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AFRW E-News
January & February 2008
President's Message
Instead of a narrative, this month I am listing several items of interest that I?d like each of you to make note of for future reference.
Help Pick a President
Super Tuesday is almost here. On February 5, twenty-three states will hold Republican primaries, caucuses or preference polls that collectively are expected to determine our 2008 presidential nominee. And this time around, ALASKA is in the game! Please do what you can to get your Republican friends and neighbors to join you and help pick a president. Check the Alaska Republican Party website for preference poll information. www.alaskarepublicans.com
Moving RIGHT Along
What's going on with voter registration in Alaska now? Well, in 2007, the Democrats increased their voter registration numbers by 882 to 68,170. We Republicans increased our registrations by 1,887 to 118,267. Yes, Alaska remains a solid Republican state.
Show Your Gratitude
When our AFRW clubs support the troops by sending soccer balls, care packages and Christmas cards, we know our support is appreciated. Visit this website to find out another way we can each say THANK YOU without spending a dime http://www.gratitudecampaign.org/
Sign Up Now for Campaigns 101
Going to the Alaska Republican Party state convention in March? Running for office? Don?t miss AFRW's one-day campaign school. We?re bringing Holly Robichaud ? the Lone Republican ? from Boston to anchor our information-packed day of intensive training. For detailed information, visit our website. www.akfrw.com You can read Holly's blog at: http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/news/lone_republican/
Thanks to All Our Quilters
When you come to convention in March, you will see AFRW's patriotic quilt featuring squares from AFRW members all over the state. We will sell raffle tickets for the beautiful quilt before and during the state convention. A second quilt will be raffled off during the State Fair. Special thanks to the following women for sharing their handiwork and donating their time to this project: ANCHORAGE: Cathy Giessel, Roberley Waldron, Robin Phillips, Holly Kelty, Hope Nelson, Susan Green & Cymbre Christman; FAIRBANKS: Karen Michel, Connie Seekins, Dallonna Cooper & Deb Hagen; JUNEAU: Sara Bicknell, Angie Webb, Carolyn Rasmussen, Ginger Johnson, Christine Moleski, Candy Behrends, Paulette Simpson, Bev Willson & Patsy DeWitt; KENAI: Kay Tauriainen, & Diane DuPerron; KETCHIKAN: Margaret Lynne; SITKA: Emily Rogers & Shannon Trierschield.
Get Ready to Show Your Colors
AFRW will soon have reversible red nylon/navy fleece vests with our Republican elephant logo. The unisex vests will be available in sizes small, medium, large, x-large and 2X and will sell for $35 each. Vests should be available sometime in February.
Paulette Simpson
Around Alaska
Anchorage Republican Women – Margaret Brown, President
In lieu of a regular meeting ARWC annually schedules a Christmas party. December 14th was a fun and busy night for Paula Pawlowski as she hosted our Christmas party. With more than 70 attending, it was an enjoyable time of festivity for all. We also had many attend the December Luncheon of Senator Steven's on December 21st . ARWC hosted two tables of 20 members with more members attending with other local civic and politically involved groups.
January brings in a newly elected board for ARWC: President Margaret Brown, Vice-President Judy Eledge, Secretary Paula Pawlowski, Assistant Secretary Beth Farnstrom, Treasurer Robin Phillips, Assistant Treasurer Kai Binkley Sims. Our first luncheon meeting was January 10th , at the Petroleum Club featuring our own Cathy Giessel as speaker. Her outstanding talk highlighted the structure, purpose, and operation of the Alaska Republican Party with the intent of educating and encouraging members to engage in this important election year. On January 19th the board members attended an interactive tactical planning session to map out goals for the coming year. We recently voted to scholarship 3 active members to attend the AFRW Campaign School on March 13th in Anchorage.
Capital City Republican Women – Connie McKenzie, President
Wow- what a busy couple of months for Capital City Republican Women with more to come. In December we held our annual Women in Red membership tea. We had 65 women attend, including a few new members. We had mailed invites to about 1,400 registered R women in Juneau. At the event we held a silent auction which contributed well to our coffers. In addition we were addressed by two of our members, Cathy Munoz and Stephanie Madsen, who are both running for the District 4 House seat, currently held by a D. We are fortunate to have two great candidates and look forward to supporting the primary winner.
Our women again were invited to help with the Governor's Christmas Open House by welcoming the public, serving cider, and moving the lines along. In January we did our Career Clothing resale fundraiser, again adding to the treasury. We are also on track to hold monthly membership meetings the second Monday at lunchtime and our first speaker was Speaker Harris who gave us an overview of session. Capital City Republican Women was a sponsor for the Community Legislative Reception and received recognition at the event on flyers as well as in the Juneau Empire listing of event sponsors.
We are currently working on renewing past memberships and encouraging members to invite their friends to join with us during this exciting election year. We are now busy preparing for February with Super Tuesday just around the corner. Twelve CCRW members will be helping with the Presidential Preference Poll. February 11th is our monthly meeting and Conoco Phillips will be presenting their gas line proposal at our luncheon. February 19th is Lincoln Day Dinner with Senator Stevens as our honored speaker. In March, we will move our regular meeting from Monday to Wednesday the 12th in order to have Holly Robichaud address our group before she heads up to Anchorage to conduct the Campaign School at Convention. If anyone is in town during session, we'd welcome you to join us for meetings and events.
