Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Editor
Jefferson City, Missouri - To mark the beginning of the holiday season, the 2013 Missouri Christmas trees will arrive at the Governor’s Mansion on Monday morning (Dec. 2). The outside tree and the tree for the grand staircase are expected to be delivered between 7:30 a.m. and 8 a.m. and will be set up shortly after they arrive. Members of the media are invited to cover the arrival of the trees. The Missouri Governor's Mansion is located at 100 Madison St.
The outside tree is a 30-foot Blue Spruce that was donated by Jose and Floetta Carrera of St. Peters from their yard. The indoor tree, an Eastern White Pine from Tannenbaum Tree Farm in Armstrong, Mo., will be situated near the grand staircase of the Mansion and decorated in classic gold and burgundy. The Tannenbaum Tree Farm is owned by Clell Solomon.
In addition, four eight-foot Eastern White Pines will be delivered later in the day to be decorated in the double parlor and the library on the Mansion’s first floor. Two trees in the double parlor will feature a Victorian theme, and two trees in the library will feature a musical theme. Those trees are coming from Pea Ridge Nursery, near Hermann. The nursery is owned by Leroy Rood.
A tree-lighting ceremony will take place at 6 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 6. Visitors also will have the opportunity to see the indoor Christmas trees during tours given on Dec. 6 and Dec. 7. Additional information about those tours will be made available next week.
I meet many folks in my role as Missouri's Republican Party Chairman, who are unsung. They are too little noticed as they toil away keeping the wheels of the party rolling. I do try to say "thanks" as often as I can, though I cannot possibly say it often enough. To a person they are gracious. Their work is not for their own aggrandizement, they are all working away for the cause of liberty.
Republicans believe that our vision of America and government will better serve all Americans. We believe that orderly freedom needs a much smaller footprint than the government we have. Our beliefs, rooted in the Creator, yield our conservative principles: we love life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness BECAUSE we think these will lead to better things for ALL Americans.
Which brings me to Sharon Barnes. If you never met Sharon, you missed out. Sharon was as pretty as she was energetic. Sharon had a smile that lit up a room. She worked tirelessly for Republicans. Sharon was a leader on the St. Louis City Central Committee and the Missouri Federated Republican Women.
Sharon was a doer. The yearly Republican Picnic held in the big gazebo in Carondolet Park in the city of St. Louis was all her doing. It was at this picnic I gave one of my first stump speeches. In addition to organizing picnics, she staffed phone banks, threw parties, and worked the polls. Sharon Barnes was a civic treasure.
The love she held for her husband Geoff and their extended family was a wonderful example for all. There was no better friend than Sharon. Above all she loved the Lord which I know was the wellspring of her ebullient grace and cheer.
Two weeks ago, Sharon Barnes passed away. At her wake, I met her 83 year old mom, a sweet woman who exudes all those qualities you expect from a mother. It is clear who taught Sharon her virtues. Hundreds of people who loved Sharon gathered to pay respect. It was a bittersweet event.
A few weeks before Sharon went to be with the Lord she loved, I brought lunch to her house. Illness had taken a toll on her appearance, but her smile remained undimmed. So too was her spirit undiminished.
We prayed and laughed. (And hatched plans to beat Democrats!)
When I left, we hugged. Tightly. We both held on for a moment longer than usual. I told her we loved her and she said the same. What a privilege to know her. What a gift to have her as a friend and fellow Republican.
Don't forget to hug the ones you love this Thanksgiving. And tell them you love them. I am learning more and more how precious and too short is our time together.
God bless you all and thanks again.
Ed
Chairman, Missouri Republican Party
Submitted by
Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Editor
8th Congressional District - The United States is home to some 28 million small businesses. Locally owned businesses help tell the uniquely American story of rural communities in our Eighth Congressional District. Many times these businesses become cornerstones and landmarks in small towns, and are proudly passed down from one generation to the next. They represent what can be achieved when an entire family works together to provide a good or service for their community.
Saturday, November 30th is Small Business Saturday. On this day, shoppers across the country are encouraged to show their support for locally owned small businesses. With the Christmas season fast approaching, Small Business Saturday is a perfect opportunity to buy local gifts for family and friends while supporting the entrepreneurs that are the lifeblood of rural Missouri.
