StarStarTEXAS“INSPIRED WOMEN UNITING TEXAS”

TEXAS FEDERATION OF REPUBLICAN WOMEN

F a l l / C o n v e n t i o n I s s u e

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@ Marc Friedland Photography

President’s Message ...

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Lubbock and its Republican Women were gracious hosts for TFRW’s 2015 Convention in November. Republican Women from across the state traveled to the West Texas plains for the biennial event that brought together Texas’ elected officials and the women who elected them. The 3-day event featured Governor Abbott, Lt. Gov. Patrick, Former Gov. Perry and U.S. Sena-tors Cornyn and Cruz in addition to a myriad of other Texas dignitaries and speakers. TFRW President Jody Rushton presided over the convention along with the 2014-2015 board. Bylaws were changed, resolutions were approved, and numerous awards were presented to TFRW clubs. In the end, it was a most productive convention and the 2016-2017 TFRW Officers were elected

As the current TFRW term comes to an end, it is with gratitude that I reflect back on the women who were instrumental in founding our organiza-tion. Texas Federation of Republican Women continue to build on a history of empowered women training other women to become leaders in the politi-cal arena. TFRW was founded in 1955 under the umbrella of the National Federation of Republican Women. Since that time, we have continued to grow and train leaders throughout Texas. Founded in 1938, the National Federa-tion of Republican Women is one of

Convent ion 2015

Rolls of Fun Photography by Pamra Culp

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Jody Rushton

T F R W O F F I C E R SPRESIDENTJody Rushton4500 Barwyn CtPlano, TX 75093214 952 8668 (M)president@tfrw.org

1ST VP – Special EventsDebra Coffey 500 Throckmorton, #2204Ft. Worth, TX 76102817 307 4992 (M)firstvp@tfrw.org

VP BYLAWSTheresa Kosmoski, RP8855 Merlin CtHouston, TX 77055713 502 3527 (M)vpbylaws@tfrw.org

VP CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIESCheri Creekmore141 Persia DrUniversal City, TX 78148210 288 3073 (M)vpcampaignact@tfrw.org

VP FINANCEJanis Holt105 Magnolia LnSilsbee, TX 77656409 781 2130 (M)vpfinance@tfrw.org

VP LEGISLATIONRachel Woods 1199 Western OaksWaco, TX 76712254 723 7633 (M)vplegislation@tfrw.org

VP MEMBERSHIPKim Chambers 115 Sandra Muraida Way #615Austin, TX 78703512 507 3668 (M)vpmembership@tfrw.org

VP PROGRAMSRhonda Lacy3012 MossMidland, TX 79705432 553 1593 (M)vpprograms@tfrw.org

SECRETARYCarol Van De Walle1301 Vista Del MonteSan Antonio, TX 78216210 493 4508 (H)secretary@tfrw.org

TREASURERGail Entrekin1805 Pembroke LnMcKinney, TX 75070972 839 8715 (M)treasurer@tfrw.org

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENTCarolyn Hodges5525 NavarroHouston, TX 77056713 443 4239 (M)pastpres@tfrw.org

MEMBER-AT-LARGESue DeVillez 137 Old Chisholm TrailGeorgetown, TX 78633512 818 5029 (M)devillez05@verizon.net

MEMBER-AT-LARGEPearl Maggio6 South DylanshireThe Woodlands, TX 77384713 907 1958 (M)pmaggio@consolidated.net

MEMBER-AT-LARGEMichele Samuelson 14419 Robert I Walker BlvdAustin, TX 78728214 995 0413 (H)michele.samuelson@gmail.com

STANDING COMMITTEE CHAIRMENAWARDSM Elizabeth Cathey203 Bobcat BendShavano Park, TX 78231210 488 1516 (M)awards@tfrw.org

OUTREACH EDUCATIONTina Gibson911 Millpond DrSugarland, TX 77498713 412 1620 (M)community@tfrw.org

PAC TREASURERBarbara Buxton (Larry)15614 Azalea Shores Dr Houston, TX 77070713 824 8324 (M)pacchair@tfrw.org

PARLIAMENTARIANPam Meyercord5831 Meletio LnDallas, TX 75230972 239 1965 (M)Meyercord@aol.com

