This year was a bit different – we had two keynote speakers and then all of the "Liberty and Freedom" groups (the individual advocacy groups that make up the NH TEA Party Coalition) that helped to put on the event were able to have a speaker.
The two keynote speakers were former US Senator from NH, Gordon Humphrey:
Yes, he is absolutely livid as to what has happened to his beloved Granite State and what the clowns in DC have done to the nation. He, to me, is the epitome of the man that even though retired, sees a wrong and will do what he can to right it, and then re-retire.
and current US Congressman Thaddeus McCotter (R) from Michigan:
Like the Blogger Row pics, I got many if not most of the other Speakers that put themselves out to speak on behalf of their groups (yeah, running around like a headless chicken at times to cover one thing or another tends to make one a tad scatterbrained – apologies folks!). Trust me folks – not all of them saw this as a treat but as a duty that needed to be done, given the times we are in (e.g., not all that comfortable in a public speaking role as they’d rather be "behind the scenes").
This year, the Master of Ceremonies was Grant Bosse. Yup, the same one that the ‘Grok endorsed for Congress in NH’s Second Congressional District). Right now, he is the Lead Investigative Reporter for the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy (a free-market think tank based in Concord, NH). Pretty much, his work is posted up at NH Watchdog. By all reports, he did a splendiferous job of keeping the speakers moving along and did a great job of making the process of introducing each speaker informative and entertaining.
And yes, the videos will be coming soon!
First speaker of the day was former NH Senator George Lovejoy of the NH Advantage Coalition:
Rest of the pics are (coming soon) after the jump:
Corey Lewindowsky of Americans for Prosperity/NH (State Director) who hosted both the Concord and Manchester, NH TEA Parties.
Dan Itse of the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance
Elaine Driscoll of Concerned Women of America – New Hampshire
Kevin Smith of Cornerstone Action
Lorna Androscia of Nashua 9/12
Nancy Elliot of the New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women
Steve Stapanek of Granite State Taxpayers
Pam Curran, Lisa Gravel (9/12 Manchester), and Tom Flaherty of the NH 9.12 Liberty Action Team – two more of the 9/12 Groups here in NH
Tom Thomson, tax fighter, advocate of his father (former NH Gov. Meldrim Thomson)’s saying of "Lower taxes is the result of lower spending".
Oh yeah, one last dude: your friendly host – moi! I was privileged to give an invocation as well as speak on behalf of GraniteGrok:
Geek to the end – forgot to take the bluetooth headset outta my ear before hopping up to the stage. Good thing nobody called….
But I’ll probably hear from the folks that I didn’t get a chance to snap a pic (sorry!)
- Mr. Bill Smith, New Hampshire Right to Life (NHRL)
- Mr. Russ Pond, St. Michael’s Brigade