Wellington PRO-AMERICA Rally, April 14th, 2013
Please join us as we concentrate our focus for April on our major Annual Event, which we have renamed United Stand for America, at the Wellington Amphitheater!!!
NOTE: The Boca Raton Chapter Meeting, normally the first Tuesday of each month (or, April 2nd) is cancelled, as is the Wellington Chapter Meeting, normally the second Monday of each month (or, April 8th). Bring your patriotic spirit to Wellington on April 14th, and join us for a fun-filled day with a great line-up of speakers and activities!!!! Stay tuned to our web site and FaceBook page for more details!
Slade O’Brien Educates Boca Crowd On Realities Of Florida Politics!
With a crystal-clear night on the back end of a Florida “cold-snap” (getting into the 40’s the day before), there was another exciting night of patriotism from the Palm Beach County Tea Party. Though the turnout was lighter than this past month, it was an unquestionably exciting evening of brisk dialogue amongst Patriots in Boca Raton. Slade O’Brien was the guest speaker, and his perspective as a leader of grassroots movements, and dealing with politics on the LOCAL level, was quite illuminating. As the Florida Director of Americans For Prosperity, Slade has an extraordinary inside perspective on Florida politics, with access to all the “movers and shakers” within the political sphere in our state.
What he revealed about statewide graft and corruption in state contracts from legislators “thanking” their lobbyists and supporters who got them elected was both sickening and motivating at the same time. Slade also updated us on the “Five For Florida” initiative that AFP began last year, and updated us on their progress. While much has been accomplished, we have a “long road ahead”, as Slade said.
This also marked the return to Boca Greens Country Club, and exceptional venue for our group in terms of space, facilities, location, and food. Salad, Rolls, Chicken, and Salmon was served with a Vodka Penne dish, and a yummy-looking Apple-Cobbler type of dessert (I did not partake). It was a great crowd, populated by both familiar faces, as well as many new people. PBCTP Co-Founders Mel and Barbara Grossman made the trip from Jupiter to be with us, as did Terry Brady.
Boca Chapter Coordinator Alex Berry began the proceedings at 7:00pm with the Pledge of Allegiance. Carlos Manuel Santana then regaled us with his impassioned version of the National Anthem. After the usual protocol of explaining what the PBCTP is, and what it stands for, Alex made general announcements, and then asked former Board member Francisco Rodriguez to come to the podium. Francisco explained how he has recently published a book that addresses the critical issue of WINNING ELECTIONS, and how that starts on the local level, something we can all participate in. And this dovetailed well with Slade O’Brien’s discussion of the “pragmatics” of politics….
Alex then introduced Slade, who held the crowd captive with a personal account of his observations on how Florida has foolishly discouraged entrepreneurial activity with miles of red tape. He was actually very encouraging, however, because he drew parallels between what Scott Walker has done in Wisconsin, and what is possible here in Florida.
Slade followed his presentation with a boisterous “Q&A” session with the audience, moderated by Alex Berry. Tea Party members donated the raffle prizes, and the winners were announced at the drawing, concluding the evening.
We look forward to more great meetings in 2013 for our Boca Chapter—please INVITE YOUR FRIENDS to our next event, which will be on April 2nd, 2013!!! Remember—we always have our Boca Chapter Dinner/Speaker event on the FIRST TUESDAY of every month, so mark your calendars! Please get involved if you aren’t yet, and STAY involved if you already are! Remember, we are LOOKING FOR ADDITIONAL BOCA TEAM LEADERS, including a Boca Chapter Coordinator (leader in Boca). Please help out if you can!
Boca Raton Chapter Dinner/Speaker Meeting, Tuesday, March 5th!!!
Join us on Tuesday, March 5th for another banner Chapter Meeting, featuring Slade O’Brien, the Florida State Director for Americans For Prosperity. Slade has spoken to our group before, and is always a great hit with our crowd, and his message is destined to become MORE popular, as he is a rising star both as an activist, and as an expert in how to WIN elections. If more people listened to Slade last year, many of the election results could have come out quite differently. One other note: WE ARE BACK at Boca Greens Country Club!
