President's Letter
Wow, what a year we had! I appreciate what each one of you has done to improve and grow the club. Your work is noticed as I often receive compliments about our club for being friendly and engaged. The club was recognized by NFRW as a Diamond Club, the highest level, and we again received the TFRW John Goodwin Tower award for achievement. I give special thanks to our Executive Committee for all their work behind the scenes to make things happen. Some highlights of the year were Legislative Day, the NWARW Birthday Bash, Celebrating 100+ Members, and the TFRW Convention.
I'm very excited about our 2020 Leadership, and I'm looking forward to continuing to grow our club and engage with Republican friendly voters. I hope each of you will find your place in our club as we have many committees and opportunities for activism. If you haven't already, I encourage you to fill out our committee survey: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dRRRjHf8w4_QxriJfeLm__8t-zHQgcv6/view
We can't take Texas for granted in 2020. As goes Texas, so goes the country. National Democrats are again focused on turning Texas blue and defeating President Donald J. Trump. We won't let that happen!
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I wish y'all a joyous holiday season and a happy and healthy new year. I'll see you in 2020!
Sincerely,
Carla Birk
2019 President, NWARW
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Monday, January 6 - Check-in 11:15 AM; Meeting 11:45 AM
Dave & Buster’s, 9333 Research Blvd #A600, Austin, TX 78759.
Program: Monica Cline - It Takes a Family
Mary Heffernan - VP Programs
Program Speaker: Monica Cline was a training manager and educator at Planned Parenthood for over a decade. Now she works to equip and empower parents to reclaim their role as educators and advocates for their children. She sheds light on new AISD curriculum and Texas state standards on sex ed.
Menu: THAI CHICKEN SALAD with mixed greens, fire-grilled chicken, and Thai ginger peanut dressing on the side plus iced tea or water to drink. $20 pre-ordered (Tax and tip included.).
RSVP online at https://www.nwarw.org/meeting.html We need a head count for meals to avoid unnecessary charges and ensure proper staffing. We are guaranteeing 26 lunches for this event. Pay at the meeting, cash or check preferred.
If you order a lunch but need to cancel, please cancel by 9AM on the day of the meeting at https://www.nwarw.org/meeting.html. The club must pay for meals we pre-order! Limited walk-up orders may be available.
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Caring for America: The Source
Elaine Lehmann - Chair
The Source, women's health clinic, provides licensed health care, counseling, and pregnancy support services. Please bring diapers (sizes 3,4,5) and baby wipes to donate. More information at www.thesource.org.
Monetary donations to The Source will also be collected at the meeting.
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Membership – Ann Bradley, 1st VP Membership
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2020 Membership
It's time to renew your membership for 2020! The renewal window is November 1 through March 1. Let's get this done now to show that we are ready for Victory in 2020!
Ann Bradley was the winner of our 2019 New Member Challenge. Honorable mentions also go to Mary Heffernan, Susan Friedrich, and Linda Durnin for bringing new members to the club.
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Legislative Update - Jan Duncan, Chair
(NWARW members at the Stop the Madness! End the Impeachment rally held in Austin.)
House Democrats are moving forward with a vote on Articles of Impeachment against President Trump in a highly partisan process. The trial will be taken up in the Senate under the leadership of Senator McConnell. Meanwhile the IG report detailed the disturbing actions, described as errors and omissions, taken by the FBI and other administration officials regarding the FISA court warrants, the Steele dossier, and the investigation of President Trump and his associates. Republican House members are united against the current efforts to impeach the president, and it is expected that there will not be sufficient support in the Senate to remove the president from office. The House impeachment could be dismissed by the Senate with 51 votes, but most believe that the Senate will hold a trial which would require 67 votes to remove the president. President Trump wrote a scathing letter to House Speaker Pelosi that can be viewed here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/letter-president-donald-j-trump-speaker-house-representatives/
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Political Action – Susan Friedrich, Chair
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Primary Election
The 2020 Primary Election has officially begun. December 9 was the last day to file for office. We have great candidates who stepped up in Travis and Williamson counties to challenge the incumbent Democrats as well as hold Republican seats. Please research these candidates and decide what you can do in 2020 to help Republicans win from the top to the bottom of the ballot in 2020.
