GOP Picnic this Sunday

The Republican Party of Luzerne County will be hosting its 4th Annual Summer Picnic on Sunday, August 16, 2015 from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM at the Tony Attardo Memorial Park, 79 Bryden Street in Pittston. The Park is conveniently located about one mile off of Interstate 81, Pittston Exit, number 175.

I find it interesting that the county GOP website hasn't been updated but you can get the details on their Facebook page  and RSVP on the FB event page. 

I think it was good move to move it from the Urbanski farm to a place little easier to get to. The farm is beautiful but it is literately a tough road to travel.

County GOP Chair Bill Urbnaski is excited that all 5 Republican statewide judicial candidates will attend.

From his press release:

All five Republican candidates for statewide judicial office in this Fall’s General Election will be attending the Luzerne County GOP’s 4^th Annual Summer Picnic this Sunday, August 16, 2015 from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM.

 

Judges Anne Covey, Michael George and Judy Olson are running for three open spots on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.  Judge Covey, a resident of Bucks County, is a former member of the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board and currently serves as a member of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court. Judge George is the former District Attorney and current President Judge of Adams County.  Judge Olson was elected to the Pennsylvania Superior Court in 2009, after having served as a judge on the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas.

 

Judge Emil Giordano, who is running for a vacancy on the Pennsylvania Superior Court, is a graduate of Villanova Law School and has served on the Northampton County Court of Common Pleas since 2003.

 

Paul Lalley, the candidate for Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, is an attorney who has specialized in appellate practice before the Commonwealth Court, is a graduate of the Dickinson School of Law and a cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.

 

 

 

 From left to right: Paul Lalley, Esq., Judge Anne Covey, Judge Michael George, Judge Judy Olson, Judge Emil Giordano.

 

Vice Presidential Debate Poll

I'll be putting up a poll on the sidebar later tonight.

If you want to watch the debate with some political junkies:

The Luzerne County Republican Party is hosting a Vice-Presidential Debate Watch Party at Rodano's on Public Square in Wilkes-Barre. Large screen tv, pizza, cash bar. The event open to the public and admission is FREE! Please join us! Starts at 8PM.

2 weeks ago the Republicans were saying the polls were skewed because they showed Obama opening up a lead. Now they point to the polls because they show Romney catching up. If Obama wins the election get ready for more ACORN stole the election type nonsense. 

I think this poll result is interesting via Taegan Goddard:


A new Esquire/Yahoo! News poll finds that Americans would trust President Obama more to look after their dog when they're out of town than Mitt Romney, 52% to 27%.

I ride inside

Dogs Against Romney

Luzerne County GOP picnic

David Freed

About 50 people attended the  Luzerne County Republican Party Pre-Convention Rally / BBQ at the family farm of Chairman Bill Urbanski in Mountaintop. Going down the road to place I was glad I drive an SUV with 4 wheel drive. Many candidates and staff are in Tampa for the convention like Lou Barletta and Aaron Kaufman. They should have sent a surrogate.



Bill said he promised a hurricane free picnic and he delivered. You have to hear him sing.
 
The only statewide candidate to make it was Attorney General hopeful David Freed who dismissed the naysayers who think Mitt Romney can't win Pennsylvania because there are more Romney signs in SW PA than Obama signs. Talking to rank and file I was surprised by the pessimism of winning the Presidential race and down right hostility to Mitt Romney. I won't name names. 

17th Congressional District candidate Laureen Cummings complained about Obamacare then told me that the NRCC polled the district and thinks she has a good chance of beating Matt Cartwright. 

State Rep Karen Boback bragged the she secured both nominations and asked for support. I hate uncontested elections, The back mountain Dems need to get their shit together and get a candidate in 2014.