Please join us! Doors open at 5:30pm, with a cash bar. Dinner begins promptly at 6:00pm, and our meeting begins at 7:00pm. We will say the Pledge of Allegiance, and Carlos Manuel Santana will sing our National Anthem. Announcements will follow, and then Slade O’Brien will be introduced. He is always great with our crowd, and will be happy to answer questions after his presentation. You can attend our meeting at 7:00pm at no cost, but we encourage you to come for the dinner. For $20, you will enjoy salad, main course, dessert, coffee, and tea, with tax and tip included! This will be a great evening of like-minded fellowship, and a true sense of deep patriotism permeates the experience– please RSVP on the button below!
Join Us For Our Boca Raton Election Night Party!!
ATTENTION!!! UPDATE AS OF NOVEMBER 4TH, 2012: CHANGE OF VENUE!!! THIS EVENT WILL NOW BE HELD AT MILLER’S ALE HOUSE ON 1200 YAMATO ROAD IN BOCA RATON (JUST WEST OF I-95, AND ADMISSION IS FREE!!! EAT AND DRINK AS YOU WISH ON YOUR OWN TAB FROM 7PM- ???
November 6th, 2012 will surely go down as one of the most important dates of the 21st Century in history books of the future. It has been said many times, “This is the most important election of our lifetime”, and that has never rung more true when one considers the principles at stake at this election. Our deep involvement in attempting to steer our voting populace towards all the principles and founding history of this country will ultimately have their collective effect on this great night. All the hard work, the personal and professional sacrifices that we make, the time and energy commitment in an increasingly liberal public, and the risk of voicing your opinion publicly will definitely prevail in the long run. On this night, we will get to witness “real time” results on all the monitors that will be on display, NOW AT MILLER’S ALE HOUSE IN BOCA RATON!! Map is HERE.
This evening promises to be one that you will remember for years to come, and is definitely NOT to be missed! The Palm Beach Tea Party will be joining up with several other individuals and organizations of like mind to make this night one “for the books”!
Admission is FREE, and we will be gathering starting at 7:00pm. Eat and drink as you choose on your own tab! Full coverage of election results will be seen on the many monitors placed throughout Miller’s Ale House.
PLEASE RSVP HERE so we can get an idea of a head count– knowing that the button for “buffet” is irrelevant, based on our venue change to Miller’s Ale House):
Candidate Forum In Boca Raton Encourages Voters
Moving closer to the critical national election next month, our Boca Chapter of the Palm Beach County Tea Party held another great night of discourse on the local level that certainly took into account what is happening to our country nationally by hosting another local candidate forum. A palpable sense of excitement filled the air, as over 100 people filed in to hear how candidates from both sides would address key Tea Party issues. While we had a full quiver of candidates from both the Republican AND Democratic sides slated to address those who would be on the ballot for November in Boca, the end result of those candidates who showed, versus those who elected not to appear was quite revealing…
Slated to appear were State Senate Candidates Melanie Peterson (District 25), her opponent Joe Abruzzo, James Ryan O’Hara (State House District 81), Cesar Henao (Congress District 21), Tom Gustafson (State House District 89), and Sean Kasper (State House District 90). David Lutrin and Pat Rooney, opponents for State House District 83 were also invited, but that district was ultimately deemed not applicable for the geographic area that Boca Raton audiences would be voting for (it should be noted that David Lutrin accepted our initial invitation, but that Pat Rooney did not). In the end, Tom Gustafson and Joe Abruzzo cancelled, leaving us with a still compelling field of O’Hara, Peterson, Kasper, and Henao.
Boca Chapter Coordinator Alex Berry began the proceedings at 7:00pm with the Pledge of Allegiance. Carlos Manuel Santana then regaled us with his impassioned version of the National Anthem, which was terrific! After the usual protocol of explaining what the PBCTP is, and what it stands for, Alex made the usual announcements of upcoming events. He introduced Pam Wohlschlegel, who announced the Precinct Walk Initiative to sway independents in our county.