Small businesses truly are the engine for job creation in our nation. Through my own experiences and by talking to small business owners across our District, I also know that nothing kills jobs faster than a Washington regulation. Too often federal agencies impose rules without talking to those who will be forced to live with them. As your representative in Congress, I am working to give small business owners and job creators some relief from onerous regulations. Small businesses are responsible for over half of the jobs created in the United States. At a time when our economy is still weak, Washington bureaucrats should not be implementing burdensome new regulations on America's job creators.
On Small Business Saturday we all have the opportunity to be an advocate for locally-owned small businesses. Entrepreneurial ventures and small business are the backbone of the American economy, not only across Missouri's Eighth District but throughout our entire country. In fact, small businesses are responsible for 57% of the private sector workforce in the United States. I hope you will join me on November 30th, Small Business Saturday, to show support for locally owned businesses and the families who make them run.
Sincerely,
Jason Smith
Member of Congress
Submitted by
Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Editor
Gov. Jay Nixon today issued his annual Thanksgiving message:
“On this 150th anniversary of President Lincoln first proclaiming a national day of Thanksgiving, the First Lady and I join millions of other Missouri families in pausing to give thanks for our many blessings.
“This Thanksgiving, as we appreciate the reasons for the abundance we enjoy, we must also remember that because of the courage and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform, we live in a country and a state that are strong, secure and free. Many of them won’t be able to join their own families this holiday season, because they are serving our country in places around the world. We ask that God protect those brave men and women, just as they are protecting us.
“I hope that as you sit down to dinner this Thanksgiving, you will join our family in taking time to thank our Creator for the blessings we enjoy each day. Georganne and I wish you and your loved ones, and all Missourians, a very blessed and happy Thanksgiving.”
State offices will also be closed by law on Thanksgiving. Nixon issued an executive order closing state offices the Friday after Thanksgiving.
For many years, a four-day holiday weekend was the norm in Missouri government, but Nixon kept state offices open on the Friday after Thanksgiving in 2010 and 2011, citing budget concerns.
Holidays have cost the state money because some employees who must work — such as prison guards — have been able to choose whether to claim extra time off or accept holiday bonus pay.
Nixon says the budget has improved enough to give employees the extra day off. He also extended the Thanksgiving break last year.
Submitted by
Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Editor
Thanksgiving Day
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill officially establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.
The tradition of celebrating the holiday on Thursday dates back to the early history of the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies, when post-harvest holidays were celebrated on the weekday regularly set aside as "Lecture Day," a midweek church meeting where topical sermons were presented. A famous Thanksgiving observance occurred in the autumn of 1621, when Plymouth governor William Bradford invited local Indians to join the Pilgrims in a three-day festival held in gratitude for the bounty of the season.
Thanksgiving became an annual custom throughout New England in the 17th century, and in 1777 the Continental Congress declared the first national American Thanksgiving following the Patriot victory at Saratoga. In 1789, President George Washington became the first president to proclaim a Thanksgiving holiday, when, at the request of Congress, he proclaimed November 26, a Tuesday, as a day of national thanksgiving for the U.S. Constitution. However, it was not until 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving to fall on the last Thursday of November, that the modern holiday was celebrated nationally.
With a few deviations, Lincoln's precedent was followed annually by every subsequent president--until 1939. In 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt departed from tradition by declaring November 23, the next to last Thursday that year, as Thanksgiving Day. Considerable controversy surrounded this deviation, and some Americans refused to honor Roosevelt's declaration. For the next two years, Roosevelt repeated the unpopular proclamation, but on November 26, 1941, he admitted his mistake and signed a bill into law officially making the fourth Thursday in November the national holiday of Thanksgiving Day.
As we have just learned the historical data of Thanksgiving, I now offer a more personal note. Thanksgiving ranks as my favorite holiday. A time to reflect and be thankful for family and friends, a time to celebrate for all we’ve been blessed with. Realizing that if you have a roof over your head, clothes on your back and food for your stomach, and at least some form of health, you are abundantly blessed and all the adds on T.V. of things you must have to attain happiness are only materialistic. Our world sometimes becomes so obsessed with what the news media reports that leads you to a doom and gloom environment. This world we live in was created by the master architect and established beauty beyond imagination and continues to rein supreme overall. So especially on this day along with all other days give thanks. See ya in church Sunday!
As always, it is an honor to serve you in the Missouri House. If you would like to discuss any issue, please call 573-751-3629. You can also email me at kent.hampton@house.mo.gov . I look forward to hearing from you.
