Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

With Christmas a week away I know everyone is busy. I want to wish each and every one a very Merry Christmas. I hope are able to enjoy it with family and friends. I am looking very forward to having my children and grandchildren Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Republican Women's Club of St. Louis Celebration

What a wonderful celebration the Republican Women's Club of St. Louis had today. Their president, Sharon Barnes and Eileen Tyrrell and her committee did a great job. They honored the Women candidates and the wives of the males candidates in the 2010 election. Our NFRW President Sue Lynch was able to attend also. It was a joy to visit with many of our members as well as the special guests. Congratulations ladies on a job well done.

Condolences

I am saddened and shocked to hear of the death of our MoFRW 3rd district president Linda Kunz. It was been a real pleasure working with Linda. She was always on top of all matters concerning the district. She was the one I could count on responding to a question and she was usually the first one to reply.

My sympathy to her family and friends. She will be missed.

Rest in Peace Linda.

Texas County Republican Women

I had a wonderful time visiting the Texas County Republican Women today in Houston. I had never been to Houston so I explored a new area. The ladies in Texas County are great. Their club activities made me tired. What great ideas and projects they have. You will be hearing more about some of them later. I got some new ideas from them.

It was exciting to hear that for the first time, January 1, there will be more Republicans than Democrats in office in their county. Texas County members should pat themselves on the back for a super job.

Thanks to all the Texas County ladies for a wonderful meeting, a great gift and winning the prize.

Greene County Republican Women's Club

I attended the monthly meeting of the Greene County Republican Women's Club yesterday. They signed up a new member at their meeting and had some ladies visiting the club. Congratulations to Barbara Smith who was elected the 2011-12 president yesterday. Thanks to Dorothy Pascher for serving the club as president in 2009-10. Greene County is one of the MoFRW Charter Clubs.

Thank You Veterans

As we approach Veteran's Day I want to personally say thank you to all those veterans who have sacrificed for our freedoms. May their sacrifice never be in vain. Not only do we need to thank the veteran but also their family.

7th District Meeting

Today was the last of the fall 2010 district meetings. Thanks to the Taney County Club for hosting a great meeting. Also thanks to the 7th district ladies for their $500 contribution to the National Convention. It is hard to believe the year is on the downhill slide. Time for more extensive planning for the 2011 events.

Prop B

I heard a great program tonight on HSUS and Prop B. The keynote speaker was Chris Chinn. She is an excellent speaker and was very informative. One point she made was that only $18,000 out of the 2.5 million promoting Prop B are from Missouri. Do we want outsiders making decisions for Missouri? I don't. Please make informed decisions when you go to vote. Things are not always as they appear and wording sometimes is tricky. I know I will be voting no on Prop B.

We also heard a presentation onf Amendment 3. It also has tricky wording but bottom line to avoid a tax in real estate transactions - vote yes.

8th District Meeting

I attended the 8th District meeting today in Willow Springs. They had a nice group of ladies very eager to work for Republicans. I was honored to present the Wright County Club their plaque and certificate from the NFRW recognizing them for doubling their membership in 2010. It was great to hear they already have a date for their spring 2011 meeting. Thanks to all who attended today.

1st, 2nd, & 3rd District Meeting

I am sorry I will not be able to join 1st, 2nd and 3rd District at their Fall meeting tomorrow. I had planned to be there but due to a death in the family will be unable to.

Congratulations to Bonhomme Republican Women's club for doubling their membership. I also want to thank Sharon Barnes and Arleen Jackson for each signing up 10 members. They were recognized at our board meeting in Charleston.

4th District Meeting

It was a beautiful day for a great meeting of the 4th District Republican Women. The Dade County ladies were great hostesses.

Thank you to the 4th District for their $500 contribution to the MoFRW to be applied to the NFRW Convention we are hosting. Their support is greatly appreciated. We had several offers of help from the ladies also.

Miles Ross spoke on behalf of Roy Blunt and how important it is to talk to your family, friends and neighbors about the November election. Mike Kelly, one of our new representatives, also spoke to the group on the importance of this election. I really liked one comment he made concerning our spelling lesson for the day - The last four letters of Republican are I CAN. The last four letters of Democrats are RATS. We need to exterminate the RATS come November.

It was also mentioned how important it is to be an educated voter. Please, Please know what the Propositions are before you get to the polls. Prop B is a very dangerous item. I encourage your to vote no and to educated others concerning this Proposition.

