Republican Women Meet at WISP
By Julie Krieger
It was an eventful MFRW convention last weekend! Despite the rain and fog which resulted in temporary road closures, we all made it safely. Thanks to the ten ladies who represented our clubs and made the three hour drive to Garrett County to participate: Vikki Birkett, Brigitta Mullican, Julie Krieger. Sylvia Darrow, Martha Hale, Laurie Halverson, Amy D’Elia, Anne Koutsoutis, Sandy Tuttle and Elizabeth Ohmen.
Anne Koutsoutis, MFRW 3rd Vice President, led the attendees in a lovely prayer to begin the Board Meeting.
Julie Krieger, the MFRW Membership Chair, presented membership awards to several clubs. Congrats to Chevy Chase Women’s Republican Club for winning the summer membership contest!
Martha Hale introduced a motion to table a bylaws change which would have eliminated the corresponding secretary position. Her motion passed after discussion.
We are excited to announce that Vikki Birkett was nominated from the floor for 2nd VP by Brigitta Mullican, and was elected. Congrats to Vikki!
Congratulations to the newly elected Maryland Federation of Republican women officers:
President: Sharon Carrick (serving her second term)
1st VP: Luanne Ruddell
2nd VP: Vikki Birkett (nominated from the floor)
3rd VP: Jana Hobbs (nominated from the floor)
Treasurer: Anne White
Assistant Treasurer: Diana Waterman
Recording Secretary: Melissa Brown
Corresponding Secretary: Rebecca Tittermary (nominated from the floor)
We passed administrative changes to the bylaws. We also passed several resolutions:
#1 to support action to save women’s sports
#2 to reaffirm our charter as an organization represented by registered Republican women (without any need for additional adjectives or qualifiers because the U.S. Supreme Court’s philosophy of “orginigalism”, which as been used by the Court to preserve Second Amendment rights and to reverse Roe v. Wade, proceeds from the premise that words should be defined and interpreted as they were first used by the authors.
#3 to support additional analysis and specific, realistic cost, energy and pollution estimates for Maryland’s Climate Pathway Plan
#4 & #5 to thank Garrett County and the Wisp Resort for hosting our convention.
We heard an excellent presentation on the fentanyl crisis: “The Lost Voices of Fentanyl" by one of our MFRW members from Baltimore County, Karen Tully. Her presentation can be viewed at https://rumble.com/v3phog5-mfrw-fall-convention.html?fbclid=IwAR1YkD78OiWXGnb8CxlcTq4bySP-UF-6iAsUcsVx9PWIks3qshPrr6Xzx9I.
Thanks to all the Officers and Board members of MFRW which include members from MoCo: Anne Koutsoutis (3rd VP), Julie Krieger (Membership Chair & Regional Vice Chair), Laurie Halverson (Regional Chair), and Kathy Gugulis (Regional 2nd Vice Chair).
We learned a lot about Roberts Rules of Order and the importance of having representation at the state level. All members are invited and encouraged to attend the state events.
I would also like to encourage our members to attend our 101st annual meeting with Maryland delegate Kathy Szeliga on November 9th from 11 am to 2 pm. Guests are welcome as well! We will elect our new officers and celebrate our fabulous four diamond winning clubs! Register HERE