The Polk County Republicans present “A Barn-burner at Living History Farms” where you can hear all declared GOP Gubernatorial Candidates speak out.  Click the image at right to view the invitation!

This fundraising event will be held at Living History Farms Flynn Barn (11121 Hickman Road in Urbandale) on Sunday, October 11, 2009 at 5:30p (buffet dinner catered by The Iowa Machine Shed starts at 6:00p).  Parking will be available at the Visitor Center, and a shuttle will take you to the barn.  Handicapped assistance will be provided.

Tickets cost $30/single, $50/couple and $65/family

If you would like to RSVP, purchase a ticket, or have a question please contact:

• Connie Schmett – connieschmett@polkgop.com or 515-238-3611
• John Bloom – johnbloom@polkgop.com or 515-494-7458
• Will Rogers – willrogers@polkgop.com or 515-669-1648

More details to come!  But mark your calendars, and grab some family and friends and support the Polk County Republicans in our mission to rally, recruit, register, retain and elect Republicans.

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State Chairman Matt Strawn outlines Iowa GOP education reform measures.

These boots WERE made for walking and “Now The End is Near”. We face the final curtain.   It is time for our last parade of the 2009 season and we want to end with as much enthusiasm as when we first started in early June.  Even if you haven’t been able to be in another parade all summer, we need your help this Saturday.

WHAT: Beaverdale Fall Festival Parade

WHEN: Saturday, September 19, 2009

TIME: Line up for walkers will be between 9-9:30 a.m. 

WHERE: North parking lot of First Federated Church (located on the west side of 48th Street between Hickman and Franklin). Look for our elephant!

We will be there with our venerable elephant float and look forward to having you join us.  For more information, please contact John Bloom at 515-494-7458 (cell) or Mary Whisenand at (515) 360-6985.

Our next Central Committee Meeting will be Tuesday, September 22, from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM.  Our meeting location will beat the Northwest Community Center located at 5110 Franklin Avenue in Des Moines.  Here’s a map:

Our Agenda for the evening:

1. Pledge of Allegiance
2. Guest Speakers- Kim Lehman, Iowa National Committeewoman for the Republican National Committee
3. Order of Business
4. Review & Approve Minutes – August 25th, 2009 (5m)
5. Receive Treasurer’s Report  (5m)
6. Executive Committee Report (10m)
7. Review and confirm new Executive Committee appointments.  (5m)
8. Review and confirm changes to the Central Committee. (5m)
9. Polk County Republicans activities since last CC meeting. (5m)
10. Committee Reports on Strategic Action Plan (40m)
11. Introduce Central Committee Fall Training Plan (15m)
12. Open Discussion & Wrap Up (10m)

After the Meeting: House District Directors and CC Members – Get to know each other

We look forward to seeing you on September 22!

Coming up on September 12, 2009 at 5:30p come out to eat some pork (not the type from Washington, but from the farm) and hear from 2010 Iowa Gubernatorial Race candidates at the Ag Building at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.  The cost of a ticket is $25 and the proceeds go to Iowa Family Policy Center Action.

IFPC Action was actively engaged in the 2008 elections where they helped several family-friendly candidates become lawmakers (one example Representative Kent Sorenson of Indianola who unseated a long-time incumbent).  IFPC Action was also involved in working with and lobbying the Iowa Legislature during the last General Assembly.  They are also tirelessly working to defend marriage in Iowa.

Candidates who have been invited: Senator Jerry Behn, Senate Minority Leader Paul McKinley, Governor Chet Culver, Representative Christopher Rants, Christian Fong, Representative Rod Roberts and Bob Vander Plaats.  So far Behn, Rants, Fong, Roberts, and Vander Plaats have confirmed their attendance.

So come out to enjoy BBQ from Kansas City BBQ and get to hear from the different candidates who attend.  You can purchase your ticket online here.

Source: Caffeinated Thoughts (republished with permission)

Many of you went the distance and participated in Town Hall events during the Congressional August Break.  We are very anxious to hear about your experiences and feedback that you have about the events, Congressmen’s positions, etc.  Obviously, Health Care Reform has been the predominate topic, but there have been some discussions on other crucial topics such as Cap and Trade, Economic Stimulus, Forclosures, etc.  We want to hear from you on any of these topics!

