RWC Newsletter - September 2011

Fall is just around the corner, you can feel it in the air in the mornings and late evenings. Can you believe how quickly this year has gone? Next year will move even faster as we gear up for the Presidential election and the RNC convention in Tampa.

I want to welcome the new members that have joined in the last few months. We are happy to have you join us as we work hard to win back our country from the liberal left and help put America back to work.

This month we are honored to have Bart Hudson, director of Florida House in Washington D.C. join us. He tells fascinating stories about Florida House, how it came to be and the some of the amazing guests they have hosted over the years. I encourage you all to join us and learn about this very important part of Florida in our nations capital.

In one short month, October 9 we will be hosting a Pink Tea membership drive. The time will be from 3 till 5 pm at the Lakeland Yacht Club. We encourage you to bring a prospective new member with you. If you bring a prospective member, you both get in free. If you want to come anyway, the charge is $12.00 to enjoy the Lakeland Yacht Club's famous dessert buffet. We will also have a mini fashion show as well as a live "Stuffed Purse" auction. Please join us, we are looking forward to a fun afternoon.

We are asking our members to please contribute to the stuffed purse auction. We are looking for new or gently used purses as well as small items to stuff them with. If you have something to donate, please bring it to the luncheon on September 15. Kim Jones is our official purse stuffer.

The Polk County REC is having a Reagan dinner and the speaker is Presidential Candidate Herman Cain. If you are interested in attending, please call me. We will have a table that you can buy seats at. The sooner we know how many people will be attending, the sooner we can reserve tables for our members. Let me know if you are able to attend, September 20 at the Lakeland Center.

It's that time of year when we have to appoint a Nominating Committee. Thanks to Jean Burt, for volunteering to chair the committee. We will announce the other members of the committee as soon as Jean lets us know. If you are interested in serving on the Board of Directors or the Nominating Committee, please contact Jean.

At the end of this month we will be heading to Presidency 5, C-PAC FL and the FFRW convention, all in Orlando the same weekend. I want to let you all know that I am running for a Member at Large seat, which is a position on the FFRW Board of Directors. This will not interfere with my duties as President.

Thank you all for your participation, energy and enthusiasm and I look forward to seeing you all on September 15 at the Lakeland Yacht Club for lunch.

Dena

President

Bart Hudson of Florida House
is our Speaker this Month!

In 1999, Mr. Hudson became Executive Director of Florida House, in Washington, D.C. There, he manages the daily operation of Florida's embassy in our nation's capital. With over 10,000 visiting Floridians, it is Mr. Hudson's responsibility to ensure that each receives "gracious, unparalleled hospitality." In addition, he is charged with facilitating the efforts of the Board of Trustees and ensuring the financial viability of Florida House.

Make your reservations today to hear Bart speak!

Committee Chair Appointments!

Two new committee chairs have been appointed. Please welcome these ladies into their new positions and help them out any way you can!

Legislative Committee - Maria Mahoney

Nominating Committee - Jean Burt

Congratulations ladies! We know you'll do a fabulous job!

Southwest Elementary Supplies!

As you know, we were expecting Southwest Elementary School to pick up their supplies at last month's luncheon. We wanted to let you know what happened. As it turned out, the day of the luncheon was also the day of student orientation and they had many problems - one of which was related to a roof falling in on one of their buildings! In order to make things easier for them, Michelle Robare dropped everything off at the school.

Presidency 5 Volunteer Info!

Volunteers do not have to be delegates.

Volunteers do not have to pay if they do not want to go as a "guest" at $125.

Volunteers will receive free passes to the Thursday night presidential debate and the Saturday straw poll.

Volunteers who register this way will also receive first priority volunteer status for the 2012 RNC Tampa Convention.

Contact Dena to let her know you want to volunteer.

Volunteer shifts are as follows:

Wednesday, the 21st, the shifts will be:

Shift 1: 11am-2pm

Shift 2: 2pm-5pm

Shift 3: 5pm-8pm

Thursday, the 22nd, the shifts will be:

Shift 1: 9am-1pm

Shift 2: 5pm-9pm

Friday, the 23rd, the shifts will be:

Shift 1: 9am-1pm

Shift 2: 1pm-5pm

Shift 3: 5pm-9pm

Saturday, the 24th, the shifts will be:

Shift 1: 7am-11am

Shift 2: 11am-3pm

Shift 3: 3pm-6pm

Shift 4: 6pm-9pm

FFRW News!

Please see the below letter from Cindy Graves at the FFRW:

Ladies:

Happy Anniversary of the 19th Amendment!

