Ocean County Young Republicans

Announcing the annual Comedy Night Fundraiser

This is the OCYRO fundraising event for the Joe Lorenc Scholarship awarded every year to a local Ocean County Student.

All proceeds from this event go directly to the scholarship fund.

This year’s event will be held on June 7th, 2012.

Where: Uncle Vinnie’s Comedy Club

When:  Doors will open at 6:30 PM.  Dinner will be served at 7:00PM.  Door prizes awarded at 8:00PM.  Comedians to begin at 9:00PM.

Cost Per Person is $40.00

You can pay with PayPal or a credit card with the button above. Checks can be made out to “OCYRO” and mailed to Ocean County Young Republican Organization PO Box 761, Toms River NJ 08754.

Please RSVP to ocyrteam@gmail.com with you name and the number of guest, if you wish to pay at the door.

You can also RSVP through our Meetup.com site if you wish to pay with a credit card.

A sit down dinner will be served with your choice of dinner that night of chicken parmigiana, grilled salmon or Penna vodka.  The event is BYOB and we are currently looking for a wine sponsor.

If you are interested in sponsoring the event or providing door prizes, please contact Michael Thulen Jr. at ocyrteam@gmail.com

By Ryan L Reilly

With the history of voting issues in the United StatesI find it confusing that the idea of showing identification at the polls would become a controversial issue.

February 2012 The Pew Center, a nonpartisan group, published a report claiming that more then 1.8 million registered voters are deceased and more then 2.75 million people are registered in more then one state.  While this number seems strange, looking at our Country’s history in various elections shows that dead people vote.

Hudson County New Jersey, a New York Times article explained that 4,755 deceased individuals voted in the 2004 general election.  While an additional 4,397 voters felt so moved by their Constitutional right that they voted more than once and 6,572 registered New Jersey voters, voted in New Jersey and one of the five other states chosen for evaluation.

Less then 100 miles away and a year later, 2006, the Poughkeepsie Journal reported that in New York the voter system had more then 77,000 registered voters that were declared deceased (at least one in each of the 62 counties) and 2,600 of which actually voted (45 counties recorded votes from the deceased)!

Voter fraud, whether accusations or proven, has always been a part of elections, from the Nixon/Kennedy Presidential campaign to the George W. Bush Florida issue.  None of this is new and both sides of the aisle have accused the other of this violation so it is not a partisan issue.  I could write an entire paper on this topic as this has been going on for over the hundred plus years but that’s not my intent.

My intent is to simply show that this is a major dilemma and that it could partially be avoided by showing your voter registration card or your State drivers license on Election Day.  There is no need to create a new ID card nor is there a need to have more people working at the polls.  Presentation of your voter registration card or State drivers license would allow the poll worker to verify that your name and address are accurate.

There is no malice in this idea, no attempt to deny any United States citizen their right to vote, no underlying political, racial or immigration agenda hidden behind the words.  Rather it is intended to avoid malice by disabling a major loophole that has been exploited for generations by people who would rather have a corrupt a system.  A system that negatively impacts the publics view, of an already lowly trusted process, as evident by the large number individual who either choose not register or who do register and do not vote.

We are organizing socials during months that we do not have meetings so our group can keep in touch and we can all see each other on a more regular basis.  We’re going to move them around between different days of the week and different weeks of the month so that if someone is busy on a specific day of the week, they will not be excluded from getting together.  The first social we’ll be having will be at Captain Hooks Bar in Seaside Heights on Wednesday, March 14th.  Also, for our first social we have a special treat…Congressman Jon Runyan is planning to be in attendance if you’d like to come by and speak to your Congressman.  For those of you that haven’t been to Hooks before they have plenty of games throughout the bar so we can have some fun.  We’re planning on getting there at 5:30 and hanging out until people have to leave so feel free to come by for a little bit.
 
We are also planning a trip to Washington D.C. on April 27th through the 29th.  We will be leaving in the afternoon on Friday so people will not have to miss much time at work and will return in the early evening on the 29th.  I have attached the sign-up sheet for anyone interested in attending.  The early registration sign-up period ends March 18th for those that are interested.  The prices, mailing address, and all other information is located below.
 
We’re still putting together the plans for our fundraiser for the Joseph Lorenc Memorial Scholarship so stay tuned for a date and time.  We’re looking to switch things up a little to make the event a little cheaper for everyone but I’ll pass that information on as soon as we finalize everything.
 
We will be hosting a Thirsty Thursday at the Lakewood BlueClaws on Thursday, June 28th.  The gates open at 6 PM and the game will start at 7:05 PM.  Tickets are $25.00 a person and included with the ticket is an all you can eat BBQ, desserts and soft drinks.  We will be located in the center field picnic area which is just a few short steps away from the WRAT Trap that will have $1 Beers all night.  Please RSVP to 3rd V.P. Michael Thulen Jr. at OCYRTeam@gmail.com to reserve your tickets.
 
Also, we have gotten a number of sponsorships in for 2012.  If anyone is interested in being a sponsor, please e-mail either myself at OCYRTeam.President@gmail.com or 3rd Vice President Michael Thulen at OCYRTeam@gmail.com.  We will be happy to speak with you and provide you with more information.