The full list of Travis County Republican candidates is here:
http://www.travisgop.com/candidates.
The full list of Williamson County Republican Candidates is here: https://www.williamsoncountygop.org/contact-candidates/.
Mayor Adler and Council Member Recall Petitions
If you would like to get involved with collecting signatures for the recall, contact Susan at skfriedrich@austin.rr.com. You must be registered to vote in the city of Austin to collect signatures.
Call Susan at 512-517-2962 for questions or help getting started.
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Campaign Activities – Carolyn Isbell, Chair
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Submit campaign hours to Carolyn at disbell@austin.rr.com.
Campaign hours include many volunteer activities related to supporting the Republican party such as
- work done as a precinct chair,
- work done on a party committee (NWARW, TCRP, SREC, etc.),
- helping at a party or club office,
- promoting party officials, candidates, legislation and policies on social media, emails, and conversations,
- attending training on policy and advocacy,
- testifying on GOP legislation and communicating with legislators on party priorities and platform,
- drive time to and from party and club activities,
- shopping and baking for party and club fundraisers and activities.
For other ideas see page 22 of the Directory.
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Send Caring for America hours to Carolyn at disbell@austin.rr.com.
See the Directory, page 23, for examples of Caring for America hours. Remember, time spent shopping for donations to projects are counted as hours.
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2019 CARING FOR AMERICA PROJECTS:
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2019 President's Circle Members
Special thanks to
- Carla Birk
- Rosemary Edwards
- Susan Friedrich
- Mary Heffernan
- Janell Kelton
- Anthony Nguyen
- Sheri Radomsky
- Rossy Farina-Strauss
- Sandy Woerner
Join the President's Circle with a $50 donation to NWARW. Circle members receive a lapel pin, acknowledgement in the eNews, and invitation to an exclusive event.
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January 6 - NWARW General Meeting, Dave & Busters, 11:45-1:00
January 11 - NWARW 2020 Leadership Planning Day, 1701 Jackpot Run in Leander, 10am-3pm
January 22-24 - TPPF Policy Orientation, Austin, https://www.texaspolicy.com/events/policy-orientation-2020
January 24 - TFRW Quarterly Board meeting in Allen, TX (near Dallas)
January 25 – TFRW Leadership Day in Allen, TX (near Dallas), https://www.tfrw.org/events/leadership-day/
January 25 - March and Rally for Life, Texas Capitol, 1-4 PM, http://www.texasrallyforlife.org/
January 31 - Wilco GOP Reagan Dinner, 7PM, https://www.williamsoncountygop.org/reagan-dinner-2020-texas-style/
February 3 - General Meeting, Dave & Busters, 11:15 AM check-in, 11:45 meeting
February 18-28 – Early Voting, see county websites for locations and hours
March 3 – Primary Election Day, 7am-7pm, see county websites for locations and hours
March 7 – Precinct Conventions, check with the county party for times and locations
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PRESIDENT
Carla Birk send email
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VICE PRESIDENT
Rhonda Murphy send email
FIRST VP MEMBERSHIP
Ann Bradley send email
SECOND VP PROGRAMS
Mary Heffernan send email
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RECORDING SECRETARY
Janell Kelton send email
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY
Linda Durnin send email
TREASURER & PAC CHAIR
Sandy Woerner send email
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Americanism - Mary Heffernan
Awards - Susan Friedrich
Bylaws - Rossy Farina-Strauss
Campaign Activities - Carolyn Isbell
Caring for America - Elaine Lehmann
Chaplain - Peggy Cravens
Community Engagement - Rachel Lopez
Facebook - Carla Birk, Susan Friedrich, Mary Heffernan
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Fundraising - Mary Heffernan & Carla Birk
Hospitality - Elaine Lehmann
Legislative - Jan Duncan
Literacy - Dr. Rosemary Edwards
Newsletter - Carla Birk & Katie Stephens
Parliamentarian - Julia Johnson
Political Action - Susan Friedrich
Telephone - Deb Kraig
Website - Sheri Radomsky
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If you are interested in serving on a committee, please
contact Carla Birk at carla.tcrp@gmail.com
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