in Victory Township, Mich., was having trouble getting people to come to their meetings. Only three people showed up in June, so they shook things up a bit. They had their next meeting not at Township Hall, but at Upper Hamlin Lake. They had a picnic there, with free hot dogs, potato salad and the Pledge of Allegiance. And - victory - attendance shot up to 24 people. Nothing like some grub to get people talking about local issues, like one that came up - a junk ordinance. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.