Adair County Republican Women's Club

What a great evening I had in Kirksville chartering the new Adair County Republican Women's Club. They are off to a good start. Bonnie Morris from the Macon Club was in atttendance also to show support. Kathy Chinn, Eileen Tyrell, Sharon Barnes and myself each spoke briefly to the group. Karen Elam is president of the club. I look forward to working with the wonderful ladies I met last night.

CONSTITUTION DAY

On September 17, 1787, the U.S. Constitution was signed by thirty-nine brave men who changed the course of history. As we celebrate 223 years of our Constitution let us strive to continue their legacy and develop habits of citizenship in all Americans.

National Board Meeting

We had a great National Board meeting in Charleston, South Carolina. Violet Corbett, Carrie Almond, Sharon Barnes and myself attended. Sue Lynch is a great president. The southern ladies really knew how to entertain us. Everyone is very positive for November. Missouri was recognized for one club doubling their membership this year and 3 members signing up 10 new members. A proud accomplishment for Missouri.

Missouri State Fair

What fun we had today in Sedalia at the Missouri State Fair. People were very eager to obtain
Fire Pelosia stickers and yard signs. As I walked around the fair grounds many people commented on the sticker in an approving manner. If you have never attended the state fair - especially on MoFRW day - you should mark next year on your calendar. Although it was warm the nice breeze kept us comfortable. Thanks to Donna Downer for chairing the event. She does a great job. Thanks to those who came and helped man the tent also.

On to November

August primaries are over so now is the time to concentrate on the November election. There is so much unrest in our country right now that we need to do everything possible to elect good people to represent us. Congratulations to our MoFRW members who were elected in August. I would love to list them but I'm afraid I would leave someone out.

Enjoy the remaining summer days. Hopefully cooler weather is on the way.

I hope to see some of you at the Missouri State Fair on Aug. 19.

Happy 4th of July

The past three weeks have been pretty busy for me. There has been a lot going on at my job as this is one our busiest times of the year.

I am looking forward to celebrating the 4th of July with my family. My brother shares a birthday with America so we have a double celebration.

I want to wish each of you a Happy 4th of July. May we all remember those who have made this celebration possible.

Have a great weekend.

Convention 2010

Convention 2010 is history. It was a great weekend. Thanks to Convention Chair Romona Wilkinson and her committee for all their hard work. I hope all those in attendance took home some information that will assist them in working with their clubs. We have many great ladies in our organization. This weekend was an example of that.

A few of the weekend's highlights:
Many ladies attending their first convention

$1000 collected for Honor Flight, our state Caring for America Project. The proceeds will be divided between the 7 state Honor Flight Chapters since our ladies come from all around the state. I do want to thank Ern DeCamp and Joel Alexander, Ozarks Honor Flight, for presenting our program. I have cards to address to our veterans that our ladies wrote.

A lot of visiting and sharing between members

A great keynote speaker, Paul Curtman, Saturday evening. He sold out of his books. He is using proceeds from his book to fund his campaign. Good luck Paul.

Thanks to all the ladies who attended. It was nice to meet so many new members.

2011 convention will be in 6th district.

Christian County Republican Women

I met with the ladies in Christian County Thursday evening. Chris Kahl did a great job as usual. They have a lot of activities planned and are working on their candidate forum which is June 17. It is always nice to meet with our members.

Memorial Day

I am sure all of us are looking forward to a long weekend. Let us not forget the real meaning of Memorial Day. Thank you to those who have so humble served our country. Thank you to the families of those who have served our country. We owe so much to those who have given their lives for us. There are no words of gratitude to adequately express the thanks. Please remember those who are currently serving with a prayer or just a thought of good wishes. May they return home safely.

Dade County Republican Women

I attended the Dade County Republican Women's Club meeting Monday evening. They had a great turnout. It is always nice to visit them. I have known several of those ladies for many years. Past President LaRue Lemons was there and I had a wonderful visit with her. I have always had great respect and admiration for her. She is currently serving as mayor of Lockwood. I have no idea how many years she has done that but several.

MoFRW state convention is just a little over two weeks away. There is a lot to get done between now and then. Thanks to the ladies of the 9th district who have done a fantastic job getting all the details worked out. We have a great line up of programs and speakers. It will be a good time for fun and fellowship.

Hickory County Celebration

It was a joy to celebrate today with the Hickory County Federation on their 20th birthday. There was a lot of visiting, tributes and many memories were shared. Three of the charter officers were present and I think there were six additional charter members present. Their club is very active and do a great job working for Republicans. Congratulations and thanks to all of the current and past members.

