THE TRUMPETER
REPUBLICAN WOMEN OF SHENANDOAH COUNTY
The Trumpeter
Republican Women ~ “Fast on their Feet!”
February 2017
Dianne Wyss
President
Quicksburg, VA 22847
202-255-8188
[email protected]
Carolyn Miller
1st Vice President
Edinburg, VA 22824
540-856-8122
[email protected]
Fiona Sonsmith
nd
2 Vice President
Maurertown, VA 22644
540-436-8088
[email protected]
Karen Kwiatkowski
Recording Secretary
Mt. Jackson, VA 22842
540-477-2821
[email protected]
Laura Cadden
Treasurer
Strasburg, VA 22657
5540-327-0038
[email protected]
RWSC
www.rwshenco.org
P. O. Box 702
Woodstock, VA 22664
[email protected]
Editor
Carolyn Miller
President’s Corner:
Greetings All
As of our February 11 meeting we will be 22 days into the Trump
Presidency and a New Era for our Country! Whew – it could have been so
different.
ShenCo was featured on French 2 Television with the feature on Tommy
Smith’s “Trump House” – the iconic representation he created to celebrate
the American Spirit. Both Tommy and Randy Gilbert proved to be very
effective spokespersons for the Trump Message of small government.
Our next battle lies at the state and local level; insuring that we elect
individuals who will uphold the Republican Creed.
At the local level we have three Board of Supervisor seats up and one of our
members, Karen Kwiatkowski, has announced a challenge to District 1’s
Dick Neese (on the Board since 2001).
At the State Level we have many well qualified and energetic candidates
vying or Attorney General, Lt Governor, and Governor. We hope to have
many of them as guests at upcoming meetings so we can thoroughly vet
their policies.
And last but not least, we thank Bonnie Barlow for her initiative in working
out some ways to make RW ShenCo more fun and engaging! Our first “Get
to Know Our Members” feature is her idea!
[email protected]
In This Issue
 Dates to Remember …
Pg 2
 Republican Creed ...
Pg 3
 Valentines Day
History… Pg 4
Many Thanks
See you on the 11th!
In Liberty!
Dianne
 Family Liberty Brunch
Flyer … Pg 5
 “Get to Know Our
Members” … Pg 6 –7
 Proxy Form … Pg 8
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WOMEN Get It Done
THE TRUMPETER
REPUBLICAN WOMEN OF SHENANDOAH COUNTY
Dates to remember
Feb 11 – 10 AM (note new time) – RW Meeting – Denny’s
Mt Jackson
Feb 11 – 10 AM – Mini “Flea Market” – bring an item to
“sell” – Proceeds benefit the Scholarship Fund –
your will get a receipt for the FMV of your item for
tax purposes
February
If we’ve missed your Birthday, please let the
newsletter editor know so that we can
celebrate YOU!
March 11 – 11 AM (Denny’s) – Family Liberty Brunch (see
flyer in this newsletter)
April 15 – 6th District Banquet – Staunton – Dinesh
D’Souza is featured speaker
** NOTICE **
Our NEXT General Business Meeting
Will be held
Saturday February 11th
10AM – Business meeting
2017 Scheduled General Meetings
Second Saturday Monthly @ 9AM
January14th
February 11th
March 11th
Denny’s Restaurant
Mt. Jackson

If you can’t make the meeting:
Use the Proxy Form on Page 5
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THE TRUMPETER
REPUBLICAN WOMEN OF SHENANDOAH COUNTY
Page 3
The Republican Creed
We Believe:

That the free enterprise system is the most productive supplier of human needs and
economic justice,

That all individuals are entitled to equal rights, justice, and opportunities and
should assume their responsibilities as citizens in a free society,

That fiscal responsibility and budgetary restraints must be exercised at all levels of
government,

That the Federal Government must preserve individual liberty by observing
Constitutional limitations,

