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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
Rolaine Antoine, past Treasurer and Advisor of the Cambria Heights PTA and CEO of $mutlimillion non-profit, recieved the Education Advocate of the Year Award at the 141st Anniversary Lincoln Dinner.
Her presenter, Katherine James had this to say for her introduction: “Rolaine is a revolutionary, a change agent. With her family, her extended family, freinds and civic relationships, she worked for the greater good of all.”
New York State Senator Jack Martins speaks at our 141st Anniversary Lincoln Dinner. A great speech, great friends and patriots, and a great gathering to “Make New York Great Again!”
“These are turbulent times in 2016. But in turbulent times there are opportunities. Each one of us has the opportunity to make a difference. We can turn around the last seven years of this country and set us back on the road to properity. This is going to be great Republican year!” – Senator Jack Martins
Lincoln Dinner Chairman
The 141st Anniversary Lincoln Dinner was an unparalleled success breaking all previous records for attendance, journal ad sales, raffle basket sales and overall kudos and congratulatory messages from almost everyone who attended. With his distinctive laudatory flair, Dinner Chairman James Trent said “everything this Republican Club does is doomed to success,” since we were expecting the dinner to top out at about 200, but more than 300 guests attended, who packed the Palm East/West Ballroom at the famous Antun’s of Queens Village. Congratulations to all who participated and worked hard behind the scenes to make this event our greatest success to date!
(Pick up a copy of a local paper, especially the Queens Chronicle, newspaper or online edition, and you will see numerous letters every week bashing Trump and the GOP candidates with such venom and hatred, without a single response from our side. Except for my letter below. We need to write and respond. Let’s give these fools a piece of our mind and let them hear our voices! – Phil Orenstein)
This patriotic piece about St. Patrick’s Day was written by Frederick R. Bedell Jr., the Grand Knight of St. Anastasia Knights of Columbus Council #5911 and a member of the Queens Village Republican Club. We wish all our members and friends a very Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
St. Patrick’s Day is Thursday March 17th and it is a time to celebrate with parties and parades. It is a time to honor St. Patrick who reportedly brought the Catholic faith to Ireland. In my opinion it is also a time to honor all the Irish who came to America as immigrants as well as other immigrants and came here to make a better life for themselves and their families. They came here and worked very hard and some who gave up their lives to make America free for Democracy and the great nation America is today. My own family two brothers, one born in Ireland and the other in England came here in 1776 to fight in the American Revolution. According to my father – Frederick R. Bedell Sr.- they wanted what the new country had to offer and that was freedom and a desire for a better way of life. My grandfather according to my father enlisted as a drummer boy and who lied about his age to fight under General Sherman during the Civil War to make all people free. He latter after the war farthered 13 children, my father being the youngest. My father during WWI served as champlain and during WWII served as a air raid warden. There are many others who had similar stories which had made America great and a nation where many Irish have come here. So this St. Patrick’s Day think of St. Patrick but also think of all those Irish immigrants who came here to make what America is today.
