3rd Anniversary Tea Party: Thank You!

The 3rd Anniversary Tea Party rocked . . . because of the great patriot-activists who have decided it’s time to act and win.

Although Dr. Larry Schweikart couldn’t make it (because of the Chicago snow storm), Friday’s event was better than planned or expected.  Tea Party champion Michael Patrick Leahy jumped into fill a last-minute void, and the crowd loved it.

I had the the pleasure of reading and advanced copy of Mike Leahy’s new book, Covenant of Liberty: The Ideological Origins of the Tea Party Movement

in December. It blew me away. (I’ll publish a review shortly.)

Mike’s interaction with the crowd, via Skype, lasted an hour. The conversation showcased the intelligence, integrity, and commitment of both Michael Patrick Leahy and the St. Louis Tea Partiers who attended the event.

But the star of the show on Friday might have been the food. Boaz Steiner, one of our hardest working freedom

fighters, prepared a remarkable banquet of hors d’oeuvres.  From mounds of gigantic shrimp to stuffed peppers to chicken tenders, cheese trays, veggie platters, Crab Rangoon . . . I can’t even name it all.  It was fabulous. The Crowne Plaza in Clayton should be your first choice for lodging, banquets, and conferences in the St. Louis area.

Saturday began at 7:30 (yes, that’s really early). Again, a fabulous hot breakfast led off.  The eight sessions, plus Bill Federer’s lunchtime keynote address on 6,000 years of human history, earned praise for Michelle Moore’s planning and logistics.

So did the hard work of Donna and Kathy, two of our most dedicated workers. These ladies handled the front desk of the event perfectly.  Professional event staffs I’ve worked with would be delighted with such great hospitality, efficiency, and cheerfulness.

Mr. Raz Shafer, who left it all on the field for Ed Martin’s 2010 Congressional race, returned to St. Louis to deliver more 3 hours of training on campaigning, social media, and countering leftist tactics. Big thanks to American Majority Action and to Raz for giving up a weekend to help us.

Thanks also to Ruth Carlson of Eagle Forum for her extensive training on how to caucus in Missouri.  And to Darin Morley who educated us on Social Media in two wildly popular sessions.  Mrs. Frieda Keogh of Missouri Precinct Project (MOPP) taught us about MOPP and bringing new  conservative voters out for the 2012 election.

My personal thanks to Michelle Moore, Ben Evans, Jonathon Burns, “NRA” Ed, Donna and Kathy, Boaz, Raz, Bill Federer, Michael Patrick Leahy, and everyone who put in countless hours to pull this thing off. It was way more successful than I expected. And it lays the groundwork for victory in 2012. As Mike Leahy says, we will “drag the candidates across the finish line” in November.

Mostly, though, thanks to you who attended. You have rejected apathy and embraced responsibility for liberty—liberty for you, me, and everyone.

In the end, we completed over 500 training hours in addition to Friday’s great conversation between St. Louis Tea Party Coalition folks and Michael Patrick Leahy.

What I heard most of all, loudest, and clearest was this: “we’ve needed something like this for a long time, and we need to do more of it.”

Stand by.