I finally got to meet assistant deputy dog of some county department Art Bobbouine. Try to pronounce that  last name. My pal Jim O'Meara dragged Laureen off to another event, he is her campaign manager. A real pleasure was meeting Jason Fitzgerald of Penn Strategies. He helped Marino win in 1010 and is now working for Freed and other candidates.Lynette Villano was taking the money and selling the chances for the prizes as she always does. She told me of her frustrations with lone wolf Steve Urban (R to D)when she was county chair.  I think I saw Norton the Blogger lurking about but there wasn't a  VW  micro bus parked  or any sign of Buzz let alone a Univac 3000.


On my way out I told David Freed that I thought the AG's office would be in good hands whoever won. He said he felt the same way after the primary. He respects his opponent.

Where was everybody, the turnout was less than I expected. Speaking of low turnout Alex is having a Mitt Romney Acceptance Speech Watch Party. 



More pictures at this link

Welcome home Renita

I was bit surprised that former Luzerne County Republican Party Executive Director Renita Fennick went to work for Tom Marino after the 2010 election instead of Lou Barletta. That has been rectified.

HAZLETON – U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, PA-11, announced that Renita Fennick will become his district director on Monday, April 9.
“Renita brings a wealth of local knowledge and regional experience to my office, and I’m pleased to welcome her to my team,” Rep. Barletta said. “I’ve known Renita for many years. She is committed and dedicated to improving the lives of people in Northeastern Pennsylvania, and I think she will make an excellent district director.”
Fennick leaves the office of U.S. Rep. Tom Marino (PA-10), where she served as communications director since January 2011. She worked at the Citizens’ Voice and Times Leader newspapers in Wilkes-Barre, and was city editor of the Times Leader until 2009, when she left to accept a position as executive director of the Luzerne County Republican Party.

I think Renita did a good job as the local GOP front person and chief organizer. She and Chairman Terry Casey were able to smooth over the factionalism dealing with difficult personalities and helped the Republicans win 2 of the 3 row offices that year. In the 2010 election she was a big booster of Barletta helping him win Luzerne County and the district. Like many of our local politicos she has attended Blogfest and we hope to see her again next Friday along with her new boss and his press guy.

Fennick leaves Marino’s office to work for Barletta

Marino spokeswoman joins Barletta's staff

Luzerne County Dems finally have a website

Hey Gort! We just wanted to introduce you to our party's new website and Facebook page!


The LCDC recently launched our website, which we're all really proud of it. Chairwoman Kathy Kane and the entire Committee were very supportive of the effort and voted for the project unanimously. 2nd Dist. Chair Casey Evans is serving as the site's Webmaster. It will move the Luzerne County Democratic Party into a 21st century media environment and we'll be more competitive than ever before: both online and on the streets!


The website can be found here: http://luzernedems.com/meet-us


Our party's Facebook page can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Luzerne-County-Democratic-Party/217974844886953

It's hard to believe that our local donkeys didn't get with the program until now. Our local elephants have been on the web for a few years now.

Luzerne County Republican Party

and on Facebook

It's hard to predict what is going to happen in the upcoming county council races after all the corruption mostly Democratic office holders have been implicated in. But this is an overwhelming Democratic county and they should win a majority on the newfangled council with the GOP putting a few candidates over the top. Who knows, the Libertarians or an independent may grab 1 or 2 of the 11 seats up for grabs.

Rick Santorum in Moutaintop tomorrow

Some of my friends in the Luzerne County GOP are excited that Rick Santorum will have a news conference at their golf tournament tomorrow.


MOUNTAINTOP, PA – Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum will be speaking to a group of Luzerne County Republicans Monday, August 29 at Blue Ridge Trail Golf Course in Mountaintop. Sen. Santorum will be making himself available to media at 3:30pm and speaking to the County GOP at around 4:00pm. Media is also invited to hear Sen. Santorum’s remarks to the GOP. This will be Santorum’s first campaign visit to Pennsylvania following his strong showing in the Ames straw poll. Sen. Santorum finished fourth in the Iowa straw poll despite begin outspent by his opponents ten to one. He is hoping to carry this momentum into the fall campaign season and continue to gain support and increases in poll numbers.

Senator Santorum Returns Home With Momentum

Yeah he finished the top of the also rans

Some people in PA will still not forgive his endosement of Arlen Specter in 2002.