Alex then introduced David DiCresenzo, who moderated the discussion for the evening with carefully prepared questions regarding how each candidate would address issues ranging from insurance to energy- and many other topics—and how those positions would relate to the core Tea Party issues of Limited Government, Free Markets, and Fiscal Responsibility. The questions were excellent, and the answers truly helped our voters decide on who would best represent those principles we hold so dear to our hearts. There was even time for an interactive audience “Question and Answer” time, which was edifying and worthwhile for all those in attendance.
Overall, it was a spectacular night that was full of fun and well received. I encourage everyone to get involved in the political process, by joining us for our events in Boca, which meet the first Tuesday of every month. Get ready NOW for a HUGE “Election Day” victory celebration on November 6th, which happens to be the first Tuesday of the month for next month! It will be a gala affair with monitors to watch election results, food and bar, entertainment, and speeches! You will DEFINITELY want to mark your calendars for this one!!! Time is drawing to a close to make a difference for the next election, so please get involved if you aren’t yet, and STAY involved if you already are!
For more information and video of the event, please CLICK HERE.
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Boca Chapter and SF912 Present: October Candidate Forum!
Please join us for our OCTOBER CANDIDATE FORUM, on Tuesday, October 2nd, 2012. It will be held at the Boca Greens Country Club (Map HERE), and the doors will be open at 5:30pm for a cash bar, and dinner will follow from 6pm to 7pm (as usual, the cost is $15, which includes tax and gratuity). This as an ideal opportunity to learn about our local and state candidates in a safe and fair environment which our leadership ensures will be the model of civility. Since the Tea Party represents a powerful and influential voting base, combined with the fact that we can present candidates in a NON PARTISAN manner, this event is sure to be an influential and substantive endeavor to learn about how the candidates stack up.
The format will be simple: After the National Anthem, sung by Carlos Manuel Santana, Alex Berry will make announcements, and then introduce our moderator, David DiCrescenzo. He will ask the field candidates (to date: Tom Gustafson, James Ryan O’Hara, David Lutrin, Cesar Henao, Melanie Peterson, and Joe Abruzzo— check back here for regular updates) a question, and each candidate will receive 3 minutes to answer. In the event that an opponent is mentioned in a response, that opponent will receive :30 to rebut or address the answer which mentioned his/her name. The questions will not be a surprise to anyone, as they will center around many of the top issues facing your district. Further, the question will address one or more of the Tea Party’s 3 tenets: Fiscal Responsibility, Free Markets, or Limited Government, and how they will be manifested in your approach towards the office. We will have a volunteer timer, who will hold up cards letting each candidate know when they have 1:00 and :30 seconds remaining. A bell will ring to stop anyone who goes over time allotted.
This should be a VERY positive, enlightening and exciting evening for all of us!!! All we ask is that you RSVP immediately by clicking the RSVP button below!
Dina Keever Brings a Refreshing Voice to the Boca Raton Chapter!
As many of you may have noticed, the PBCTP has elected to utilize it’s significant power to best inform and educate our county from the perspective of not only the national election coming in November, but local elections, too. As a result, we have attempted to shift from having a “Dinner/Speaker” type of event for our monthly chapter meetings, to creating actual “Candidate Forums” or “Debates”, so that our attendees can better know the candidates. As the Boca Chapter Coordinator, I can tell you it is no small effort to pull these events off successfully! Of course, the closer we get to the elections in November, the more busy and active the candidates are as it comes close to “crunch time”. This has made the challenge of setting these events up that much more interesting.
This month, we went through any number of combinations of candidates for a host of different offices, but there was conflict in every case of having the candidate AND their opponents appear on the same stage. Ultimately, time became the biggest factor. We have always wanted to have Dina Keever, who is running for State Attorney appear in Boca, but asked for her patience as we explored the “debate” route. Since that wasn’t happening in time, Dina graciously accepted our offer to have her speak to our group.