PUBLIC RELATIONS - TX STAR EDITORJulie Faubel3110 Golfcrest DrMontgomery, TX 77356918 519 1599 (M)pr@tfrw.org TFRW Headquarters13740 N Hwy 183 Suite J4Austin, TX 78750512-477-1615 (Office)512-480-0709 (fax)tfrw@tfrw.orgwww.tfrw.org

the largest grassroots political organizations in the country with thousands of active members in local clubs across the nation. NFRW focuses on national leaders and the national political arena. NFRW and TFRW empower women from all backgrounds in the political process and provide a forum for women to serve as leaders in the political, government, and civic arenas.Our objectives are to: • Inform the public through political and legislative education, training and activity; • recruit, train and elect Republican candidates; • protect the integrity of our electoral process; • promote the principles, objectives and policies of the Republican Party; • unite and facilitate cooperation among the state and club organizations; and, • increase the effectiveness of women in the cause of good government. In Texas over the last two years, TFRW has contributed over $600,000 to Republican candidates and 2 million volunteer campaign hours working to elect Republicans. There are no other political organizations for women as instrumental in the state of Texas as TFRW. We are proud of our heritage, and are looking forward to a future filled with positive conservative candi-dates and policies. It has been such an honor and a privilege to serve as your TFRW President. We have worked together to ensure growth, open up poten-tial and encourage those around us to run for political office. As I have traveled Texas, visiting and talking with members all over the state, it has been such a pleasure to get to know each one of you. The women of Texas are strong in their resolve to make our state and our country more secure, economically sound, and educationally exceptional. I wish to congratulate the entire incoming TFRW Board, led by President-elect Theresa Kosmoski. The next two years will be exciting and powerful under their command! We will look forward to our next TFRW club Leadership Training at our Leadership Day February 6, 2016 at the Houston Westin Hotel in Memorial City. More information on this event may be found on the TFRW website. My wish for you and your families is for a blessed and Merry Christmas. May 2016 bring us renewed vigor and enthusiasm – AND a Republican President!And may we all continue to be: Inspired Women, Uniting Texas

TFRW President 2014-2015

Congratulations to

Rhonda LacyTFRW’s VP – Membership,

on receiving NFRW’s 2015 Campaign

Volunteer Award!

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and installed. Thank you President Jody Rushton for your dedication and hard work! Congratulations to incoming TFRW President Theresa Kosmoski and we wish you well as the gavel is now yours! Julie Faubel Texas Star Editor

“Republican women run the machinery of our cam-paigns, and they are the reason we turned Texas red and built a strong state economy. This award is very special to me because I am a great admirer of Sena-tor Hutchison and because I would not be where I am today without TFRW.”

Texas State Senator Jane Nelson, R- Flower Mound

L E G I S L A T I V E U P D A T E

The award, established in 2013 and named for former U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, came about after much discussion on how to properly honor Senator Hutchison after her retirement from office. Its goal is to encourage more Texas Republican Women to step up to the plate and seek elective political office, as Sen. Hutchison did during her career. Congratula-tions Senator Jane Nelson!

TFRW awards Senator Jane Nelson

Kay Bailey Hutchison Award

The Texas Federation of Republican Women chose Texas Senator Jane Nelson as its 2015 recipient of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Leadership award during TFRW’s Convention recently in Lubbock.

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Rolls of Fun Photography by Pamra Culp

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Rolls of Fun Photography by Pamra Culp

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Halene Crossman Kingwood Area Republican Women

Not only is Halene known for her Republican activity, but she is well known throughout her community for her extensive involvement in civic, school, church and profes-

sional organizations. As a political volunteer she has served her local Republi-can Women’s club as President, Treasurer, Parliamentar-ian and Chaplain. She has been involved with numerous TFRW events and programs including serving as a state delegate for six years and a national delegate for two con-ventions. Her heart for the military led her to coordinate a welcome home event at Ellington Air Force Base for the Texas Air National Guard and their families.

Shirley A. MartinezBexar County Republican Women

Outreach to the Latino community has been at the center of Shirley’s involvement that reaches across local, state and national levels. She has served Bexar County Republican Women in a variety of positions including President,

Vice-President of Programs and Chaplain. She has twice been recognized by TFRW as an honoree for its Tribute to Women. In 1989, she worked on the Presidential Inaugu-ral Committee and was the executive director of the Bush-Quayle Presidential Hispanic Inaugural Ball. She served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Air Force at the

Pentagon under President George W. Bush and as the liaison to the White House Initiative on Educa-tional Excellence.