There is a rumor that he will drop by Mountain Freeze for a dairy treat afterward

Update: Due to Sunday's inclement weather the Luzerne County GOP Golf Tournament has been postponed.
Rick Santorum's media availability has been moved to 5:45pm in the parking lot of Arcaro and Gennell's restaraunt in Old Forge.

Ames, Iowa looking over it's shoulder

With all the attention on the Iowa straw poll my friend Dave Baloga decided to get a head start and organized his own.


At the Jonathan Balaster Memorial Summer Picnic on Aug.13th, 2011 we conducted a straw poll of potential (age 18 or older) voters and the results were compiled before anyone had known the Iowa straw poll results. There were 120 attendees and many children. It was a mixed political attendance with the majority Republicans, many Independents and an unknown number of Democrats.


The results of the Luzerne County GOP straw poll:

Rick Perry – 23 votes
Michelle Bachman – 15 votes
Rick Santorum – 12 votes
Mitt Romney – 11 votes
Newt Gingrich – 7 votes
Herman Cain – 7 votes
Ron Paul – 3 votes
Sarah Palin – 2 votes
Tim Pawlenty – 1 vote
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I know this is a small sample but people who go to these events are the hard core Republicans who actually work in campaigns. I'm surprised that Santorum only got 12 out of 77 votes. Maybe they're still mad at him for endorsing Arlen Specter.


Ames, Shmames – Rick Perry Wins Luzerne GOP Straw Poll

Remembering Jonathan Balaster

This Saturday friends of Jonathon will get together at

Lakeside Skillet Deck and Ballroom
279 Lakeside Drive
Harveys Lake, Pennsylvania

Starting at 5PM

The details are on the Luzerne County Republican Party website you can also check it out at this Facebook event page

Jonathan Balester Memorial Family Picnic

Unfortunately we won't be able to attend because we will be at the beach that day. My fondest memory of Jonathan was mediating a dispute he had with a Luzerne County elected official who mistakenly accused him of dredging up some unfavorable information about him. They kissed and made up after I proved to the elected official that he wasn't the source because another blogger found it in public records. Jonathan was very forgiving and gracious as anyone who calls themselves a Christian should be.

The disturbing thing is that the police have not made an arrest in this case. Jonathan was the victim of a violent murder and the person (s) who did it is/are still walking around.

His family is offering a reward for information.

2nd reward offered for info linked to man’s killing

RIP Jonathan Balester

I had run into Jonathan at various Luzerne County Republican events over the last few years and thought he was a good guy. So the news that he has been apparently murdered really hit me hard. I didn't know him that well but he struck me as a gentle soul who would help anyone he could. I'm sure we learn more over the next few days.


Suspicious death is investigated

Police seek information on homicide victim's activities


Also Rusty Flack has died. Another good guy.

First GOP Presidential Debate

The most highly anticipated and ignored event of the Presidential pre-primary season will be held in South Carolina tomorrow.

The participants are:


former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, who I like


Congressman Ron Paul, who I respect but disagee on many things

former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, who I have met

former Virginia Senator Rick Santorum, who makes me laugh

and Herman Cain, I ate a lot of Godfather's Pizza when I lived in Omaha


Of these guys the only one I can take seriously is Pawlenty.

As Steve Bennen said:

I'd call this a clown debate but I don't want to insult clowns.

As far as the supposed serious candidates:

Mitt Romney declined; Gingrich won't set up an exploratory committee until next week and is therefore ineligible; Huntsman is in a similar boat; Michelle Bachmann hasn't made any formal moves; Mitch Daniels is still figuring out what he wants to do; Roy Moore and Roy Roemer can't break 1% in the polls ; and Palin and Huckabee are still on the Fox News payroll.

It's going to be tough to run against the President that killed Bin Laden.