Fairbanks Republican Women - Linda Manns, President
The Fairbanks Republican Women held a successful Lincoln Day Dinner this weekend at the Princess Hotel. We were honored to have Senator Stevens join us. The keynote address "2008 - The Year That Can Make or Break Alaska" was given by Paula Easley. Janet Halvarson was recognized as the Republican Woman of the Year and Gary Hutchison as the Republican Man of the Year.
The silent and oral auctions included gorgeous homemade cakes, lots of Republican memorabilia and trinkets, flightseeing tickets, overnight accomodations, a large gold nugget and a 4 foot tall stuffed elephant, purchased by Sen. Gary Wilken for $500. The traveling Lincoln bust was auctioned for $400 to Rep. Jay Ramras, who will be its proud owner for the next year.
Our thanks go to Harriet Klann, Ellen Ayotte, Mike Dalton, Eileen Van Whye, Lisa Peger, Pat Fink, Diane Hutcison, Tammy Wilson, Sue Hull and Althea St. Martin. All in all, it was an enjoyable evening and a highly successful fundraiser.
Kenai Peninsula Republican Women - Carol Brenckle, President
November is the month when we remember the courageous men and women who have served our country in its armed forces. It was also a time to give thanks to God and country, a time to gather together with family. On Saturday, November 10th, the Kenai Peninsula as a community of family and friends welcomed home our National Guard troops from their tour of duty in Kuwait and Iraq. The event took place at the Kenai Armory. U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski was there to celebrate their safe return, as were the members of KPRW. Senator Tom Wagoner represented the Governor at the welcome home ceremony. KPRW presented each of the returning service men with a Safeway gift certificate in "Thanksgiving" for their service to our nation.
We had elections in November. Our new officers include: Carol Brenckle, President; Diane DuPerron, Vice-President; Durainey Rawls, Leona Oberts, Asst. Secretary; Kathy Jackinsky, Treasurer; Dee Gaddis, Asst. Treasurer and Beth Meier, Asst. Treasurer. Congratulations to all.
We had the first planning committee meeting for our Lincoln Day Dinner in February. The name of our guest speaker will be announced as soon as we receive confirmation. KPRW's Membership Tea has been moved to Saturday, December 1st. Members have been encouraged to bring their daughters, granddaughters and friends. Hats and gloves are required! For those members who do not have 50's circa hats, KPRW has a collection of hats that members have donated (e-bay acquisitions all)! Hats will be available at the door and may be rented for "a slight charge".
Merry Christmas to all.
Mat-Su Republican Women - Glenda Ledford, President
The MSRWC is hard at work planning our annual Lincoln Day Event to be held February 22, 2008 at Evangelo's. We are excited to have Congressman Don Young as the guest speaker. This year's theme "A Republican Slate in 2008" sums up our mission. We have a lot of hard work ahead of us to accomplish this, but with persistance and determination, whch we are committed to, we can make this happen we are also planning a Spring Fling in May.
Midnight Sun Republican Women - Holly Kelty, President
MSRWC's December meeting was dedicated to our annual Christmas party. We had a wonderful evening, graciously hosted by the vivacious Cymbre Christman. As always the food, fun and fellowship were fabulous; the drinks divine; and the Chinese Auction competitive. Our January meeting is scheduled for January 29th, 12:00pm at Chilkoot Charlie's, Swing Bar. Cathy Giessel of the Alaska Republican Party will be giving a presentation on the district convention and Super Tuesday activities, scheduled for February 5th.
Key Web Sites
Alaska Federation of Republican Women
http://www.akfrw.com
National Federation of Republican Women
http://www.nfrw.org/a>
Alaska Republican Party
http://www.alaskarepublicans.com/a>
Statewide Contacts
Alaska Federation of Republican Women
Paulette Simpson, President
(907) 770-6797 or (907) 364-3179
Email: paulettem@gci.net
Anchorage Republican Women
Margaret Brown, President
Email: margbrown@alaska.com
Capital City Republican Women (Juneau)
Connie McKenzie, President
(907) 790-3321
Email: connie-mitch@gci.net
Fairbanks Republican Women
Linda Manns, President
(907) 456-0030
Email: jlmanns@acsalaska.net
First City Republican Women (Ketchikan)
Laura Antonsen, President
(907) 225-5547
Email: panhandler@att.net
Email: panhandler@att.net
Kenai Peninsula Republican Women
Carol Brenckle, President
(907) 398-8228
Email: carol.brenckle@alaska.net
Mat-Su Republican Women
Glenda Ledford, President
Email: gledford@mtaonline.net
Midnight Sun Republican Women
Holly Kelty, President
Email: holly@larsen-anc.com
Sitka Republican Women
Karoline Bekeris, President
(907) 747-5804
Email: kbekeris@hotmail.com
Paid for by Alaska Federation of Republican Women, 2504 Fairbanks St., Anchorage, AK 99503
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