Susan Fischer Richardson Republican Women

Susan grew up in a Republican family, and has been an Election Judge for almost 40 years. She

The Ten Most Outstanding WomenCongratulations to this year’s 10 Outstanding Award Recipients!

participated in Republican conventions for over 30 years, served as a Precinct Chairman for 20-plus years and as-sisted with several state party conventions. It’s hard to find a Republican candidate and/or elected official that has not benefited from her as a staff member or volunteer. She has been a member of her local Republican Women’s Club for 35 years and has held every office and chaired every committee, except Treasurer. She has been honored by her local club withLifetime Achievement Award.

The Honorable

Patricia HarlessNorthwest Forest Republican Women

Patricia began her involvement in the political process early in life. At age 16 she worked phone banks for Presidential candidate

Ronald Reagan which led her to become a committed volunteer. In addition to her Republican activities, she has shared her expertise throughout her community and with her professional trade association, the Texas Independent Dealers Association. Two Texas Governors – Bush and Perry – appointed this “get it done” Republican woman to the Texas Motor Vehicle Board. We all know the impor-tance of “answering the call” and she has done just that. She is serving her fifth term in the Texas House of Rep-resentatives where she serves on the powerful Calendars,

State Affairs and Transportation Committees.

Candace NobleGolden Corridor Republican Women

A lifelong Republican, Candace’s first involvement in the political area began in college by lobbying

the Texas Legislature. Since then, she has been involved on the local, county, state and national levels as an ener-getic volunteer. She has served her local club as a delegate to the state convention on five different occasions and an NFRW delegate and alternate at two conventions. On the county level, she serves a Precinct Chairman and county parliamentarian. State-wide, she serves as a State Repub-lican Executive Committee Woman, and Chairman of the

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Grassroots Committee. She has been a delegate to the past 10 county or senatorial district conventions, a delegate to the last seven state conventions and a delegate to the 2012 national convention.

Jan OttCy-Fair Republican Women

A campaign manager and vol-unteer, Jan has done it all - from block walking to campaign of-fice management, to presenting campaign management schools. She was still in college when she worked on her first campaign, sup-

porting Kit Bond for Governor in her home state of Mis-souri. She became active in Texas politics when she moved to Houston from Singapore with her husband and daughter in 2001. Not only has she worked hard in her local club, serving in many elected offices, she has served as an elected officer for 6 years to TFRW in leadership positions and now serves as a Deputy President. She has been a delegate to six TFRW conventions and five NFRW conventions.

Deborah M. Wall San Antonio Republican Women

Following 25 years as a military spouse, Deborah became an active member in her local Republican Women’s club where the skills she gleaned from military life proved invaluable as First Vice-President for Programs, College Outreach and Awards Chairman and as Co-

chair for the 2013 TFRW Convention. She has served her county as an election clerk, poll watcher, liaison between the county party and Republican women, and helped orga-nize the county campaign headquarters. When she was only five years old, Jan became fascinated with politics when attending a rally for a Republican Senator who actually cam-paigned on a soapbox in her home state of Kentucky!

Pearl Maggio Montgomery County Republican Women

A former teacher, Pearl became involved in her local chapter when she retired and moved to her current county of residence. Our nominee leads by example.

A member of the Grassroots Club, she has held almost every position in her local Republican Women’s club. She generously gives of her time to support fundraisers for her club - the county party and elected officials. She regularly opens her home to political events and candi-dates. She chaired the Decorations Committee and served on the Planning Committee for the 2009 TFRW Conven-tion. In addition to her involvement in the political arena,

she has served her Homeowners’ Association, local museum, food bank and the Wounded Warrior project.

Zan Sharp Prince Bush Legacy Republican Women

Zan knows how to get the job done and do it RIGHT! She is a community leader that gives of herself to individuals and the

community through professional, civic, charitable and political outreach. She has campaigned for many candidates, most notably; she was part of the 2000 Bush-Cheney Texas Strikeforce Team that deployed to West Palm Beach, Florida. A dedi-cated volunteer, she has participated in Precinct, County, State and National conventions, along with TFRW and NFRW conventions. She is a past president of Parker County Republican Women and a Charter Member and past president of the Bush Legacy Republican Women. For 11 years she has lead her county as Republican Party Chairman.

