Captain James Van Thach (Ret.) U.S. Army, received the Rabbi Morton Pomerantz Veteran of the Year Award at the 141st Anniversary Licnoln Dinner. The presenter was Commander Bernadette Semple, a highly decorated wounded warrior herself. Captain Thach, a Bronze Star and Purple Heart recipient, who was given the honorary title of Brigadier General by the Iraqi government as an advisor to the New Iraqi Army, spoke passionately, as a Veteran’s Advocate with Wounded Veteran Initiative of Canine Companions for Independence (CCI) with his beloved service dog Liz by his side. He spoke about finding one’s passion in life and in one’s community, and to “never give up” the fight. He said to “find a pal” to help you through any difficulty. The passion that gives him strength and purpose in his life, as a Suicide Prevention Counselor and a pal to the numerous veterans and fellow wounded warriors he has met traveling throughout the nation and the world, is to share healing and encouragement with each and every one of them, because of the tragedy of approximately 22 American veterans committing suicide every day.
Lincoln Dinner Video: Captain James Van Thach, Veteran of the Year
Lincoln Dinner Video: Fred Brown, Mentor, Friend and Lifetime Achievement Honoree
Fred Brown, the venerated Chairman of the National Black Republican Council and President of the New York State Black Republican Council, received the Harvey Moder Lifetime Achievement award, which was presented by Queens Republican Party Chairman Bob Turner. This award is presented annually to real-life American heroes, memorialized eternally in the name of the highly acclaimed past president of the Queens Village Republican Club, and World War II Veteran honored by Congress for his lifetime quest to fully account for our POW/MIAs.
Remembering Queens Village
Queens Village Republican Club member, Frederick R. Bedell Jr. wrote the following story about his fond memories from growing up in Queens Village and submitted it to local newspapers. Our Club has a rich history as well from the early heyday of the Republican Party in Queens. Our Club participated in the 1971 parade in Queens Village and here is a picture of the float. Does anyone know which street is pictured? For more on our Club’s prolific history, go here and here.
Remembering Queens Village
By Frederick R. Bedell Jr
This Easter my wife and myself did spend the holiday with friends Dave and Marion in Bellerose. My friend Dave and myself have known each other for over 50 years since we were thirteen years old and lived in Queens Village in the 50’s, 60’s & 70’s. Our conversation centered on our memories of the past living in Queens Village.
As for myself I lived on 213th street and 102nd Avenue. The house I had lived in was bought by my grandfather in 1924 whose named was Frederick Williams. As I was told by my father Frederick Bedell Sr. that a large part of Queens Village was farmland. I remember my father taking me down to 99th Ave. where there was a chicken farm. Now on that same Avenue there were two junk yards where I would take used newspapers and collect extra money for my trouble. A few blocks over on 212th Street, there was a deli known as Yugo’s whom I thought made the best food and sandwiches in Queens Village. And right next door was a stationary store where you could get candy for a penny and pick up newspapers for anywhere between 5-10 cents. I also remember a diner on 212th Street, where my father would take me on Saturdays so my mother could clean the house without interruptions. It was on Jamaica Avenue and it later became a car wash. What a shame because they made the best pancakes.
Let me also point out we had three bowling alleys and one was on 213th Street and you had to walk down a flight of stairs where it was located. We also had two movie theaters and one was called the Century Queens Theater where in latter years I served as a usher and the other was called the Community Theater and get this – you could watch two movies and a cartoon for 35 cents! We also a clothing store called Wilson’s where my friends and myself would buy clothes, but also our Boy Scout uniforms. I had attended with my parents Grace Lutheran Church on 100th Avenue and Springfield Boulevard, which this year will be 100 years old. I also sang in the choir and attended Grace Lutheran Day school, an elementary school for eight years with my good friend Harry Weymer who I reconnected with after 50 years. The school had to close due to lack of enrollment a few years ago.
