Jenna Ridgeway
On March 6, the PebbleCreek Republican Club enjoyed an evening of freedom–loving speakers. To start the evening, Club President Patricia Moore announced we have 858 members, with 154 being vets and 36 new members to date.
Our first speaker was Eric Cultum from the Agua Fria Governing Board. He gave a short presentation on the new initiatives from this school district including different Academies they are offering as alternatives or enhancers for the student special interests. He also discussed two federal programs they have started, called AZ Overdose and Stop It, both working toward education of the dangers of opioids and Fentanyl.
Aaron Withe has been with the Freedom Foundation out of Washington, D.C., since 2015. One of the main objectives of the foundation is working with members of the largest unions in the U.S., Government employees. The foundation assists members with litigation to stop the misuse of dues for political promotion without a member’s consent and is working to pass legislation to ban unions from taking dues from members’ paychecks. Currently, the Freedom Foundation has 65 active cases focused on individual liberties and government accountability. They feel success is measurable and work is scalable.
Keeping with the theme of liberty, advocacy, and empowerment, our last speakers were two young ladies from the Young America Foundation (YAF). This organization runs the Reagan Ranch and was established in 1960. Former Governor Scott Walker is president of the foundation and the mission is to reach and inspire the younger generation. Speakers Katie Miller and Madison Habersetzer expounded on their introduction to politics and how the Future Leaders Program inspired them to join the YAF team to help other youth. The program reaches out to middle school, high school, and college students and offers two to five days on the Reagan Ranch for conferences and also lectures on college campuses. These events bring in high level political people with whom they can meet and interact. This program also teaches history and economics. The ladies told us that such guests as Ben Shapiro, Michael Knowles, Kristi Noems, Alan West, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Kellyanne Conway are just some of the guest speakers at this valuable program. Incredibly, the cost is only $125 for the students, due to the generous sponsorship program they promote. YAF is also responsible for preserving not only the Reagan Ranch, but Reagan’s home in Dixon, Ill.