Karen Hulbert was a late bloomer when it came to her involvement in political activism. Born in Illinois to a food technologist father who worked at various facilities (the chocolate factory was Karen’s favorite!) and a homemaker mother, Karen moved with her family to Toronto in 1961 and then to Florida in 1968, when she was 14 years old. Her father, who was an only child, moved his wife and three children to Altamonte Springs to be closer to his mother after his father passed away. He worked first for a snack company and then at Gooding’s Supermarket for 25 years, while her mother enjoyed playing bridge and doing community work.
A 1972 graduate of Lyman High School, Karen attended Seminole Community College (now Seminole State), taking a variety of classes, from childcare, and cake decorating (different location). She married at 19, moved to Casselberry, and raised a daughter. Before retiring, she worked as a visual merchandiser for department stores and theme parks and even spent 20+ years as a nanny to a family with five children (a set of triplets and twins!).
“Aside from regular voting, I was not involved much in politics until I came to SemDems,” said Karen, who joined SemDems about four years ago when she was in her mid-60s. “I was frustrated and felt helpless, without an outlet. I was tired of being angry and wanted to channel my frustration somewhere. SemDems gave me a feeling of camaraderie, teamwork, and a feeling of purpose with like-minded people. I enjoy the people that I’ve met and the knowledge that together we are stronger!”
Karen volunteers in the SemDems office on Mondays, organizing mail and taking phone calls, and also gets involved with recycling/road cleanup projects and participating at voter registrations events. In her free time, she enjoys gardening, going to the beach, trying DIY projects around the house, and spending time with daughter Dawn Christensen and her two grandchildren, who live in Winter Springs. Interestingly, her grandson, Erik, graduated from Lyman exactly 50 years after Karen, in 2022, and is now a student at the University of Florida. Her granddaughter Aubrie is a fourth grader at Highlands Elementary School in Winter Springs.
Karen is also a board member for “Seniors For A Better Community,” in conjunction with the City of Casselberry. Although Karen is divorced, she continues to live in the same house that she moved into when she first married in 1973. Fifty years in the same house! Now that’s something that few residents of Seminole County can claim!