The May 1st meeting of the Queens Village Republican Club at Marbella Restaurant in Bayside, featured special guest speakers, John Paul Moran and Carin Bail. John Paul Moran was the main event talking about OppScore from GO USA, the Consumer Reports of politics. Carin Bail talked about the troubling rise of Antisemitism in our schools and what we have to do to stop it. Here are the videos of their inspiring speeches, and a thank you to our videographer, Jim Doukas.
Carin Bail Speaks on the Rise of Antisemitism in our Schools
Carin Bail is a Mother, Teacher, Author, Civic Leader, Captain Communicator, and a passionate and steadfast advocate for a safe, inclusive, and unbiased educational environment. As a mother and an educator, she has witnessed the rise of antisemitism, anti-American sentiment, and hate in our schools and communities. Determined to expose these alarming patterns, Carin is speaking out, guided by her firm conviction that “Doing Nothing Isn’t an Option” and committed to ensuring that Jewish children, students, families, and all Americans feel safe, heard, and empowered, because “Never Again is Now.”
John Paul Moran talks about OppScore from GOUSA
John Paul Moran, Founder & CEO of GOUSA, talks about OppScore and the OppScore Challenge from GO USA. The media would have you believe that our country is evenly divided, when in fact we’re very united on the issues that matter most to the voters. In fact, 85% of us are aligned on the issues in support of common sense, America-First principles. “GO USA” has shown this through its polls and research – and actually changed minds and moved voters to support America-First candidates, as it did in key swing states and districts in the 2024 elections, and plans to do so to achieve victory in 2025 and 2026!
We are proud to have honored Tariq Rehmat at the Lincoln Dinner 2017. He is President of United Pakistani-American Christian Community and National Diversity Coalition for Trump Adviser. He was the recipient of the Republican Leader of the Year Award for his leadership and selfless service to the Pakistani-American community and Republican Party of the greater Eastern Queens community. He has proved to be a leader who works hard to pay back his gratitude to America, to make America the greatest nation in the history of the world. Joe Concannon, former NYPD Captain and City Council candidate in CD #23 was the presenter of the award. 
Our keynote speaker at the 142nd Anniversary Lincoln Dinner, was John Jay LaValle, Chairman, Suffolk County GOP, Regional Vice Chair NYS GOP and Trump Campaign Spokesman. Chairman LaValle was the recipient of the American Patriot of the Year Award, duly honored for his winning spirit in all his endeavors and above all, putting his country above his political aspirations, as a shining example of the true American patriot. The award was presented by Bob Turner, Chairman of Queens County Republican Party, and former Congressman from Brooklyn-Queens. Chairman Turner won the epic special election against longtime Democrat David Weprin in an overwhelmingly Democratic district, becoming the first Republican to represent the area in over eighty years.
Robert F. Holden, President of the Juniper Park Civic Association, was honored at the Lincoln Dinner for Lifetime Achievement. He was the recipient of the Harvey E. Moder Lifetime Achievement Award for his full devotion of time and energy to benefit the community, and his lofty accomplishments, not the least of which is the Juniper Park Civic Association, which he has shaped into one of the leading civic groups in New York State. The award was presented by James A. Trent, President/Founder of the Queens County Farm Museum, President Four Borough Neighborhood Preservation Alliance Foundation, Chairman of the Board of the Queens Village Republican Club and Lincoln Dinner Chairman.
Lt. Col. Paul Schottenhamel, U.S. Army (Ret.), the past Queens County American Legion Commander, was honored as the Veteran of the Year at the Lincoln Dinner. He was the recipient of the Rabbi Morton Pomerantz Veteran of the Year Award, for his heroism on the battlefield, as a highly decorated combat war veteran, and his tireless leadership of the community of veterans in New York City, in order to always remember their service and sacrifice to keep America free. The award was presented by Lt. Col. John W. Peterkin, U.S. Army (Ret.), who served in World War II, served two combat tours in Korea, and two combat tours in Vietnam and served in NYC as an NYPD Officer.