And speaking for the Almighty we get this:


Karen Santorum says the 2012 presidential race, in which her husband, Rick, is a likely Republican candidate, is "not just another political race. It’s about going on to the battlefield and defending God’s truth in the world." [...]
She says the couple has "prayed a lot about the decision" and the former senator's decision--apparently she's referring to his forming a presidential exploratory committee--"is what God wants."

Pic is for my friend Dan

Local GOP victory lap

Luzerne County Republicans will host a Victory Party from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 11, at Genetti Hotel & Conference Center, 77 E. Market St., Wilkes-Barre.
Special guests are Congressmen-Elect Lou Barletta, 11th District, and Tom Marino, 10th District... For more information go to the website, http://luzernegop.org/

They are rightly crowing about helping to put the statewide and congressional candidates over the top but the real story is what is happening in the down ballot races. In 2008 the Republicans didn't have one candidate run against the 5 incumbent Democratic State Representatives in Luzerne County. This time around they put up a full slate and were very competitive in the 119th and 120th districts and even knocked off the the Democratic House leader in the 116th although I think that had more to do with Todd Eachus getting beat up by the local papers for flying around on Robert Powell's jet than the merits of Tarah Toohill. But a win is a win. Last year they won 2 of the 3 county row offices after losing every contest in 2007.

Three things have helped change their fortunes. The election of Terry Casey as chairman of the party, the hiring of Renita Fennick as Executive Director and the financial backing of a few donors that always gave money to state and federal GOP candidates but usually skipped the local elections or gave to Democrats because that is where the smart money went.

The back mountain money boys have made it possible to have a full time, year round campaign office in Wilkes-Barre with Renita operating the nuts and bolts. From what I'm told Casey has been a good recruiter and has been able to smooth over the internal divisions of the various factions and got them to work toward a common goal.

For all the hand ringing over the lack of guaranteed minority representation in the new Luzerne County Home Rule Charter it looks like the Republicans will win some seats.

On to 2011.

Weekend events

Me and Mrs. G will be attending a wedding on Saturday then leave for Rehoboth Beach on Sunday so we will not be able to attend these events with our friends.

BTW, can anyone recommend a good beach read? I'm looking for a funny novel.


GOP Family Picnic

Harteis Farm, Dallas Township

The outing is to be held from 1 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 7, at Harteis Farm in Dallas Township....This is a great chance to meet the candidates, catch up with friends and enjoy a summer day at a beautiful site. Gerry Harteis has again graciously offered his lovely horse farm for this annual event.

I attended last year and enjoyed it very much. I hope Moses is still around to greet the guests. It would be interesting to see if Prothonotary Carollee Medico-Oligarchy and Art Bobbouine make an appearance.

Update: Bob Sypniewski informed me today that Moses passed away. He also had some choice words about Carolee. I will be talking to him after I get back from the beach and will give you a full report.

On Sunday NEPA PrideFest 2010 will be held at Kirby Park in Wilkes-Barre


Sunday · 12:00pm - 6:00pm

Location F.M. Kirby Park
301 Northampton Street
Kingston, PA

NEPA PrideFest brings together the entire gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community with supporters and allies from the Greater Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, and Poconos region of Pennsylvania.

I would like to see who attends both events.

Issues & Eggs

Renita sent along this reminder from the Luzerne County GOP




Issues & Eggs

Republican Candidates Forum at Genetti's in Downtown Wilkes-Barre

Friday, April 9, 8:15 a.m.

Doors open at 7:30 a.m., Breakfast 7:45 a.m.


Featuring:

Jim Cawley, endorsed candidate for Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor

Congressional Candidates Lou Barletta, David Madeira, Tom Marino & Malcolm Derk

State Senatorial Candidates Steve Urban who is also running for Lt. Gov. & Frank Scavo

State Representative Candidates Rick Arnold, Bill Goldsworthy, Terrence O’Connor, James O’Meara & Tarah Toohil

I'm a nightshift guy so I don't do mornings. I hope that the next candidates forum will be at a more reasonable hour. How about a dinner event with the name Kielbasa and Korruption.

