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Meeting Minutes
TVRC MINUTES for the APRIL 28, 2016 MEETING
SAVANNAH RECREATION CENTER
David Lausman, President, called the meeting to order at 7PM at The Savannah Recreation Center. David Lausman gave the Invocation, and Joe Elliot led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Mike Gleim, Secretary announced that the Minutes of the March meeting had been distributed to the membership by email in the newsletter, and asked for any corrections. No corrections were suggested, so a motion was made, seconded, and adopted without objection to accept the Minutes as written.
David Lausman noted that the Treasurer, Ron McMahon was out of town, and tabled the Treasurer’s report until the next meeting.
The President introduced the following:
DISTINGUISHED GUESTS IN ATTENDANCE
County Commissioners – Al Butler, Don Burgess, Don Hahnfeldt
Constitutional Officers – Randy Mask
Superintendent of Schools – Richard “Rick” Shirley
SCREC – John Calandro (chair), Doug Smiley (vice-chair), John Black (state committeeman)
Villages Government –Phil Walker (CDD8), Steve Printz (CDD9)
The President then allowed candidates to introduce themselves and the offices for which they were running.
MEMBERSHIP:John Black – Welcomed THREE NEW MEMBERStonight.
There were no special announcements by other clubs.
New Business (David Lausman)
- The Villages Republican HQ is expected to be up and running by mid-July In the Lake Sumter Landing Market Square area. The Villages Republican Club will provide key staff on Mondays and Tuesdays from 3-8.
- The Republican Party BBQ will be on August 13 at Savannah Center, exact time TBD.
- We are looking at new designs for club logo, tags, shirts, etc. Any suggestions please forward to Vice-President Bill Ockington.
- Announced that Lt. Governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera was scheduled to appear at Colony Cottage Center on Friday April 29 at 2 p.m. to meet people.
- There will be a flag retirement ceremony at the May meeting.
50/50: Walter Lazinski awarded THREE 50/50 WINNERS!
Marie & Walter Lazinski provided our refreshments and welcomed our Guests.
Guest Speaker:
Randolph Russell,author of American History in No Time, a concise-120 page discussion of important concepts (77 topics) in American history.
Summary:Mr. Russell wrote his book as a response to the mass of history books that bury students in turgid details without providing a framework for understanding the context and flow of American history. He feels that our connection to our heritage is fading, and that it is important to understand American history in order to maintain our liberty and good government. Many history books in current use gloss over early developments, dismiss our founding as racist or imperialist, and present a distorted picture of whom we are and where we came from. Without a framework to start from, we can be misled by details that present unbalanced arguments.
He listed four important points about why we need to know our real history:
- It is part of our national identity to know certain things;
- If we don’t know our real history, others will try (and are trying) to fill the void with bogus facts;
- We govern ourselves — to prevent elites from usurping that function we need to understand our institutions (both civic and cultural) and how they developed;
- The history of the U.S. is a fascinating and inspiring story.
Mr. Russell is also a professional musician, and as an interlude he played a cool jazz rendition of America the Beautiful on his saxophone. He then switched gears to present some historical details about George Washington, who he argued was indeed the greatest American, and without whom the country likely would not have been set on such a special and unique path.
The Q&A session following the presentation was lively and included: discussion of the importance of the Electoral College as an institution to ensure broader support of a president than a simple majority (that could be dominated by a few high-population centers); optimism regarding the results of the upcoming general election; and use of his book to raise the level of civic literacy in our schools.
Adjournment: A motion for adjournment was approved and seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 PM.
Next meeting is on May 26, 2016 at Savannah Center.
Meet and Greet at 6:30 (candidates may meet with members and pass out literature). Meeting to start promptly at 7:00 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
MIKE GLEIM,Secretary, TVRC
Volunteers Needed
We are in need of volunteers to help remove the flags at the Florida national Cemetery on Thursday June 2nd beginning at 9am. We feel that we should be done before noon and with the correct amount of volunteers then way before then.
We have changed a great deal in both the placement and removal parts at Florida National and feel that this year it will run very smoothly. However, we are an all volunteer organization so without your volunteer support it can't happen.
IF YOU CAN VOLUNTEER PLEASE SEND ME AN EMAIL THROUGH THE LINK BELOW AND LET ME KNOW HOW MANY WILL BE COMING WITH YOU. IF YOU HAVE ALREADY REACHED OUT TO ME ABOUT VOLUNTEERING THEN YOU NEED TO DO NOTHING.
A bus with flag-removal volunteers will leave the Spanish Springs bus depot in The Villages at 8 a.m. June 2. To volunteer, email Jack Johnson r call him at352-259-4743.352-259-4743.
IF YOU CANNOT VOLUNTEER THEN PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND. IT ONLY CLUTTERS UP OUR EMAIL AND TAKES US LONGER TO IDENTIFY WHO IS ACTUALLY VOLUNTEERING.
WE NEED FIRM COMMITMENTS ON VOLUNTEERS.
DON'T LET US HONORING OUR VETERANS AT REST AT FLORIDA NATIONAL END WITH THIS YEAR. IT IS A SMALL REQUEST TO CONTINUE TO HONOR THOSE WHO HAVE GIVEN SO MUCH FOR ALL OF US.
Thank you for your continued support and Patriotism,