Tea Party in Columbus, Georgia, April 15!

YES, THERE IS A TEA PARTY IN COLUMBUS, GEORGIA—HERE ARE THE DETAILS

Thanks to Sandy Toth, Lori Jeffries, and others, all acting spontaneously, there will be a genuine, grass-roots Tax Protest Tea Party on April 15, 2009, in Columbus, Georgia.

Here are the essential details, as submitted to the Georgia organizing folks and posted on the American Solutions website:

City: Columbus
When: April 15, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Where: Courthouse on 9th St. (by the flaming torch monument)
Contact: columbusgateaparty@gmail.com
Phone: 706.569.8791
Other Info: Hand-carried signs only (no stakes or posts!)
Additional Info: http://colgaconstitution.ning.com
Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=64754533931

Be sure to visit Lori Jeffries’ new website for updates (cf. “Additional Info,” above).

The prospective organizers of this event met for the first time on April 3 at Northside Baptist Church. They had already agreed to hold the Tea Party downtown (9th St.), in front of the Columbus Government Complex, near the “Eternal Light” statue. The organizing leaders will show up at 5 p.m., and the public event will run from 6-8 p.m.

About forty people showed up at the organizing meeting at Northside Baptist Church on April 3. Chuck Wells, president of the Georgia Conservative Republican Voters Coalition, attended as well and recalls that the people in attendance were all very dedicated, enthusiastic people, who are “tired of just letting their government kick them aside.” Wells adds, “It was my kind of meeting. There were some people standing up and expressing their views and wanted to get totally involved.” But Wells waited patiently, not saying a word.

Looking for guidance as to how to organize the Tea Party, given the tapestry of regulations and restrictions on free assembly that now exists across our country, the leaders then asked if anyone present had any ideas about how to get this Tea Party organized. “A couple of guys got up and were extremely outstanding,” Wells recalls, “Then John Fravel stood up and pointed towards me and said, ‘There’s your leader,’ so I finally spoke for the first time.” (Fravel and Wells were the founding members of the GCRVC early last year.) Wells relates that he did his best to convey the conservative passion befitting such an event, after which the organizers applauded loudly, some shouting, “You’re the one we need!”

As a reminder of our right to free assembly, here is the First Amendment to the US Constitution:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Wells used the regularly scheduled (April 9) GCRVC meeting to plan and coordinate the GCRVC’s participation in the April 15 Tea Party.

The GCRVC meets on the second Thursday of each month, at 7 p.m. As always, anyone in the local area who is interested in strengthening the conservative core of the Republican Party is welcome to attend our meetings.

Richard Voss