A Report on the Recent Constitution Party National Committee Meeting
From Gary Odom:
By every measure…attendence…energy and enthusiasm….reception for the speakers….and simply in terms of overall accomplishment…the Spring 2011 Constitution Party National Committee Meeting and Conference in Harrisburg was considered a major triumph! Many said it was the best they ever attended, though travel for many of the members coming from the South and Midwest got off to a very rocky start due to storms across much those parts of the country.
Once everyone was finally assembled–and even before some arrived– the meeting hit a positive stride on Friday morning with dramatic presentations by Ohio’s Robert Owens, and Pennyslvania’s Peg Luksik on Friday morning followed by a tour of the beautiful Pennsylvania State Capitol Building. On Friday afternoon John McManuns, president of the John Birch Society, provided a sobering picture of the history of the United Nations and Chelene Nightingale put the magic of her dynamic personality on display during a powerfully motivational address where she reviewed her 2010 campaign for Governor in California and exhorted everyone to continue to make the greatest possible effort to build the Constitution Party.
The Friday Night banquet featured a lively auction conducted by Midwestern StatesCo-Chairmen, Randy Stufflebeam (IL) and Scott Bartlett (SD) which raised money for the national committee’s operational fund.
The featured speaker, Sheriff Richard Mack received a thunderous standing ovation after he completed his address on the role of the County Sheriff in saving our Republic. Mack endorsed numerous Constitution Party candidates in 2010, It is certainly hoped that he will not be a stranger at Constitution Party events in the future. Many at the meeting voiced a hope that he would play a high profile role for the Constitution Party in the upcoming 2012 election.
Also highlighting the banquet were two awards presented to three term national CP chairman, Jim Clymer–the America First Award presented on behalf the the Constitution Party’s National Veterans Coalition and the Excellence in Leadership Award presented on behalf of the Lancaster (PA) County Committee of the Constitution Party.
The energy remained at a high level on Saturday the 3oth. The morning was kicked-off with an informative and entertaining portrait of Pennsylvania provided by Jim Panyard, former President of the Pennsylvania Manufacturing Association, followed by an intriguing and warmly received review of the current political situation, including the work of the so-called Human Rights Tribunals, provided by Victor Chiasson a political conservative from Ottawa Canada with very close ties to the Constitution Party. Without a doubt, Dr.Taylor Haynes of Wyoming, who secured about 8% of the vote as a write-in candidate for Governor in 2010 was one of the real crowd favorites. A newcomer to the Constitution Party, Dr. Haynes is a man of enormous personal accomplishment–any one of the items on his lengthy resume’ would probably thrill most us–yet great humility. His discussion of the 2010 campaign, which he centered on the Constitution and the Ten Commandments, inspired everyone in attendance. Darrell Castle provided an information packed overview of the situation in the Middle East raising very justifiable questions concerning the role that has been played by the United States over the years in the part of the world. His presentation brought specific praise from the last speaker, former Virginia Congressman Virgil Goode who, as noted above said that it is time that America start taking care of its own serious problems rather than trying to cure the rest of worlds ails. The general consensus was that it was Goode’s finest and most powerful address since he first started attending Constitution Party national meetings in 2009 and was a portent of great things to come.