That peace is best preserved through a strong national defense,

That faith in God, as recognized by our Founding Fathers, is essential to the moral
fiber of the Nation.
2017 DUES NOW PAYABLE
$25.00 for regular members
$10.00 for Associate members
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THE TRUMPETER
REPUBLICAN WOMEN OF SHENANDOAH COUNTY
Valentine's Day History
Pagan festivals, Christian saints, Chaucer's love birds, and the Greeting Card Association of America
by Borgna Brunner
Roman Roots
The history of Valentine's Day is obscure, and further clouded by various fanciful legends. The holiday's roots are in
the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, a fertility celebration commemorated annually on February 15. Pope Gelasius I recast this pagan festival as a Christian feast day circa 496, declaring February 14 to be St. Valentine's Day.
Valentines Galore
Which St. Valentine this early pope intended to honor remains a mystery: according to the Catholic Encyclopedia,
there were at least three early Christian saints by that name. One was a priest in Rome, another a bishop in Terni,
and of a third St. Valentine almost nothing is known except that he met his end in Africa. Rather astonishingly, all
three Valentines were said to have been martyred on Feb. 14.
Most scholars believe that the St. Valentine of the holiday was a priest who attracted the disfavor of Roman emperor Claudius II around 270. At this stage, the factual ends and the mythic begins. According to one legend, Claudius
II had prohibited marriage for young men, claiming that bachelors made better soldiers. Valentine continued to secretly perform marriage ceremonies but was eventually apprehended by the Romans and put to death. Another legend has it that Valentine, imprisoned by Claudius, fell in love with the daughter of his jailer. Before he was executed, he allegedly sent her a letter signed "from your Valentine." Probably the most plausible story surrounding St.
Valentine is one not focused on Eros (passionate love) but on agape (Christian love): he was martyred for refusing
to renounce his religion.
In 1969, the Catholic Church revised its liturgical calendar, removing the feast days of saints whose historical origins were questionable. St. Valentine was one of the casualties.
Chaucer's Love Birds
It was not until the 14th century that this Christian feast day became definitively associated with love. According to
UCLA medieval scholar Henry Ansgar Kelly, author of Chaucer and the Cult of Saint Valentine, it was Chaucer who
first linked St. Valentine's Day with romance.
In 1381, Chaucer composed a poem in honor of the engagement between England's Richard II and Anne of Bohemia. As was the poetic tradition, Chaucer associated the occasion with a feast day. In "The Parliament of Fowls,"
the royal engagement, the mating season of birds, and St. Valentine's Day are linked:
For this was on St. Valentine's Day,
When every fowl cometh there to choose his mate.
Tradition of Valentine's Cards
Over the centuries, the holiday evolved, and by the 18th century, gift-giving and exchanging handmade cards on
Valentine's Day had become common in England. Hand-made valentine cards made of lace, ribbons, and featuring
cupids and hearts eventually spread to the American colonies. The tradition of Valentine's cards did not become
widespread in the United States, however, until the 1850s, when Esther A. Howland, a Mount Holyoke graduate
and native of Worcester, Mass., began mass-producing them. Today, of course, the holiday has become a booming
commercial success. According to the Greeting Card Association, 25% of all cards sent each year are valentines.
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THE TRUMPETER
REPUBLICAN WOMEN OF SHENANDOAH COUNTY
Saturday March 11 – Denny’s Mt
Jackson
11 AM – 1 PM
Games for Children
Radio/Internet Broadcast (TBD)
Candidates for Local and State Offices
Inspirational Speaker (To be
announced)
$15** (Children Free) Proceeds to
benefit District 1 GOP and the
ShenValley Student Leadership Initiative
(SVSLI)*
5
*$5
is Tax Deductible to the Limits of the Law as a donation to the SVSLI (a 501C3 organization)
THE TRUMPETER
REPUBLICAN WOMEN OF SHENANDOAH COUNTY
Get To Know Our Members
Bonnie Barlow
1. Where did you grow up – who influenced you to work in politics?
I was raised about 15 miles from Wheeling, WV. When I was 4, my parents bought a small farm, and later
in my life, my dad sold Black Angus cows to pay for my college. My father instilled in me, a respect for God,
and great pride and patriotism for our country. (My dad served in the 82nd Airborne in World War II.)
My first political memory as a kid was when my dad put up a political sign in our yard for a Republican
friend who was running for sheriff (while my mom had gone to a Young Democrats meeting). The man
who dropped Mom off after the meeting told my Dad that he would have to take the sign down. (Let’s
just say - that did not happen!) My second political memory was when JFK was running for president,
and someone came to our door to tell my dad, to not vote for Kennedy, because he was Catholic. (Let’s
just say that he left even quicker than the other man!) My dad believed in religious liberty-for all!
When I was 11, my mother and I moved to Baltimore County, MD – quite a lifestyle change for me!
When I graduated from college with a Social Science, Geography and Secondary Education degree in