Judy Parada Lake Conroe Area Republican Women

A lifelong Republican, Judy has served as a delegate to six RPT State Conventions and one RNC National Convention. She has assisted her local chapter as Chairman of Caring for Ameri-

can, Campaign Activities and held elected positions as Treasurer, Vice-President for Membership and Presi-dent. She also served on the TFRW Board on the Budget Committee, as Vice-President of Membership, District Director and Deputy President. In addition to her local involvement, she serves her community’s public library, poison information committee and the leukemia and lym-phoma “Light the Night” benefit. Judy is a former teacher and wife of a retired US Air Force Lt. Colonel.* Thank you to Sherry Peterson, Chairman, and her committee mem-bers Rebecca Bradford, Texas Moore, Juandelle Lacy Roberts and Leanne Ivey for your dedication and hard work!

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Madison Albrecht As a longtime resident of Boerne Texas, Madison Albrecht has strong conservative values and a love of our

country. She graduated at the top her class with honors from Boerne Champion High School. For three years, Madison was president of the debate team, coaching other students to excel in speech and debate. Madison founded Operation Boerne, a school district wide initiative to support our military by shipping hundreds of care pack-ages to the U.S. troops serving overseas. She also founded Champion High School’s Republican club to engage other students in politics. A junior at The University of Texas at Austin, Madison is majoring in Government and Economics. She is in-volved in College Republicans, Young Conservatives of Texas, and the Navigators. In addition to school, she has spent hundreds of hours volunteering for the conservative cause through TFRW, the Republican Party, and numerous candidates. Also Madison worked as Assistant Clerk of the House Pensions Committee during the 84th legislative ses-sion. Madison plans on graduating May 2017 and it is her goal to work for the Legislature either through campaigns or public policy advising.

Borah Van Dormolen was no ordinary person. She was an accomplished soldier, business-person, Republican political leader, community leader, and much more. In her memory and to encourage leadership in young women, the Texas Federation of Republican Women, along with Borah’s Family have established a Memorial Scholarship in her name. This scholarship is fully funded by Borah’s family.

Borah Van Dormolen Scholarship

Congratulations to the 2015 Winners!

McKenzie Johnson McKenzie Johnson grew up in Prosper, Texas. She attended Prosper High School and was the valedicto-

rian of her class. During her years in high school, she was involved in Student Council. McKenzie was voted Team Captain of her school’s soccer team twice. She was also president of the Prosper Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter. She, along with a couple other students, founded the Prosper Writing Center and helped to tutor others. McKenzie is currently a sophomore attending The University of Texas at Austin majoring in Computational Biomedical Engineering and minoring in English. She is involved in the Women in Engineering Program, as well as the Society of Women Engineers. She is a member of the Programs committee of the International Affairs Society where she strives to provide a conservative voice to the group. McKenzie plans on graduating in May of 2018.

Susanna Lorenz TFRW State Scholarship 2015 Winner!

Susanna was homeschooled at Straight Arrow Academy in Richardson and pres-ently attending Collin College. She will transfer to University of Texas at Dallas to continue her studies in Neuroscience. Her other interest is in Child Develop-ment, where she has lots of experience volunteering with various groups. She is active in her church, been an honorary page for Senator Van Taylor, worked the polls and was a delegate at the State Convention. Her essay was outstanding with a title of “Texas and Its Daughters.”

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2016-2017 TFRW Officers President, Theresa Kosmoski

1st Vice President Special Events, Julie FaubelVice President Bylaws, Tina Gibson

Vice President Campaign Activities, Janis HoltVice President Finance Karen Newton

Vice President Legislation, Michele SamuelsonVice President Membership, Rhonda Lacy

Vice President Programs, Besa MartinTreasurer, Cindy Payne

Secretary, Glynis Chester

And the gavel is passed, Congratulations Theresa Kosmoski, TFRW President 2016-1017!

Theresa Kosmoski Julie Faubel Tina Gibson Janis Holt

Karen Newton

Michele Samuelson Rhonda Lacy Besa Martin Cindy Payne

Glynis Chester

StarTEXAS“INSPIRED WOMEN UNITING TEXAS”

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Political advertising paid for by Texas Federation of Republican Women PAC

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

The Texas Star is the official publication of the Texas Federation of Republican Women and is e-mailed quar-terly to its members. It contains information about the Federation, its member clubs, and issues important to the

political arena.

TEXAS FEDERATION OF REPUBLICAN WOMEN

February 4 TFRW District Directors Meeting and Executive Committee Meeting Westin Memorial City, HoustonFebruary 5 TFRW Board Meeting Westin Memorial City, HoustonFebruary 6 TFRW 2016 Leadership Day Westin Memorial City, HoustonMarch 1 Texas 2016 Primary Election Day

Thank you Jody!