I just wanted to take a moment to offer my sincere thanks to all of you who supported our second annual Family Freedom Fest held on Saturday, July 30th at Bartow-Gatewood Park. This was our first big event as a new Executive Committee, and we had far more energy and dedication than we had experience, but none of that seemed to matter as the event came together. Although we are not sure of an exact count, we had over 300 people in attendance during the day (we counted nearly 250 people at one point, and many came but were unable to stay for the entire four hours). We had not planned on the near 100-degree heat when we began planning this months ago, but not even that kept people away. We had friends that came from as far as Clayton, Murray, Cobb, Gwinnett, Fulton, Gordon, Paulding, Cherokee, Whitfield, DeKalb and more! We were so blessed and gratified that you would come all the way out to Bartow to join in our celebration.
I'd also like to thank the speakers that graced us with their thoughts, including Attorney General Sam Olens, Georgia Republican Party Chairman Sue Everhart, Chairman of the Georgia Black Republican Council Michael McNeely, TEA Party Patriots state coordinator Julianne Thompson, and Grassroots Training Expert Justin Tomczak. I'd also like to extend a special thanks to the grandmother, Mrs. Ovelle Barton, and Mary Casey, sister of Sgt. Phillips Casey (a hometown soldier wounded in heroic action in Afghanistan on March 9th), as well as former military intelligence officer Gerry Purcell, who offered a few words on the greatness of the American soldier, followed by a special recognition honoring Sgt. Casey. Of course we must also thank Pastor Kenneth Coomer for his invocation requesting God's blessing and protection for our nation, and a special prayer on behalf of Sgt. Casey that his recovery will continue successfully.
We also thank Mr. John O'Keefe for representing Congressman Phil Gingrey, who regretfully was detained in Washington and Mr. Darren Kendall from Saxby Chambliss' office.
To the guests, vendors and candidate representatives we also offer our sincere thanks for helping us get the message of the Republican Party and conservative principles into our community. We appreciate you joining us. Mr. Dickey Dalrymple, you and your staff were an absolute blessing to work with, and we appreciate all of your efforts and time behind the scenes in pulling this together.
Finally, before this turns into an Academy Awards speech, I'd like to thank the members of the BCRP Events committee (Vice Chair of Events Debra Conley, Ken and Helen Cathcart...whose efforts were nearly superhuman..., Lyn Murphy, Scotti Tietjens, and CR Eric Johnson), Chef Jeff Moreau and his guys of Gumbo to Geaux fame for a fantastic crawfish boil, as well as volunteers Todd Smith, Ashley and Brianna Adkerson, David Hill, and Lisa Evans, for their hard work in helping us put this event together. If there is anyone I missed, please excuse the oversight.
We look forward to seeing each of you at our upcoming events, and if you have not been recently, please come join us as we grow our presence in the community and work to advance the cause of freedom and constitutional conservatism through the Republican Party.
Sincerely,
Louis DeBroux
Chairman, Bartow Republican Party