You can leave a comment on this blog post by clicking here, or by sending us an email at info@polkgop.com.  Your thoughts, experiences, positions, or general opinions would be great!  We will put together a montage of these comments in the next week.

We performed some maintenance on the web site over the weekend, and some of you may have had issues accessing the web site, especially Sunday.  We did not expect any impact, but only discovered after completing the work that some people were affected.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Our next Central Committee Meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 25th at 7:00p until 9:30p.

Our meeting location has changed.

It will be held at the Northwest Community Center located at 5110 Franklin Ave. in Des Moines.

See the Facebook event page.

Jim Frogue, Director of State Policy for the Center for Health Transformation, will be a guest speaker at our meeting. He will be talking about the Health Care Bill before Congress. This will be a great opportunity to learn more about this bill and what we can do to prevent a government takeover of our Health System!

More information on Jim at this link.

Meeting Agenda:

Pledge of Allegiance

Speakers

• Jim Frogue, Vice President and Director of State Policy for the Center for Health Transformation (CHT) (60m including Q&A)

Old Business

• Review & Approve Minutes – May 26, 2009 (5m)
• Receive Treasurer’s Report  (5m)
• Miscellaneous Updates (5m)

New Business

• Review and confirm new Executive Committee appointments.  (5m)
• Review and confirm changes to the Central Committee. (5m)
• Polk County Republicans activities since last CC meeting. (5m)
• Committee Reports on Strategic Action Plan (25m)

Open Discussion & Wrap Up (5m)

Post Meeting:

• House District Directors – Get to know District CC Members (10m)

We have the public event schedules for August (at least what has been planned so far) for Leonard Boswell, Tom Harkin and Chuck Grassley.

We encourage everyone to take the time to attend one or more of these events and let your representatives in Congress know where you stand on the issues of today, particularly the Health Care Bill.  They need to hear from us loud and clear.

Here are the public schedules as they exist today (August 9):

Tom Harkin:

Saturday, August 8th – 2:00 P.M.
Des Moines Primary Health Care, Inc.
1200 University Avenue
Des Moines

Sunday, August 9th – Noon
Groundbreaking Ceremony for the new Job Corps Center with Labor Secretary Solis
Industrial Airport Complex
Ottumwa

Monday, August 10th – 9:15 A.M.
Peoples Community Health Center
905 Franklin Street
Waterloo

Monday, August 10th – 11:30 A.M.
Grand Opening of Linn Community Care Center
1201 3rd Avenue SE
Cedar Rapids

Monday, August 10th – 2:00 P.M
American Legion Post #17 (Medal Presentations)
3016 Muscatine Avenue
Iowa City

Tuesday, August 11th – 9:00 A.M.
Eastern Iowa Community College’s Nursing Program
500 Belmont Road
Bettendorf

Tuesday, August 11th – 2:00 P.M
Center for Active Seniors Inc. Center (Medal Presentations)
1035 W. Kimberly
Davenport

Wednesday, August 12th – 10:30 A.M.
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for United Community Health Center
630 Ontario Street
Storm Lake

Wednesday, August 12th – 1:30 P.M.
Ft. Dodge Community Health Center
126 N 10th Street
Ft. Dodge

Wednesday, August 12th – 3:30 P.M.
Main Street Tour
602 Broad Street
Story City

Thursday, August 13th – 9:00 A.M.
Iowa State Fair
State Fairgrounds
Des Moines

Thursday, August 13th – 5:45 P.M.
Main Street Tour
7 North Federal Avenue
Mason City

Friday, August 14th – 9:00 A.M.
North Iowa Area Community College
500 College Drive
104 H McAllister Hall
Mason City

Leonard Boswell:

Wednesday August 5th, 9:30 AM
Senior Center, Knoxville
Topic: Energy

Friday August 7th , 1:30 PM
City Hall, Chariton
Topic: SBA

Wednesday August 12, 1:00 PM
SE 14th Street and E Indianola Ave
SE Corner of Parking Lot
Des Moines
Topic: Groundbreaking of street widening project