9th & 5th district meetings

The 9th district had a great meeting today. There were several candidates in attendance. I really appreciate all Romona Wilkinson and the other 9th district members are doing in preparation for the 2010 convention. Unfortunately I could only be in one place today and had to miss the 5th district meeting. I understand they had a good meeting also and their speaker was very informative. Today was the last district meetings until fall. They will start again in September. I will try to make all the district meetings I can. There is a possibility I might have to miss a meeting depending on when my grandbaby makes their appearance.

4th District Meeting

I attended another great district meeting today in Warsaw. The Benton County ladies did a great job hosting the event. Cathern Long presented a workshop on membership and offered some suggestions for clubs to sign up new members and to keep them. Of course auctions are always fun and this one provided some entertainment. Thanks Chris and Violet.

I do want to extend my sympathy to the family of Jenna Ficken, Benton County Club member. She passed away Thursday. She was a great lady and a great Republican serving in several capacities in her club, district and state through the years.

1st, 2nd & 3rd District Meeting

It was a great day for the district meetings in Kirkwood. The turnout was great. I enjoyed meeting new members and seeing those I knew. Ann Wagoner was their keynote speaker. Her presentation covered so much and was very informative. It was a joy to hear her. Arleen Jackson is the first MoFRW member to recruit 10 new members.

CeCo FRW Meeting

It was great to visit with the members of the CeCo Club tonight. It is a wonderful group of ladies. I always enjoy attending their club meetings and hearing their ideas. They shared their comments and suggestions tonight concerning some of our communications. How impressive when I mentioned writing a history of their club they instantly produced their first minutes from 1988. They have their Candidate Forum planned for July 12. I plan to attend as of now.

Applause to the 6th district for a great meeting today. The facilities were fantastic and the food superb. Doris Muck had arranged for a good speaker who talked about the Fair Tax. It was nice to meet some of our members which I had not met before. Two of our new clubs were represented today. The drive to Sumner was about 4 hours but it was very enjoyable. I can count 19 different towns I went through between Bolivar and Sumner.

The call to convention is about ready to mail. Thanks to Angela and Elaine for all their work on getting that out.

This is a busy MoFRW week with a program at CeCo in Stockton Monday, 1, 2 & 3 District meeting Wednesday and 4th District meeting on Saturday.

Happy Spring

Happy Spring. I hope everyone is enjoying the great weather we have here.

Spring District meetings have started. I was unable to attend the 7th and 8th District on March 27 but I understand they were great meetings. I actually took a week's vacation to Colorado with my daughter and her family to see my other daughter. We left in a snow storm and had a snow storm while there.

ABC Schools have been well attended and the speakers are doing a fantastic job. Filing for office has closed but reading the lists around the state looks like a large number of candidates for many of the positions.

It is great to have a full slate of MoFRW officers once again. Tane' Schwartzman is the new 2nd Vice-president and Elaine Duncan will be serving as corresponding secretary.

The call to convention will be mailed April 12.

I haven't received an updated membership number the past week but everyone please remember our goal - 2010 in 2010.

Happy Easter.

MoFRW Legislative Day

We had a great day in Jefferson City yesterday. There were 112 people in attendance for various events of the day. Eight students were honored for their essay about their Favorite Teacher. Seven teachers were honored for being the student's nominee. One teacher was honored by 2 different students. Nine young ladies were honored as Breckenridge Scholars. They did various tours, met with Senators and Representatives, received Resolutions from their Representative and Senator and more. It was great seeing our members who were in attendance. It is always a hectic day with everything that goes on. I think my feet will feel better by the weekend. Thanks to all who made the day possible.

National NFRW Meeting

The spring NFRW board meeting has wrapped up in Oklahoma City. What a great job our President Sue Lynch did. She is a true joy and delight to work with. I have a lot of information to bring back and I will be sharing some of that as soon as I get it organized. There is a big push on membership so Missouri needs to get to work to reach our goal. It was great to meet state presidents from California to New York.

Back to Missouri Sunday morning.

Tuesday is MoFRW Legislative Day/My Favorite Teacher/Breckenridge Scholar day so headed to Jefferson City bright and early - well actually it won't be bright when I leave Bolivar.

It was a delight visiting with Congressman

Marsha Blackburn our keynote speaker.

State Lincoln Day

It was a great weekend in St. Louis at State Lincoln Day. MoFRW had a table for selling pins and our MoFRW bags. Plus we gave out our new brochure to those interested. Many of our members came by to visit and many new friends were made.
Our luncheon was a sell out. They told me we had to be finished by 2 p.m. and we were. Congressman Marsha Blackburn was a real joy to visit with. Her keynote speech was wonderful. I hope all those attending enjoyed it.