1972, Social Studies teaching jobs were not available, so I started substituting for a couple years in the
high school I had attended. I became friends with one of the teachers there, Dennis Barlow, when he
was running for the State Central Committee. Several years later, Dennis and I met again, then, kept in
touch occasionally through the years. After knowing each other for 31 years, we got married. Anyone
who knows Dennis will realize that he “breathes politics”, so he has been my biggest political mentor
through the years, along with my father.
2. You are involved in so many activities– family, antiquing, history, culinary arts, and politics ; if you had
to choose one what would it be and why?
I believe that love for God and family should be the most important thing in my life, but being a woman, I
can multi-task! I have been so blessed to have Dennis in my life, and we have had so many wonderful
opportunities to travel to some great historical places since we got married in 2005. Antiquing is something that he and I enjoy doing together, which fits in with our travels, including our political travels!
When we went to Roanoke to see Trump, the lines were so long that we knew we could not get in, so,
in spite of the disappointment, we went antiquing in Roanoke and listened to his speech on the radio!
Cooking and baking is what I do for people I care about, so, whether making food for family or at
church, having a political open house or meeting at our home, or baking brownies or cookies for the Republican Women, it is just what I do. I cannot imagine making a choice between my activites, because
my life is so interwoven in my beliefs and what I feel God wants me to do! I always enjoy having a creative project planned. (I love making cards, doing collage, writing poems, singing, etc.)
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THE TRUMPETER
REPUBLICAN WOMEN OF SHENANDOAH COUNTY
Get To Know Our Members
Bonnie Barlow—Continued
3. Help us vision a robust and active RW Group; What do you see as the most important things we
can do to grow and be effective at promoting the Republican Creed in ShenCO?
I believe that everyone would agree that there is a major split in the U.S. right now. Some people will
not give President Trump a chance to explain anything he does, and the unfairness of holding up his cabinet is only hurting the country. How much more could he and the nation accomplish with cooperation?
Many have said before, “Politics Can be a dirty business”, but does it have to be that way?
In my opinion, Shenandoah County and our nation are both split – not just by Republicans and Democrats, Conservatives and liberal, but many times by history! There are many women (and men) in our
county who are energetic and talented, who care very deeply about our area, but because of past history, do not want to work with either a certain person, or a certain group. Not everyone tends to agree
on everything, but like a family, an effective RW group would be having everyone to come together for
the good of our county! We will not always agree with each other, but everyone has the right to their
opinion, and we should not take it so personally when someone does not agree! I do understand that
“it is easier said than done,” but that would be my wish to help pull the women of Shenandoah County
together. I do believe that if the women come together, then our county would be much stronger!
Let’s take the Sheriff’s office as an example – their office is in a basement that was considered “unfit” to
be used as a jail. If someone is against spending tax money, should they say “no” because they always
say “no” to spending, or should they look at every situation individually when there is a legitimate need,
such as the need for a new office for the Sheriff’s Department?
4. Summing Up - What is your message to potential members and political activists?
The first thing that Dennis and I got involved with, in the county, was being in charge of the Reagan/
Lincoln Day Banquet a couple years ago. We did not know anyone, but we just dove in to plan it. We
met other members by being active ourselves. If you are new to the county, or new to being politically involved, or need to “re-charge” and start again, then I urge you to consider coming to the RW
group. We are trying to make it more fun & friendly in 2017, along with being the great source of political awareness that it has always been!
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THE TRUMPETER
REPUBLICAN WOMEN OF SHENANDOAH COUNTY
Proxy
Republican Women of Shenandoah County
I,
do hereby constitute and appoint
to vote as my proxy* at the
February 11, 2017
meeting of the Republican Women of Shenandoah County
to be held at the Denny’s Restaurant in Mt. Jackson .
Signed:
Date:
*Proxy ~ Standing Rules Approved November 16, 2013
Section 4.
Proxies
Active members in good standing may send their Proxy for any regular meeting with the exception of the Annual General
Meeting ( Article VII, Section 3.) The person carrying said Proxy must also be an Active Member in good standing. Active members must use an “official form” provided by a member of the Executive Committee.
Section 5.
Member in Good Standing
Membership dues shall be paid in full.
Member shall not miss more than three (3) regular business meetings without a proxy, with the exception of;
Extenuating circumstances as determined by the Executive Board and;
Illness.
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