The fact that we didn’t begin promoting it until just a few days before the event, coupled with the fact that we had just hosted a HUGE Labor Day picnic in Carlin Park with Allen West the day before our event, and the fact that everyone was just coming off a major holiday, and the fact that the weather turned ugly just before our event, the attendance was lower than our usual banner crowd in Boca. The meeting, however, was excellent, and Dina Keever was really a terrific speaker. Meanwhile, the food at Boca Greens Country Club just seems to get better and better—we thank Roger Anderson and his staff for rolling out the red carpet for us yet again.
Boca Chapter Coordinator Alex Berry began the proceedings at 7:00pm with the Pledge of Allegiance. Carlos Manuel Santana then regaled us with his impassioned version of the National Anthem- truly exhilarating! After the usual protocol of explaining what the PBCTP is, and what it stands for, Alex introduced Pam Wohlschlegel, PBCTP Founder and County Coordinator. Pam announced several items of interest to our group, including her experience at the recent Republican National Convention in Tampa. It was really quite interesting, because she interacted with our crowd in terms of questions, and discussed topics like how the delegates were chosen—and how that changed—at the convention.
Current and former local candidates Joe Talley (County Sheriff) and Cesar Haneo made appearances, and introduced themselves before the main speaker was introduced.
Alex then introduced Dina Keever, who discussed her personal journey to run for State Attorney. I think what struck everyone in attendance was the sheer sincerity, honesty, and genuine-ness of her presentation. If there were ever a candidate for office whose attitude was one of being “driven” to serve the public in a sacrificial way, Dina Keever is just that one. There appeared to be no self-serving element to her at all—quite a refreshing change from the “career politician” types who we have all seen and heard. Her motivation comes from the exact right place, and she shared in such a personal way that it almost defied the notion that she was at a podium, giving a speech. It almost felt like a normal living room conversation (and, given our crowd size that evening, was not far from it, ha-ha!). I believe many others running for office can take a page from her book by personalizing their story in a sincere and straightforward way. The big “platform” issue if she were to take office? CORRUPTION. She left little doubt in anyone’s mind that she would clean up those corridors in our county that feed off corruption. All in all, it was a short speech, but it was no-nonsense and packed a good punch. Dina then took questions from the crowd, and most were simply follow-up questions from her speech.
It was a great night that was full of fun and well received. I encourage everyone to get involved in the political process, by joining us for our events in Boca, which meet the first Tuesday of every month. Stay tuned for announcements on our October 2nd meeting, and get ready NOW for a HUGE “Election Day” victory celebration on November 6th, which happens to be the first Tuesday of the month! It will be a gala affair with monitors to watch election results, food and bar, entertainment, and speeches! You will DEFINITELY want to mark your calendars for this one!!! Time is drawing to a close to make a difference for the next election, so please get involved if you aren’t yet, and STAY involved if you already are!
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An Evening with Dina Keever
Join us, Tuesday, September 4th at Boca Greens Country Club in Boca Raton, for an exciting evening with State Attorney Candidate Dina Keever, brought to you by the Boca Raton Chapter of the Palm Beach County Tea Party.
About Dina: Dina Keever has spent most of her legal career prosecuting crime. She entered law school at Florida State University College of Law in 1991, not because she wanted to be a lawyer, but because she wanted to be a prosecutor. Dina believes victims must be vindicated and individuals must be held accountable for their actions. Dina is a tireless advocate for criminal justice and ethics in government.
Doors open at 5:30pm, Dinner is from 6:00pm to 7:00pm. Dinner price is now $20, includes full meal, coffee, tea, tax, and gratuity. Speaker introduced after brief announcements, around 7:15pm.
Please RSVP on the button below!
Boca Chapter and SF 912 Present: The Pre-Primary Candidate Forum Roundup!
