Weekly Opinion/Editorial
COME JOIN THE PARTY!by Steve Fair
I received several calls this week from Republicans in Stephens County wanting signs for one or more of the twenty six GOP candidates who were on the primary ballot yesterday. Yard signs and printed material were available for most of the candidates at our last county GOP meeting, but if you didn’t attend the meeting, you missed out on getting your sign. Many of those who called wanted to know details about our headquarters- when it would open, hours, etc.
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There seems to be a misconception about how the local county Party operates. Some mistakenly think we are funded by the State or National Party. We receive no funding from the State or National Republican organizations. The Stephens County Republican Party operates as an umbrella organization under their rules, but we receive no funding from them.
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The local GOP headquarters is paid for by donations from the local level. That’s why it’s so important the Stephens County GOP get broad based support from Republicans across the county when we hold our annual Fish Fry. This year’s event (our 6th) was on May 15th and featured former 4th district Congressman J.C. Watts and the Canadian Valley Rangerettes equestrian drill team. Over eight hundred people attended the event in the Stephens County Fairgrounds Rodeo arena. We also honor a local volunteer whose efforts best emulate the late Dr. Gerald Beasley Jr., a former Stephens County GOP Chairman. This year’s Beasley award winner was Wayne Watts. If you didn’t attend, you missed the best speech J.C. Watts has ever delivered (in my humble opinion).
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The profits from the annual Fish Fry go to provide a county Republican Party headquarters to dispense signs and material. Our headquarters is also used by local Republican candidates for their base of operations. Volunteers man the facility during the day and are assigned a variety of tasks to help various campaigns.
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The 2010 Stephens County GOP headquarters will be in the building Radio Shack is leaving on north 81 Hiway. It is directly across the street from Wal-Mart. The Grand Opening of the headquarters will be on Saturday August 21st with a ribbon cutting at 10am. The headquarters will be open Monday-Saturday from 9am until 5pm until after the November 2nd general election. It will be closed on Sunday. The ten GOP candidates for statewide office who won yesterday and several elected officials will attend the Grand Opening. We will have free hot dogs and snacks and you can get your car washed for free. Opportunities for you to get involved in local and statewide campaigns will abound. Stop by and visit with the candidates, grab a hot dog, get your car washed and you can pick up your signs for the general election. With ten statewide races, there are a lot of campaigns looking for help and we will be happy to ‘match’ you up with someone who can use your help.
*****
One thing you can do when you come to the Grand Opening- write a check to the SCGOP to help pay the expenses (rent/utilities) for providing a headquarters. We don’t charge for yard signs (some counties do) and donations are not required but encouraged. The Stephens County GOP’s last two headquarters have been arguably among Oklahoma’s best and that no doubt contributed to the success of our Stephens County GOP candidates in 2006 and 2008.
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The second thing you can do is plan to attend our monthly GOP meetings. They are held the second Thursday of each month at the Red River Vo-Tech starting at 7pm. The next meeting is Thursday August 12th. We dispense with our ‘business’ and then get updates from the elected officials in attendance. There is always opportunity for Q&A with the elected officials. If time permits we close the meeting with a ‘Town Hall.’ Attendees are given two minutes to express what’s on their mind. The fellowship is good, the information better and the cause eternal. While most people say they are going to get involved ‘sometime,’ sometime never seems to come. As John Philpot Curran, the Irish lawyer/statesman, said, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”
*****
Some people say they don’t do Party politics, but without the local GOP Party mechanism, the signs and material you want would have to dispensed by each individual campaign. The Stephens County GOP provides the infrastructure for those campaigns to reach voters in one place. Come join the Party!
*****
There seems to be a misconception about how the local county Party operates. Some mistakenly think we are funded by the State or National Party. We receive no funding from the State or National Republican organizations. The Stephens County Republican Party operates as an umbrella organization under their rules, but we receive no funding from them.
*****
The local GOP headquarters is paid for by donations from the local level. That’s why it’s so important the Stephens County GOP get broad based support from Republicans across the county when we hold our annual Fish Fry. This year’s event (our 6th) was on May 15th and featured former 4th district Congressman J.C. Watts and the Canadian Valley Rangerettes equestrian drill team. Over eight hundred people attended the event in the Stephens County Fairgrounds Rodeo arena. We also honor a local volunteer whose efforts best emulate the late Dr. Gerald Beasley Jr., a former Stephens County GOP Chairman. This year’s Beasley award winner was Wayne Watts. If you didn’t attend, you missed the best speech J.C. Watts has ever delivered (in my humble opinion).
*****
The profits from the annual Fish Fry go to provide a county Republican Party headquarters to dispense signs and material. Our headquarters is also used by local Republican candidates for their base of operations. Volunteers man the facility during the day and are assigned a variety of tasks to help various campaigns.
*****
The 2010 Stephens County GOP headquarters will be in the building Radio Shack is leaving on north 81 Hiway. It is directly across the street from Wal-Mart. The Grand Opening of the headquarters will be on Saturday August 21st with a ribbon cutting at 10am. The headquarters will be open Monday-Saturday from 9am until 5pm until after the November 2nd general election. It will be closed on Sunday. The ten GOP candidates for statewide office who won yesterday and several elected officials will attend the Grand Opening. We will have free hot dogs and snacks and you can get your car washed for free. Opportunities for you to get involved in local and statewide campaigns will abound. Stop by and visit with the candidates, grab a hot dog, get your car washed and you can pick up your signs for the general election. With ten statewide races, there are a lot of campaigns looking for help and we will be happy to ‘match’ you up with someone who can use your help.
*****
One thing you can do when you come to the Grand Opening- write a check to the SCGOP to help pay the expenses (rent/utilities) for providing a headquarters. We don’t charge for yard signs (some counties do) and donations are not required but encouraged. The Stephens County GOP’s last two headquarters have been arguably among Oklahoma’s best and that no doubt contributed to the success of our Stephens County GOP candidates in 2006 and 2008.
*****
The second thing you can do is plan to attend our monthly GOP meetings. They are held the second Thursday of each month at the Red River Vo-Tech starting at 7pm. The next meeting is Thursday August 12th. We dispense with our ‘business’ and then get updates from the elected officials in attendance. There is always opportunity for Q&A with the elected officials. If time permits we close the meeting with a ‘Town Hall.’ Attendees are given two minutes to express what’s on their mind. The fellowship is good, the information better and the cause eternal. While most people say they are going to get involved ‘sometime,’ sometime never seems to come. As John Philpot Curran, the Irish lawyer/statesman, said, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”
*****
Some people say they don’t do Party politics, but without the local GOP Party mechanism, the signs and material you want would have to dispensed by each individual campaign. The Stephens County GOP provides the infrastructure for those campaigns to reach voters in one place. Come join the Party!
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