Brandon Muir, Executive Director of the Reclaim New York Center for Government Reform and Accountability was the featured speaker at our March 2nd General Club Meeting. He spoke about Mayor Bill de Blasio’s latest budget proposal – at $84.6 billion dollars – which is nearly 25% higher than Mayor Bloomberg’s last effort. The bottom line for New Yorkers, our taxes will make up the difference. To fully understand how these budgets impact you and your family, he spoke about the financial obligations these spending promises carry, along with an outlook for governance across New York over the next two years.
Video: Roy Fox, guest speaker at Columbus Day Dinner
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.
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.
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.
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!”
The February 4th Public Forum on Education Reform focused primarily on the issue of school choice and presented the lowdown on what’s wrong and how to fix our broken education system. According to Frank Russo, one of the speakers and leading advocate for school choice, “everyone wins with school choice—parents, children and taxpayers. The opposition comes primarily from public school teacher unions which want to keep their government school monopoly. Half the states have passed legislation to provide some measure of choice in education, but not New York.”
James Trent, our club’s board chairman and president and founder of the Queens County Farm Museum, gave the lowdown on Mayor de Blasio’s bogus zoning plan ostensibly for the purpose of building housing for the poor.
New York State Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox spoke at the December 2014 Queens Village Republican Club meeting and Christmas Party, introduced by Vice President Hemant Shah. He called for unity in the Republican Party in Queens in order to win elections. He praised the Queens Village Republican Club as one of the most active and diverse Republican Clubs in th state. He said that in New York State, the Republican Party is back. We now have a majority in the New York State Senate. But we would have had one more State Senator, Michael Conigliaro, who received 47% of the vote, had there been unity in the Queens County GOP.
Rob Astorino, County Executive of Westchester, NY visits the Queens Village Republican Club, for a rally on June 30th, 2014, at the Knights of Columbus in Glen Oaks, Queens. He articulately laid out his platform for putting New York State back in the winning column and returning NYS to the Empire State. Here is the full video of Rob Astorino’s remarks and questions and answers. 
Common Core is destroying our education system and hurting our children’s future. Many volunteers are presently circulating the petitions to create a “Stop Common Core” ballot line in November. Rob Astorino and our statewide candidates, Chris Moss for Lt. Governor, Robert Antonacci for Comptroller and John Cahill for Attorney General are all listed on the peititons, since they have pledged their support to stop Common Core once elected.
Three distinguished speakers from the veterans community addressed the VA scandal and its sweeping implications at our General Club Meeting Thursday June 5, 2014 at our new meeting hall, the Knights of Columbus, St Anne’s Council in Glen Oaks, Queens. The Dept. of Veterans Affairs operates the nation’s health care system for our Veterans with over 1700 hospitals, clinics and other facilities. Now news reports of gross mismanagement, corruption, and abuses are coming to light as whistleblowers coming forward are exposing the veterans we left behind to die waiting on fraudulent lists. Our country has not lived up to its obligation to all our veterans to provide the care they deserve. The videos below recorded our three speaker’s testimonies of the horrific scandal and what can be done about it.
The April 3rd General Club Meeting featured informative presentations on the Common Core State Standards Initiative by two dynamic speakers. Here is the complete video of their presentations in five parts.
At the end of the 2013 Lincoln Dinner speaking program, John Catsimatidis was called upon to say a few words about his candidacy for mayor of New York. Joe Lhota and George McDonald were present for the cocktail hour, but Catsimatidis was the only GOP mayoral candidate who stayed through the entire dinner party. Catsimatidis followed Greg Buckley, Sr. and Pamela Geller, which was a tough act to follow. The first thing he said, in a veiled quip at Lhota, was that if he were head of the MTA, she would get her signs right away and wouldn’t have to sue. He spoke about his own 20 year old son and how he understands the pain of the Buckley family. He has a lot of friends in Washington and he said he is willing to do whatever he can do to help. He said “your son deserves justice, and nobody forget in this room, that we’re not going to stop until we get justice.”