Thursday, February 02, 2006

Saturday night, stopped in at the Rocky Mt. Elk Foundation annual dinner in Milan. (There are also chapter dinners in Macomb, which husband Chuck and I attended recently, and in Lomax--among others!)

Regional Director Don has been a regular on this tour, as he always is; and was good to invite our attendance.

Talked with some old friends and met some new ones. I may not want to hunt an elk or an exotic animal myself, but I'll defend to the end your right to your weapon. It's the 2nd Amendment to our Constitution; and it's there for a reason.

Went on to Quincy and got in on the halfway point of a BIG birthday bash for Dave Nuessen, thrown by wife Adria. Dave was our campaign co-coordinator in 2004 and served Quincy twice as mayor. Dave was good to introduce me to the crowd--I told him he's getting birthday parties and political events mixed up!

Stayed in Quincy overnight at the home of Adams County Treasurer Jean Reddington and her family. Accompanied Jean to church the next morning and saw Bob and Anne Mays, good friends in Quincy--and met many of THEIR friends and fellow church-goers. Always widening that circle.....!

Ended with Sunday dinner by invitation of Virginia DeMoss at the new Curtis Creek retirement complex in Quincy.

Gotta go--headed to a meeting in Cambridge, in Henry County, to update the Republican Central Committee there on this campaign. ALWAYS a pleasure!

Remember our State of the Union viewing party tomorrow night in Macomb! Starts at 7:00 pm at the Parkside Sports Bar and Grill. Afterward we'll review the President's address. I'm especially interested in his agenda for health care reform, as I strongly believe health care and availability of coverage is the #1 issue which Congress should be addressing, and isn't. Tell me you don't know someone (and there's a good chance that "someone" is YOU) who struggles with having affordable health insurance, or any at all. For the employer, it has gone from A business cost, to THE business cost. For the employee, it becomes an ever-worsening situation, with higher cost shares and, often, constantly shifting insurers. And that hurts all of us.