More complaints from Carolee

Picking up where she left off in her first term as Prothonotary Carolee Medico Olenginski last week was complaining about the rug in her office.

Now she is upsetting the new found unity of the Luzerne County Republican Party saying the organization should not take credit for her election and wants her pictures removed from the new county GOP website. I lifted both of them from the site. She complains that some people couldn't attend the Michael Steele event because they didn't pony up $50 to join the Club GOP. “A lot of people agree with me...A lot of people who have been very active with the Republican Party couldn’t afford to go see Michael Steele that night,” Olenginski said. “To me, that’s wrong. If you’re trying to build a strong party, everyone should be welcome; if you’re trying to build something, you shouldn’t put up walls to keep people out.” She also is upset with the lack of financial support from the party. Controller-elect Walter Griffith said “Honestly, I don’t think the party has much money to hand out yet. But they did step up and helped me and Carolee, as well.”

Chairman Terry Casey pointed out “If she was unable to attend our functions, we always spoke on her behalf; we did what we could for her.” I can attest to that. She was a no show at the Operation HEART kickoff and Executive Director Renita Fennick sang her praises.

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No word of what she thinks of the decor of the party HQ in W-B. It's going to be a fun 4 years.

Where are the local Democrats?

The Luzerne County Republican Party and Row office nominees have had a bunch of high profile get togethers, media events and fund raisers since the the May Primary but I've hardly heard a peep out of the Democratic row officer candidates.

Democratic Judge candidate Bill Amesbury has been on the hustings and Tina Gartley has a slew of events listed on her website. Republican Dick Hughes is also working hard. I have bumped into Judge Thomas Burke (R), who is up for retention, in a few places and I have yet to hear anyone say a bad thing about him. As far as I know he is not even raising money. The other judge up for retention, Peter Paul Olszewski Jr., knows that he is in trouble and has an event this week. Via PittstonPolitics.com PPO-2 will host a retention rally this Thursday, Oct 1 at 7PM. It will be held at the Red Mil Tavern in Pittston.

It looks like the Judicial candidates are running their campaigns independently of the county Democratic Party. That is probably a good stratergy.

Back to the row officer races.

Long time Register of Wills Dottie Stankovic is up against Republican Gina Nevenglosky. I always liked Dottie because she wouldn't always play ball with the powers that be. Her best endorsement came from former county Democratic Chairman Joe Mazur who was "gleeful" that Steve Flood lost the Controller nomination to Maryanne Petrilla in 2005. He said that "She and certain other people have been a cancer within the organization."
I haven't been to any Polka festivals lately so I haven't seen Dottie. Gina has scheduled an event at the courthouse on Saturday October 10, 2009 at 1:00PM.

Republican Carolee Medico Olenginski is looking to return to the office of Prothonotary after being defeated twice by the disgraced Jill Moran. Carolee has been everywhere since the primary and I still predict that she will win in a walk. Nurse Nancy Bellas won the Democratic nomination in May and hasn't been heard from since.


In the Controllers race Bob Morgan surfaced today to complain about a math error on Walter Griffith' s campaign finance report. Morgan was the only Democratic candidate for Controller in the primary which I thought was kind of weird for an open seat. Take a look at Morgan's report and you will see some familiar names. This is the first times in months that I have read Morgan's name in the papers or anywhere else. Griffith has been everywhere asking people for their vote.

Regular commenter Will Toole, the Independent candidate, has been pressing the flesh, working the blogs and writing letters to the editor. His latest missive in the CV asks the same question I have been asking the last few years.

Why hasn't casino gambling reduced property taxes?

I'm sure (hope) that our Democratic candidates will be more visible in the next few weeks before the election. If they think that they can rely on the registration edge to carry them to victory they are in for a big surprise. You still have to ask people for their vote and in this toxic atmosphere that may not be enough.

Operation HEART kickoff

"All Democrats are not crooks, but all the crooks are Democrats.”-Luzerne County GOP Chairman Terry Casey

To reinforce that point yesterday we saw the Juvie Bothers, Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella, plead not guilty to a 48 count indictment. They previously plead guilty to 2 charges.