Queens Village had a lot to offer the youth of that day with parks where you could play baseball. I even belonged to the YMCA where we took a lot a trips and that included Alley Pond Park where we learned to respect and love nature. In the YMCA we even learned how to swim. I even belonged to Boy Scout Troop #114 which met in the basement of Grace Lutheran
> Church. We had many different stores, one of which was a hardware store called “Megans.” This was a place where you walked in and there were wooden floors. Here was an old fashioned hardware store where if you needed screws or nails you didn’t have to buy a box and the clerk would open these small bids and sell you what you actual needed.
Well my friend Dave said to me,” You can never go home.” Well I said that is so true, but maybe you can in your mind where you can travel back and forth where the memories can be relived. Now to all those who had lived in Queens Village in those days, I hope I had brought back some fond memories of the way we were.
US Senate Candidate Wendy Long & Pundit Ryan Girdusky to Headine QVGOP Meeting
US Senate Candidate Wendy Long & Pundit Ryan Girdusky to Headine QVGOP Meeting
Next General Club Meeting: Thurs. April 7, 2016 at 7:30 pm
Meeting at: Knights of Columbus/St. Anne’s Council
263-15 Union Tpke., Glen Oaks, NY 11004
We have more than a few outstanding candidates running for national, congressional and New York State offices here in Queens and we all need to pitch in and help them win the election. This is an extraordinary wave year for Republicans to win elections at all levels due to interest in Trump and the presidential races, bringing out voters from all across the political spectrum, including disaffected Republicans, Independents and Democrats who are crossing over.
Wendy Long is the nominee of the Republican, Conservative, and Reform Parties for United States Senate in New York and she will be speaking at our April 7th club meeting. She is running to “end the career of Chuck Schumer,” and as she says, “the reign of the ruling class and reclaim our right to life, liberty, security and prosperity.” Wendy Long, a staunch articulate, conservative Republican, clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and we are proud to say, is a member of the Queens Village Republican Club. She ran in 2012 as the Republican and Conservative candidate for U.S. Senate, and this time we can help her win by spreading her profound message about standing up to the politics of the status quo and going on the attack after Schumer. Visit her website www.wendylong.com and view her insightful announcement video, and follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Let’s get rolling to end Chuck Schumer’s career!
Other local GOP candidates who will be speaking at our April 7th and future meetings include Mike O’Reilly, U.S. Marine Corps Veteran, and former Delta airline pilot who is a Republican running for Congress in New York’s 5th District in Eastern Queens against Greg Meeks, a career politician who carries a lot of baggage. It’s high time that a strong Republican is standing up to Rep. Meeks, because the people are fed up with politicians traveling to the Caribbean and far off vacation spots on the taxpayers dime, using the District as his own personal piggy bank while ignoring the needs of his constituents. Other speakers include Marvin R. Jeffcoat, Sergeant First Class, U.S. Army (Ret.) and past Commander of Queens County VFW, who is considering a run for New York State Senate in the 12th District, Senator Jack Martins, Republican and Conservative candidate for Congress running the 3rd District, the seat that Rep. Steve Israel will be retiring from, and others.
The presidential primaries have seen record numbers of Republicans turning out so far, and Democrats have seen their lowest numbers at the polls in decades. Over one million more Republican than Democrat voters reportedly came out to vote in the primaries so far. Right before the Massachusetts primary, 20,000 Democrats bolted the party and joined the Independence and Republican Parties. It’s never happened before in America’s heartland, that such great numbers of Democrats are switching to Republican to vote in the presidential primaries. 1000 blue collar workers switched parties to vote for Trump in Youngstown, Ohio. In fact, so many blue collar workers say they are voting for Trump, that the Teamsters, one of America’s biggest workers’ unions, normally loyal to the Democrats every year, will be withholding their endorsement of any candidate, Democrat or Republican in this year’s election.