Wednesday August 12, 2:00 PM
2109 32nd Street
Des Moines
Topic: First Time Home Buyers

Wednesday August 12, 6:30 PM
State Fair Parade
Des Moines

Thursday August 13, 9:30 AM
Location TBA
Polk City
Topic: Small Business

Thursday August 13, 2:00 PM
Public Library
720 East Jackson Street
Sigourney
Topic: “Listening Post” on Health Care

Friday August 14, 8:30 AM
Horizon Elementary
5905 NW 100^th Street
Johnston
Topic: Boy Scout Project Visit

Friday August 14, 2:00 PM
609 High Street
Grinnell
Topic: First Time Home Buyers

Chuck Grassley:

Madison County Town Hall Meeting
Wednesday August 12, 2009 9:15 – 10:15 AM
Winterset Public Library
123 North 2nd Street
Winterset

Union County Town Hall Meeting
Wednesday August 12, 2009 11:15 – 12:15 PM
Afton City Hall
Council Chambers
115 East Kansas Street
Afton

Guthrie County Town Hall Meeting
Wednesday August 12, 2009 2:30 – 3:30 PM
Panora Community Center
115 West Main Street
Panora

Dallas County Town Hall Meeting
Wednesday August 12, 2009 4:30 – 5:30 PM
Adel Public Library
Meeting Room
303 South 10th Street
Adel

Humboldt County Town Hall Meeting
Monday August 24, 2009 9:00 – 10:00 AM
Rustix Restaurant
716 Sumner Avenue
Humboldt

Palo Alto County Town Hall Meeting
Monday August 24, 2009 11:30 – 12:30 PM
Ruthven Social Center
1503 Rolling Street
Ruthven

Pocahontas County Town Hall Meeting
Monday August 24, 2009 2:00 – 3:00 PM
Pocahontas Public Library
Community Room
14 2nd Avenue NW
Pocahontas

Calhoun County Town Hall Meeting
Monday August 24, 2009 4:15 – 5:15 PM
Rockwell City Community Center on the Square
424 Main Street
Rockwell City

Roundtable Discussion with Auto Dealers*
Wednesday August 26, 2009 8:15 – 9:15 AM
Knoefpler Chevrolet
100 Jackson Street
Sioux City

*Senator Grassley is a guest of Knoefpler Chevrolet. Please contact them with any questions about availability during this meeting.

Plymouth County Town Hall Meeting
Wednesday August 26, 2009 10:15 – 11:15 AM
Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor
24 5th Avenue NW
Business 75 and Highway 3
Le Mars

We have an incredible opportunity to make a difference for the 2009 Iowa General Assembly by switching a Democrat vote to Republican.  But we have to act now!

As you may already know, John Whitaker (D-Hillsboro), from Iowa House District 90, resigned to accept a position with the federal government.  Stephen Burgmeier, a Republican and Jefferson County Supervisor, has been nominated as the Republican candidate for the special election to be held on September 1, 2009.

Do you remember the Labor bill we held off by 1 vote in 2009?  Remember how close Federal Deductability came to being repealed?  In order to cut back the Democrat majority, Stephen needs our help!

This will be a tight race, but we have a candidate that is well known and liked in his district.

Can you help?  Can you take some time to knock on doors in Jefferson, Wapello and Van Buren Counties?  Or can you help with phone calling?  Here are some great opportunities for you to make a difference in the 2010 Iowa Legislative Session:

Door Knocking Weekends:

Saturday, August 8

Saturday, August 15

Saturday, August 22

Saturday, August 29

Phone Calling:

Please contact Mary (info below) to get set up. 

Headquarters:

The campaign office is open Monday through Saturday if you have additional questions.  For the door knocking weekend’s people will gather at the office and then go out to volunteer.

60 South Main Street, Fairfield, IA

—It is at the corner of Burlington and Main Street on the Fairfield Town Square—   Map

To volunteer please contact:

Katie Koberg
Email: katiekoberg@gmail.com
Phone: 515-971-4571

Mary Earnhardt
Email: mkearnhardt@gmail.com
Phone: 515-778-5229