CFRW Woman of the Year ... Sherry Rallis
Congratulations Sherry This year's CFRW Woman of the Year award was presented to a Federated woman who has spent years raising a family and working in her family's business while finding time to devote to the Federation, Republican Party and Civic Service. As stated by her fellow Brea RWF member Sue Hamilton, who nominated her, "she has a comprehensive depth and breadth in volunteer service in multi-spheres of influence, where she creates enthusiasm and added value with her Federation, Republican Party and community relationships. She is an idea person who always has a smile and a can do attitude. As a relatively new member, Sherry Rallis serves her club as the Caring for America Chair. She designed, coordinated and facilitated more than five "Calls to Action" in serving the community at local and national levels. These actions included but were not limited to, more than 16 businesses receiving Flag Day presentations of an American Flag and more than 250 Soldier and Marine Care packages sent to Afghanistan, all projects that have resulted in community acknowledgement of the Federation. Sherry has rallied support towards the CFRW Track Chair Campaign for Wounded Veterans. Most recently she planned coordinated and executed a county-wide Membership Appreciation Tea. Her club has documented more than 350 volunteer hours of service to the Federation in the past 12 months. Sherry volunteers at her county GOP Headquarters where she was instrumental in creating a coordinated plan to prevent duplication and gaps for Volunteer phone/walker/mailing production collaboration between 6 cities whose precincts have multiple Republican candidates in the 2014 election, and she is currently volunteering for a local candidate. She is an active member of the Republican Senatorial Committee, Republican National Committee and a founding member of the Republican Presidential Task Force. As if all of this doesn't keep her busy enough, she is a registered Volunteer with the Army Community Service, traveling nationally serving as a Master Resilience Trainer and Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Instructor to more than 300 Soldiers and Families per month! Sherry is the only National Command Volunteer Coordinator for the Army Reserve Legal Command, where she recruits, mentors and trains other volunteers as well as unit commanders on best practices for Military Family Well-Being. She volunteers for her local church where she serves as the co-facilitator for a woman's 12 week Bible Study. Just to name a few of her Awards and Honors, Congressman Ed Royce honored her with a Congressional Certificate of Recognition for Outstanding Service to the Military and Civilian Community. In March she traveled to the Pentagon, Hall of Heroes, to receive the Department of Defense Army Reserve Family Readiness Annual Unit Award as she lead 19 volunteers. Just last month at the Pentagon, she received the Army Reserve Family Programs Volunteer wristwatch, presented to volunteers whose directors document more than 3,500 cumulative hours. Congratulations to our fellow Federated Republican Woman for her outstanding contributions to CFRW, CFRW Southern Division, CA Republican Party, Orange County Republican Party and the Brea RWF. Nominated by fellow Brea member Sue Hamilton, CFRW Woman of the Year 2014 Sherry Rallis! President’s Perspective:
It's the day before the election and I'm getting so many robo calls, I don't feel like answering my phone at all. Not to mention all the "hate" mail I've gotten over the past several months. This is campaign season and for some reason the candidates feel that the one that sends the most vicious attack mailers will win the election. Not in my world. I do NOT respond to negative campaigning. I tried to hear as many of the candidates on the ballot as I could. It was great that the Southern Division and Orange County Republican Women Federated had so many candidates present at meetings giving me a chance to hear them in person!! I took the time to hear all three of our Assembly Candidates side by side on May 10th. I will cast my vote based on my impressions of the candidates in person. I like those politicians that get out and meet voters, shake hands, answer their specific questions and give you a clear vision of what they can do for us when they get in office. On any given day, I can get mailers from some candidates completely bashing the other in one hand and have the smear tactics from some other candidates in my other hand. Wow! That's how hard earned dollars are spent on campaigns? What a waste of money because they actually drive me further from a candidate than draw me into their campaigns. 2014 is an "off" year. What is it going to be like for the slate that will be vying for the Presidential nomination in 2016? I can only imagine the ugliness our candidates are going to shower down on each other, providing tons of information for our opponents to use against us. What do you think about the campaign? Did you decide on whom to vote for based on what mail you received? Did you make a decision based on who endorsed a particular candidate? Did you flip a coin? I'm really, really, really wanting to know how you decided (not who you decided) to vote for. I hope and pray that you all actually DID vote! Every single vote does count and does make a difference. No matter what, there is nothing more important to the success of our nation than the voting process. It is foundational to our Republic and the best way to protect our Liberty! While I am completely turned off by the negative campaigning that is being done within my Party, I still support the Republican Party -- with every breath in my body! But I will speak up as a voice within our Party to let them know what I am thinking. Republican Women Federated is the "educational" arm of the Party. So, I'm compelled to "educate" my Party leaders how we feel about the process in Brea. I'm going to be working at a polling place all day tomorrow. I will cast my vote and then be there for the entire day getting another perspective on our election process. I'm going to watch people come in to vote, or drop off their ballots. I'm going to get a sense of how engaged they are to this election. What was the cost spent on mailers vs. the number of votes cast? Could money have been spent more wisely and thus drawn in more voters? I'm very anxious to see this process. I'll let you know what I find out. Perhaps I'll send you an email after the Primary is over. But for today, I hope you're not trying to call me, cuz I'm just not answering any more calls. Peggy Westerfeld |
Environmentalist Radicals Drive Up Memorial Day Food Costs by RICK MANNING ON BREITBART 26 May 2014 The federal government, at the behest of radical environmentalists, has decided over the past few years that flushing fresh water out to the Pacific Ocean in a test to save a fish was a higher priority than providing that same water to farms in the central valley of California. This year, with drought conditions drying up other sources for water, the federal government has gone so far as to cut the farming allocations to zero. Zero water means that crops don’t get planted in many areas of this major agricultural supplier to the nation and world, and if crops don’t get planted, food is not produced. Now, the effects of these environmentalist-driven decisions are coming home to roost across America, as Reuters reports that the U.S. Department of Agriculture “has warned of sticker shock facing home chefs on the eve of the Memorial Day holiday weekend, the unofficial start of the U.S. summer grilling season.” The report puts the finger on disastrous drought conditions in California that threaten to have "large and lasting effects on U.S. fruit, vegetable, dairy and egg prices." Of course what the report fails to do is tie the environmentalist water wasting, smelt-saving penchant to the denial of crop-saving water to farmers. This is the real cost of environmentalism gone wild, where destroying the food growers of California is just collateral damage on the altar of saving the planet. And the rising cost of food cannot come at a worse time as our nation struggles with record numbers of people on food stamps. It can be predicted that the media will bemoan rising food costs with stories about children going hungry in order to pressure Congress to increase assistance, when in fact, the drought that is causing the problems is at least partially man-made. The rising food costs are a product of environmental policies that put baby fish before the dignity of a farm worker job, and even ahead of the ability of a human child to have enough to eat. While Nancy Pelosi, Dianne Feinstein, and Barbara Boxer, all millionaires many times over, will not feel the impact of the rising food costs either in D.C. or at their swanky San Francisco five star restaurant hang outs, the rest of America will be forced to cut back once again. The lethal combination of wage stagnation, non-existent job growth, and increasing food costs are just another nail in America’s middle class’ coffin, and no amount of income inequality demagoguery will get the left out from under their culpability for the crisis. This Memorial Day, remember those who fought and died for your freedom, but on the Tuesday that follows, remember those whose radical environmental policies made it just a little more expensive. Rick Manning is vice president of public policy and communications for Americans for Limited Government. |