A peaceful revolution is going on in America now that is benefitting the Republican Party. The silent majority is standing up and fighting back at the voting booth. Millions of people are coming into the GOP, getting registered as Republican and pouring into the polling sites. We have four elections this year in Queens, NY, starting with the Republican Presidential Primary on April 19th. We the people will not be silent. We will not be intimidated. We will come out to vote in record numbers here, and save the New York City, State, and America.
GENERAL CLUB MEETING VIDEO: LOCAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY
The Queens Village Republican Club General Meeting on March 3rd, 2016 was a public forum focusing on local and national security issues and counter-terrorism.
The first speaker was Police Officer Steven Vranick from the NYPD Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU) Queens North. He gave us a detailed counter-terrorism briefing. He expressed the around the clock constant vigilance of the CTU, and the club members expressed their deepest respect and support for all our NYPD.
Lincoln Dinner Video: Carl Paladino Keynote Speech
Legendary Buffalo developer and New York State Conservative firebrand, Carl Paladino delivered the keynote address, on the occasion of the 141st Anniversary Lincoln Dinner. He addressed a jam packed ballroom at Antun’s of Queens Village calling for the second American Revolution.
Carl Paladino is a risk-taker, unafraid to pioneer strategic retail developments in the most economically depressed areas of Buffalo, Syracuse, and Albany. As Chairman of Ellicott Development Company, which he founded in 1973, and a life-long advocate of the City of Buffalo, Paladino is best known for championing strategic ideas and has brought new life to the city and region. In the political arena, he pulled off an upset victory in 2010 winning the Republican nomination for New York State governor, and although he didn’t beat Cuomo, he is poised to run again for governor, which he mentioned in a recent interview with Neil Cavuto on the Fox Business Network.
Lincoln Dinner Video: Phil Orenstein, Patriot of the Year
Phil Orenstein, President of the Queens Village Republican Club and Republican District Leader of the 24th Assembly District in Queens, was honored as the Patriot of the Year. The presenter was former NYPD Captain and former City Council candidate, Joe Concannon. President Orenstein pledged to continue to pursue the Impossible Dream here in the belly of the beast, NYC until we take back our government from the progressive left.
Lincoln Dinner Video: Nikoloz Chkheidze, Businessman of the Year
Nikoloz Chkheidze, Chairman of Tvistomi Association – Georgian Community Organization of America, received the Businessman of the Year award at the 141st Anniversary Lincoln Dinner. Hemant Shah, was the presenter who said you can go to Italy but you can’t become an Italian, go to Germany but you can’t become German, but you can go to America and become an American. Nikoloz came to America and became an American. He was a Medical Doctor and a Freedom Fighter against the Soviet regime in Georgia, and said it was the great leadership of his hero, the hero of the Georgian people, President Ronald Reagan, who made it possible to defeat the Soviet Union. He holds the greatest appreciation for America, the greatest county in the world, the country where his dreams are coming true.
Lincoln Dinner Video: Pierry Benjamin, Youth of the Year Honoree
Three generations of great New York City Republicans participated in the presentation of the “Youth of the Year” award to Pierry Benjamin at the 141st Anniversary Lincoln Dinner.
As he was making the introduction of Pierry, presenter Francois Wellington summed up the moment perfectly saying: “I am so honored to have two of the greatest people receiving awards here today. I have Fred Brown, who was my mentor. It’s incredible what he’s done for us. If you want to know the history, the beauty of what the Republican Party means to us, you sit down with Fred Brown, who told us as Democrats: ‘you’re Republican, you just don’t know it.’ Receiving the Youth of the Year award is the person I mentored, Pierry Benjamin. I used to be his youth minister and I am so proud of what he has achieved, so proud of the love and passion he has for young people.”
In humble gratitude Pierry expressed his deepest thanks to his mentors and caring friends with a stirring speech about “the three sincere things, which are preparation, words and the light that God has vested throughout everyone of us.”