Congratulations, my darling friends...We have a lot to celebrate once again as our dear friend and FFRW's first Man of the Year, Mike Hightower and his team at Blue Cross Blue Shield, have once again given us the highest compliment a volunteer political group can earn by further supporting our work for 2012 with a check ($25,000)! I am so excited!

Please write to Mike and let him know how much we appreciate the generosity and recognition of our efforts but also his confidence that we will lead Florida in 2012 because after all ... Politics is WOMEN'S Work! Ask your members to write as well, please.

"Hightower, Mike" <Mike.Hightower@bcbsfl.com>,

Mike Hightower
Blue Cross Blue Shield
4800 Deerwood Campus Pkwy
Jacksonville, FL 32246
904-905-6742
904-905-6020 FAX

With this amazing support we are happily back in the same position as our post 2006 days! Can you believe it?

Many thanks to each of you for supporting our collective team effort to showcase Republican Women and elect fine Republicans to office and save our country from socialism! You ladies are the best :)

Pink Tea Membership Drive!

Mark your calendars for October 9, 3-5pm for the Pink Tea Membership Drive at the Yacht Club! Current plans include a Stuffed Purse Auction (featuring Scott Ogelsby), mini Fashion Show, small Silent Auction, and visits from elected officials.

Bring a prospective member as your guest and you both will get in FREE! Otherwise the cost is $12.

Donations Needed!!

In order to have a successful Stuffed Purse Auction, we will need any new or gently used purses and things to stuff them with!

Salvation Army Tour!

The Republican Women's Club sponsored one of the first Success by 6 lending libraries for the Salvation Army's HALO (Helping And Learning Opportunities) Child Enrichment Center. The HALO program serves homeless children ages 6 weeks through 5 years old and offers an After-School Tutoring program for the school-aged children in the homeless families who live at our Center of Hope.

They have invited us to come for a Mission Partner Tour which is a one hour walk through our programs and facilities. They would love to have our members attend and find out more about what The Salvation Army does right here in western Polk County.

The September tour dates and times are:
Thursday, September 15th at 11:00 am
Tuesday, September 20th at 4:00 pm
Thursday, September 29th at 11:00 am

Reminders!

Everyone attending the luncheons must check in with the ladies at the front table. This includes both members and guests. We appreciate your assistance with this, as it helps us with our record-keeping.

We can only accept cash or check for luncheon payments at the function!

PayPal is now available for making your reservations on our website! If you prefer to pay for lunch by credit card, this is the way to go.

Please be aware that all PayPal transactions will include a $1 handling fee.

PCREC Reagan Dinner Series

The Reagan Dinner with Herman Cain will be on September 20th @ 7:15pm. Tickets may be purchased until noon on September 16 online at www.polkgop.org, by calling 863-676-7966 or by downloading a registration form at www.polkgop.org. For inquiries, Email: info@polkgop.org.

You can also contact Dena for additional info.

August General Meeting Minutes

The meeting was called to order at 12:00 p.m. by Vice President, Michelle Robare. Lynn Breidenbach gave the invocation and Kim Jones lead the pledge of allegiance.

OLD BUSINESS

Michelle presented two education checks to Harrison School of the Arts in the amounts of $200.00 and $196.00. Joe Sniegocki accepted the checks for his department and also for Rob Lambert.
Michelle announced that Recording Secretary, Janell Hendren, resigned her position from the board to work with the Adam Hasner campaign and has moved to South Florida. Gaylene Pope was appointed as Recording Secretary. The minutes of the last meeting were not available to the members at this meeting; however, Linda Ivell pointed out that the minutes were available in the July Newsletter which all members receive. Paula Dimbath made a motion to accept the July minutes as printed in the July Newsletter, and Linda Ivell seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.
The Treasurer's Report was presented by Pat Rideout, Treasurer. Ann Suden made a motion to accept the Treasurer's Report and Paula Dimbath seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.

NEW BUSINESS

Michelle reported on the Membership Tea to be held October 9th at the Lakeland Yacht and Country Club.
Michelle welcomed our guest speakers, Col. Mike McCalister, a U.S senate candidate and Karen Harrington who is running for congress in another district. Ms. Harrington spoke first followed by Col McCalister.
Lynn Breidenbach informed the members of the Anchor House Annual Banquet to be held Thursday October 27, 2011 with Lt. Col. Steven Russell (ret) speaking.
Linda Ivell announced that Guest Passes are available for Presidency 5 in Orlando in September.
Michelle thanked members for wearing red in honor of the 90th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, giving women the right to vote.
The guest speaker for September's meeting will be Bart Hudson, Curator of the Florida House located in Washington, DC.

The free lunch was won by Lynn Breidenbach.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:05 pm.

Gaylene Pope

Recording Secretary

Newsletter Sponsors