The Boca Raton Chapter of the Palm Beach County Tea Party, in conjunction with the SF912, present the “Pre-Primary Candidate Forum“, for Tuesday, August 7th at 7:00pm. NOTE: Due to the high number of candidates who wish to speak to our audience, we will likely begin EARLIER than 7:00!!! It will be held at the Boca Greens Country Club (Map HERE), and the doors will be open at 5:30pm for a cash bar, and dinner will follow from 6pm to 7pm (as usual, the cost is $15, which includes tax and gratuity). We will have this event in lieu of our normal “Dinner/Speaker” meeting, which we normally have on first Tuesday of the month. Our leadership has concluded that we would like to provide this type of event as a service to both the candidates, as well as the citizens in our county who wish to be better prepared when it comes time to vote- whatever their party of political “stripe”. This is a great opportunity for everyone involved to get to understand more of what the candidates stand for before their big Primary Election vote on August 14th.
The format will be simple: Each candidate will be allowed 5 minutes at the podium and microphone after he/she is introduced. We want each candidate to address the top two or three issues that they want to meet head-on if elected, an how they would be accountable to one or more of the Tea Party’s 3 tenets: Fiscal Responsibility, Free Markets, or Limited Government, and how they will be manifested in your approach towards the office. We ask that each candidate be very specific towards that, so that it’s not just some generic “stump speech”. We will have a volunteer timer, who will hold up cards letting each candidate know when they have 1:00 and :30 seconds remaining. A bell will ring to stop anyone who goes over time allotted.
As of August 6th, the officially confirmed candidate speakers will be: Joe Talley, Cleamond Walker, Susan Bucher, Fran Hancock, Jody Lane, Mike Lameyer, Cindy Tindell, Margherita Downey, Melanie Peterson, Gary Nikolits, Lisa Epstein, Timothy McCarthy, Sharon Bock, James Martz, Tom Thayer, Peter Evans, Peter Feaman, and Robert Weinroth.
This event will be provided in a safe and fair environment which our leadership ensure will be the model of civility. It is not a “Debate”– it is a “Forum”. There will be no mud-slinging, and the candidates are asked to confine their time at the podium to address what their platform is, NOT to attack their opponents.
Due to the number of candidates who wish to address our group, it is EXTREMELY UNLIKELY that there will be time left for a Q&A with the candidates. Assuming there is, the microphone will be tightly controlled by our leadership to avoid any questions designed with nothing more than malicious intent towards any of the candidates, determined at the sole discretion of SF 912/PBCTP personnel.
July 4th Mall “Meet-ups”, in Boca, Wellington, and Palm Beach Gardens!
This past Memorial Day, Monday, May 28th, nearly 30 patriots from the Boca Chapter met up at Town Center Mall in Boca Raton. Dressed in full Patriotic regalia, our group met to honor those who served this great country in our armed services. We met quite early, before there were a lot of people there at the mall, but we definitely left an impression on those who were there.
The purpose of meeting up was to take a stand for our country in a very public way, to simply express our love for our country. Clearly, we had gathered intentionally—dressed patriotically, holding flags, and enjoying fellowship with one another. We gathered in a very open and conspicuous area, which was in the foyer area from the main entrance to the mall on the north side. Loosely organized, there was no official “format” or “program” that we followed. We recited the Pledge of Allegiance, sang the National Anthem, and Al Raden read a list of names- the names of every soldier from Florida who was killed in action since the previous Memorial Day. Ron Gaynor read an excellent short speech from Abraham Lincoln. We closed by singing God Bless America.
As we disbanded, a number of people inquired about our group, and we were equipped with Palm Beach County Tea Party business cards, as well as flyers for our upcoming meeting with Slade O’Brien that we just had in June. In all, we were at the mall for just about an hour.
We greatly encourage everyone who can, to JOIN US to do the very same thing on July 4th! Our respective chapter groups will gather at 10:30 am at Town Center Mall in Boca Raton, The Mall at Wellington Green in Wellington, and Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens. Pick the one closest to you, and let your voice be heard! Let us demonstrate solidarity for the future of this country—that there are people who still care—and that the Tea Party is alive and well, and present and accounted for in our communities!!!
