2000 Liberty Festival Banquette
Held at Miles World Resturant, 17689 Masonic (near Groesbeck), Fraser, MI 48026
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Winners
- Bill Bradley
- Bill Shotey
- Tom Shull
- Joanne Karpinski
Four Libby Winners Chosen
By Keith Edwards
The Libertarian Party of Michigan honored four Defenders of Liberty at its Liberty Fest Awards Banquet at Mile’s World Restaurant in Fraser on November 11.
Producer of Liberty Awards were given to Joann Karpinski and Bill Shotey, both of Wayne County. This award is for a dedicated behind-the-scenes Libertarian whose quiet labors over the years exemplify the backbone of the Libertarian Party. Joann has been an inspiration for her hard work and especially this year, forging ahead despite serious illness. Bill is a veteran fundraiser and media contact person who is responsible for the appearances of Libertarian speakers at the Economic Club.
A Promoter of Liberty Award was given to Van Buren County organizer and Chair Bill Bradley, who could have also qualified for the Producer category. A promoter of Liberty is a Libertarian whose efforts have — done the most to promote the LP and Libertarian principles.
The Spokesperson for Liberty A ward goes to a member of the community whose patriotism and conviction have inspired contributions to the cause of liberty. The winner was journalist Tom Shull, until recently a member of the editorial staff of the Detroit News.
This was the fifth annual Liberty Fest Banquet and the second one that featured Jacob “Bumper” Horuberger as speaker. He spoke on “Libertarianism: Hope for America’s Future.” Pointing out that nothing will change regardless of whether Bush or Gore is elected, (he calls it “electing our daddy”) he said that this is our opportunity to. reformulate the debate in view of the philosophical closeness of the two major parties. Government “owns our incomes” and dictates how much we may keep. “We are really slaves.” Vouchers are welfare. He said we should talk about ballot access laws as censorship.
Hornberger called on Libertarians to attack this slavery v philosophically, attacking the immorality of these government actions, rather than just the consequentialist arguments of economic cause and effect. He quoted Hillsdale Professor Richard Ebeling; “No one ever went to the barricades to fight for a cost-benefit analysis.” Hornberger said, “The strongest Libertarian Party assets are our principles.”
Bumper went on to recommend that the LP re-group and build the base at the local level and change the focus to a target group of hispanics and blacks, pointing out that the Rasmussen Quiz identified 16% of the people as libertarians, but that blacks scored 21 %.
Attendance was 109, up from 78 last year, the fourth time in five years over the century mark, and included guests from Ohio and Pennsylvania.
The event was organized and hosted by Libertarians of Macomb County for the third time in five years. While some had protested the choice of Hornberger because of his battles with Harry Browne and the LP’s National Committee, the crowd was friendly and enthusiastic and Bumper made no direct mention of the controversy. Only a handful boycotted the event.
Macomb Chair Diane Barnes was the organizer, spark plug and emcee of the event. Her introduction of Bumper was a fiery one, calling us “outlaws in the defense of liberty.”
State Chair Stacy Van Oast presented the awards. Mamie Edwards and Sharlene Strik handled the registration efficiently under the stress of about 25 who showed up at the last minute without pre-registering. The brochure and program were designed by George Weiss again, a beautiful job. Rosemary Racchi and Al Titran did the decorations and Dave Wejrandt and Keith Edwards also helped.
The Awards Committee consisted of Stacy Van Oast, Dianne Barnes and James Bovard, a winner last year.
Special thanks go to Mile’s World Restaurant and waiter extraordinaire Wyl and his assistants for coping so well with the sudden influx of people. The food (there were five entree choices) was excellent as it always is. It is the regular meeting place ofthe Macomb LP