Jury Commissioner and Housing Authority Board Chairman Jerry Bonner also entered a plea of not guilty to taking a bribe. To top off a banner day W-B Area School Board President Frank Pizzella was indicted. All of them are elected Democrats.

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Our local elephants have a snappy new slogan to get the point across.

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Operation HEART: Honesty· Ethics· Accountability· Reform· Transparency

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Yesterday, the county Republican Party had a sparsely attended news conference in their shiny new digs in the Mid-town Village in Wilkes-Barre with PA State Supreme Court nominee Joan Orie Melvin as the headliner. Two of the three row officer candidates didn't even bother to show up. You still have to work on this party unity thing folks.

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Chairman Terry Casey started off the festivities reminding us that this is "the valley with a heart." A slogan that has been popular since the Agnes flood in 1972. Again I feel like we are living on Noah's Ark, before the flood-after the flood.

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That will and determination, that essential goodness, is still here. Unfortunately, it has been overshadowed by a corrupt political machine brought on by the perils of a one-party system. It’s the dirty little secret that we’ve all known about for years: cronyism, nepotism, teachers paying for jobs. One set of rules for those in power, another set of rules for the rest of us. So, what do we do to polish that tarnished image and to reclaim our reputation as the Valley With A Heart?

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Nothing short of a heart transplant. And that’s what we plan to do.We are the Republican Party of Luzerne County and I stand here today and pledge that the days of a one-party political system are over.

Zen has the whole speech.

Judge Melvin had this to say:

The most egregious case of judicial corruption and judicial abuse of power in our nation’s history actually occurred here in Pennsylvania, in Luzerne County. The judiciary violated these children. Within 5 minutes of being sworn in, they were escorted out in shackles to these personal profitable lock-ups. This is surreal. It is right out of a Charles Dickens’ novel.

She then recounted how she handled juvenile cases when she was judge in Pittsburgh. Non-violent kids didn't get locked up but were sentenced to community service.

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Dick Hughes was the next to speak and he was for positive change then touted that he has been endorsed by the Luzerne County Police Chiefs.

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The last speaker was Controller candidate Walter Griffith who stole the show. He was going to read his speech but put it aside and spoke from the heart. He endorsed the goals of operation HEART and added that he has been passionate about local government and the spending of your money. He knocked the local Dems sense of entitlement and pledged to "follow the money" whenever something doesn't pass the smell test. He complimented former Controller Steve Flood for his tenacity and said he will be just as tenacious.

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The program ended with Executive Director Renita Fennick singing the praises of Carolee Medico who didn't bother to show up.

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If Carolee were here, we’d have to give her the letter “R.”
If anyone knows reform, it’s Carolee Medico Olenginski.
For those of you who remember, Carolee took the courthouse by storm when she was first elected 12 years ago.
She took some steps that were unheard of – she came to work every day, stayed all day and kept track of her staff’s hours and days off.
She used the term “judicial corruption” long before it became a household word in Luzerne County.
It took courage to stand up for the people – especially when you find yourself standing alone – as Carolee often did. Many wished her well but ran for cover when she confronted corruption.
She was way ahead of the investigators and knew there was trouble under the dome. She was such a threat to corrupt officials that her 2001 opponent spent over $265,000 to unseat her.
We need to get Carolee back in office to finish the job that she started.


Register of Wills Candidate Gina Nevenglosky was also a no show.

A few other faces in the crowd were Commissioner Steve Urban and former State Senator Charlie Lemmond.

GOP Kickoff

From the inbox:

Judge Joan Orie Melvin, Republican candidate for Pennsylvania Supreme Court, will join Luzerne County Republican candidates at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15, as they unveil the party’s unified campaign.

The press conference will be held at the county GOP’s newly opened permanent headquarters, 41 S. Main St., Suite 14, in downtown Wilkes-Barre.

The Republican candidates will outline their campaign for the remaining seven weeks as they work to bring honesty, ethics, accountability, reform and transparency to the Luzerne County Courthouse.