State Lincoln Day/New Club

We are very excited for our MoFRW Lincoln Day Luncheon on Saturday. We have 185 people registered for the luncheon at this time. I think everyone is looking forward to hearing from Congressman Marsha Blackburn.

It is also exciting that we have a new MoFRW Club. United Federated Republican Women is officially chartered. They are in Howell County which is in the 8th district. I look forward to working with them and meeting their members.

MoFRW State Board Meeting

We had a great meeting today in Jefferson City. We discussed bylaws and committees and during the business session heard reports from the following committees - Bylaws, Century Club, Caring for America, Legislative Day, 2010 Convention, Membership, National Convention.

Membership chair Cathern Long has challenged every club to increase membership by 11 members. If they will do this we will reach the 2010 goal. We are excited to have three new clubs in various stages. Plus there are two other locations which are considering a club in their area and one group which is college age exploring the MoFRW.

Donna Hart-Nolte announced the state Caring for America project as Honor Flight - the program which allows our WWII veterans to go to Washington to view their memorial.

Everyone needs to remember to register for Legislative Day March 16.

Now I must get prepared for State Lincoln Day in two weeks.

These are just some of the meeting highlights.

The MoFRW State Board meeting has been rescheduled for Saturday, February 13 at the Truman Hotel in Jefferson City. Truman is located on the outer road on the west side of Highway 54. We will be meeting in the Glenwood Room. The time frame will remain the same with the exception of trying to adjourn no later than 2 p.m. Registration begins at 9 and the meeting will begin promptly at 9:30. Hopefully most everyone scheduled for last week will be able to attend.

State Board Meeting

What an evening!! After watching the weather and road conditions all day and early evening we were still a go for the board meeting. Then the calls started coming in from different areas of the state about roads conditions and concerns with trying to get to Columbia. Were temperatures going to drop below freezing and at leave time roads have ice on them? So many questions with no clear cut answer. Finally about 8:30 the decision was made it was not worth one person having an accident or a fall on ice to have the meeting. I really wanted to have it to get all the business done but wanted everyone safe. I think most everyone would have been ok but you just don't ever know what path weather will take. Now to reschedule the meeting. Feb. 13 was the snow day, but the restaurant isn't available (we can seek another location) and the forecast for next weekend in south Missouri is SNOW. What happened to the 40 degrees and sun I ordered?

Snow, Snow, Snow

As I write this snowing is lightly falling outside. I have checked weather around the state and the forecasters say not much accumulation expected and by tomorrow morning it will either be light and spotty snow or nothing. Temps are above freezing here and around the state are to be above freezing Sat. So as of right now we are proceeding with the MoFRW Board Meeting Sat. in Columbia. Our snow day is Feb. 13 but the restaurant isn't available for that so I really hope everything works for Sat.

ABC School

Today was the first MoFRW sponsored ABC school of 2010. Unfortunately I was snowed in and unable to attend. Fortunately our ABC School Chair Shirley Burris and daughter Tane went yesterday and did a great job today. Thirty-six people were able to make the event and some of those unable to get there due to snow will attend one of our other schools. Thanks to all the great speakers, the Benton County FRW, Shirley and Tane for a super event.

Executive Committee Meeting

It was nice planning and visiting with all of the MoFRW Executive Committee Saturday. We will have a lot to report at the Board meeting on February 6. This is the 80th birthday of the Missouri Federation of Republican Women so we hope to do some special things this year. Ladies of Missouri formed a group eight years prior to being a charter member of the National Federation.

MoFRW Lincoln Day Luncheon

I am finally able to tell who the speaker is for our MoFRW Lincoln Day luncheon. It is Congressman Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee. I am sure we will have a good luncheon turnout to hear her presentation. I am grateful to the MRP for their help with this. You can read more about her on the MoFRW website.

Welcome to my new blog.

This is a new tool for me so I hope you will be patient. I love looking at other blogs so thought this would be a good opportunity to try one. Thanks to my daughter for her help in setting this up. I'm sure I will be calling her often for assistance.

I hope to update this regularly so you will know what I am doing as your president.Of course we want you to regular check out the MoFRW website for updates.

Thanks for all the encouraging comments from so many of you as we start a new term in MoFRW. The executive committee is working hard to make MoFRW the best it can be. There have been many great executive committees preceed us so we have big shoes to fill.

Please keep in touch with me either by comments on this blog or by email, phone or snail mail.I want this to be a positive blog so if you have a concern to discuss please contact me by one of the other communication tools.

There is a lot to be done in the next few weeks - the state board meeting Feb. 6, state Lincoln Day Luncheon Feb. 27 and Legislative Day March 16. I hope you can attend all or some of these events.

Happy 2010!