The OCYR’s will be hosting a night at the Blue Claws on Thursday, June 28th, 2012.  The doors open at 6 PM and the game starts at 7:05 PM.

Tickets are $25.00 a person.  Included with the ticket price is all you can eat BBQ, desserts and soft drinks. 

We will be located in the center field picnic area which is just a few short steps away from the WRAT Trap that will have $1 Beers all night.

Please RSVP to 3rd V.P. Michael Thulen Jr. at OCYRTeam@gmail.com.

A number of you expressed interest in the trip we are planning to Washington D.C. We are in the process of finalizing the details. We have locked in the dates of April 27th – 29th and will be staying at a hotel that will be easily accessed by the metro. The cost of the trip (room and activities) will vary depending on room occupancy so we have a couple price levels depending on your room occupancy as follows:
   Single occupancy room – $375.00 per person if you register by February 24th ($425.00 thereafter)
   Double occupancy room – $225.00 per person if you register by February 24th ($270.00 thereafter)
   Triple occupancy room – $175.00 per person if you register by February 24th ($210.00 thereafter)
   Quadruple occupancy room – $150.00 per person if you register by February 24th ($185.00 thereafter)

We have a number of activities planned including tours of the White House, Capitol Building, Washington Monument, Monuments at Night, Arlington Cemetery, Mt. Vernon & George Washington’s house, and the Young Republican Leadership Conference (additional fees apply if you choose to attend YRL Conference).

However, in order to get tours of the White House and Capitol Building, they must run background checks of all parties attending. Normally this must be booked 6 months in advance but we will be submitting our information this week and are working to get this passed despite the deadline. In order to tour the White House and Capitol Building, we must have the name, address, date of birth, and social security numbers of all parties attending. There is no cost to put your name on the list but we must pass all of this information on to the representatives at the White House tomorrow night. Therefore, if you have any interest in attending, please get me this information by close of business February 3rd so we can add you to the tour list and you can worry about registering and making payment later.

If you do not get me the information above, you will still be able to attend the trip, you just will not be able to tour the White House.

Depending on the number of people that sign up, the OCYR’s may also get a bus to take all attendees down.

Thank you so much for your interest and I hope to talk to you soon. If you have any additional questions or suggestions, please do not hesitate to e-mail me at OCYRTeam.President@gmail.com.

Thursday, January 26^th - Reorganization Meeting

Location: Tuscan House on Hooper Avenue in Toms River

Time: 6:00 – 9:00 (meeting begins at 7:00)

Contact person: Jerry Conaty, President – OCYRTeam.President@gmail.com

Additional information: Berkeley Township’s own Mayor Carmen Amato will be swearing in all of our new executive board members for the 2012 year.  We will also be announcing some of the major initiatives we will be planning for the upcoming year.  We’ll provide dinner and a cash bar.  The event will be free for all members that have paid their 2012 dues and $10 for guests.  Make sure you get your 2012 membership applications in as soon as possible.  For an application or to be added to the Club’s e-mail list, please email OCYRTeam.President@gmail.com

Hello Everyone!

The Ocean County Young Republicans are currently planning a fun and educational trip to Washington D.C.  I know a number of you have signed up already but we’re still looking for more!  We’re looking to set a date but we’re looking to see which dates work best for the most amount of people.  No one will be locked into the trip right now but we’re gathering interested parties and dates.  Below are the three weekends we are looking at:

*March 23rd – March 25th

*March 30th – April 1st

*April 27th – April 29th

We have a number of activities planned including tours of the White House, Capitol Building, Washington Monument, Monuments at Night, Arlington Cemetery, Mt. Vernon & George Washington’s house, and depending on the weekend we will be able to attend the Cherry Blossom Festival (March 20 – April 27th) or the Young Republican Leadership Conference (April 26th-29th – additional fees apply if you choose to attend YRL Conference).

Since we do not have a weekend set yet, costs are only estimates but our initial cost estimates are approximately $380-$440 per person.  This will include a bus to bring us to and from Washington D.C., two nights in a hotel in the city, and food during the trip/stay.

Please e-mail OCYRTeam.President@gmail.com and cc Chris.Filiciello@gmail.com if you are interested in coming and which weekends you would be able to attend.  We need a response by Friday, January 6th in order to properly plan the trip.

We announced our 2012 Executive Board at the holiday party on Friday night.  For those of you that were not in attendence, it is as follows:

President – Jerry W. Conaty

1st Vice President – David Nicola

2nd Vice President – Stacey Chait

3rd Vice President – Michael Thulen, Jr.

Secretary – Ryan Reilly

Treasurer – Dawn DiStefano

General Counsel – Brian DiStefano

Campaign Chairman – Michael Schwartz

Committee Liaison – Christopher Dasti

State Committeewoman – Aimee Quinn

State Committeeman – Jon-Paul Bowen

Thank you to our 2011 Executive Board and I’m looking forward to all the great things we have planned for 2012!!!