Republicans on the ballot include Richard Hughes, Court of Common Pleas; Walter L. Griffith Jr., Controller; Carolee Medico Olenginski, Prothonotary; Gina Nevenglosky, Register of Wills/Clerk of the Orphan’s Court; and Frank Semanski, Jury Commissioner. Democrat William Amesbury is the other judicial nominee on the Republican ballot.


The event is open to the public.

Luzerne County GOP picnic

I made it to the Luzerne County Republican Party Family picnic yesterday along with at least 200 other people at the beautiful Hartis Horse Farm in Dallas. The host was recent Controller candidate Bob Sypniewski who spent the day directing traffic. I was wasn't able to stay long and bit my tongue when some of the people started Obama bashing and repeating misinformation about health care reform. Yes, it was bleeding afterward but since this was a social occasion I decided not to get into any arguments with people that can't be persuaded anyway. Speaking of the unpersuadable, I ran into Dave Madeira as I was leaving and he was arriving.

The only picture I snagged was of our next Court of Common Pleas Judge Bill Amesbury and sitting Judge Tom Burke then my camera battery died and I didn't take a spare. Bill won both nominations so he is probably a lock but he stressed to me and anyone else that asked that he is not taking anything for granted and will continue to campaign hard. Republican Judge nominee Dick Hughes was working the crowd and I may just bullet vote for him. Blog buddy ZEN was there with his family and his son confirmed that he has filled his head with untruths about me:) Executive Directer Renita Fennick was the social butterfly of the event and made sure she greeted everyone including your humble narrator- "Oh, it's you."

My counseling efforts worked out between Jonathon and Controller nominee Walter Griffith. They kissed and made up. Carolee Medico was there and is probably headed back to the Courthouse for a repeat performance as Prothonotary.

I had a nice chat with SPCA Director and former WBRE weather guy Vince Sweeney and his wife Carol, at first I thought she was his daughter. Just kidding pal, you're a lucky man. Vince and I have the same talent for breaking machines like weed eaters, lawn mowers and appliances. He told me that if you want a cat the SPCA is handing them out for free which got my wheels turning. I'm sure Quincy would love another playmate but Ptolemy would freak and Mrs. G would also be a hard sell. I'm not sure but I think I'm on the hook for the next fundraiser for the SPCA at Francis Slocum Park in October. I already drop off my albumin cans there but not out of purely altruistic motives. Let them take them to Bilecki's junk yard.

My old friend Carl Romanelli is not optimistic about the health care legislation that will come out of Washington. He prefers a single payer system as do I. He told me that the best thing about being an Independent/Green is that you can go to any party's event and not get anybody mad at you. I suggested that instead of running for statewide offices that they will never win the minor party's like the Greens and Libertarians should put some effort into winning city council, state rep and school board seats and build as a bench for the big races down the line.

Because I was pressed for time I didn't get a chance to say hello to everyone. Some of the people I missed were Wilkes-Barre Area School board candidate Harry Haas , Hanover politico and head of the Malt Beverage Assoc. Dave Shipula, Mr. Flack, Alice Coffman and I'm sure I'm leaving out many others.

A real treat was meeting my Facebook friends David and Kathy .

I also met Superior Court nominees Sallie Mundy and Temp Smith who will be covered in a future post.

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Moses was there greeting everyone and spent the afternoon trying to convince them that they didn't really need all that food on the plate.

Did I drop enough names ?

GOP Picnic Tomorrow

The event is at the beautiful Harteis Farm in Dallas. Details at the Luzerne County GOP website.

Moses is the official greeter at Bob's farm.

YouTube weekend

The Luzerne County GOP now has a YouTube page. There are 4 videos of the recent Lawn Party at the Westmoreland Club that I was unable to attend. They seem a bit overdressed for a "lawn party" and why is the action inside?

In this clip we we can see State Senator Lisa Baker and Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta singing a duet of "Paradise by the Dashboard Lights." Well, not really but we can always hope.