2010 Defender of Liberty Awards
presented in 2011 at the LibertyFest Banquet
By Denee Rockman-Moon
(denee.rockman-moon@live.com)
LIBERTY FEST 2011: A GREAT SUCCESS!
(We honored our super LPM volunteers in 2010, held Saturday, February 5, 2011, Holiday Inn Gateway Center, Flint, MI)
I would first like to say “Thank You” to all that attended LibertyFest and to those that were a huge help. It was my first event putting together for the LPM and a
very successful and fun evening. We were all able to meet new people and finally put a friendly face to all the names we all hear about.
This event would not have gone as well or as smooth as it did with out the help of
Charles Earl, Emily Salvette and Jay Longtain. Emily thank you so much for guiding me the right direction with all the planning from your past practice. A huge thank you also for all the donations and support.
This is a great party to be a part of and I hope to help out more.
A Congratulations goes to the following individuals for their nomination and winning the 2010 awards:
- Spokesperson of Liberty – Chad Stevens
- Promoter of Liberty – Bill Gelineau
- Producer of Liberty – Brian Wright
These are the the kinds of people that help this party grow and stay strong. Congratulations to all. So, put on your party hats, cause you could be next!
Thank you
Tri City Bay Regional Area. Please enjoy the following article by Emily along with a collage of photos, some taken by Scotty Boman and some by award-winning Chad.
LibertyFest 2011:
It Was a Dark and Snowy Night, by Emily Salvette
…but the mood was bright at the celebration of liberty on the evening of February 5, 2011. LibertyFest was held at the Holiday Inn Gateway Center in Flint and was organized by LEC at-large director Denee Rockman-Moon. About 35 people braved snowy roads to enjoy the evening emceed by Jay Longtain, which included a speech by guest speaker Charlie Earl and the awarding of the 2010 Defender of Liberty awards.
Charles Earl and his lovely wife, Pat, were our honored guest for the evening. Charlie, who is a former Republican State Representative from Ohio, is now active in the Libertarian Party of Ohio and ran as the LP candidate for Ohio Secretary of State in 2010. His speech, MSRP for Liberty, focused on the value of liberty in society. He stressed how important it is for Libertarian Party members to speak up loud and proud about what we stand for and not discount the value of the product we are selling.
State Chair Emily Salvette presented the Libby awards to the winners. Chad Stevens won the Spokesperson of Liberty award. Chad is a businessman from Sault Saint Marie. He co-founded and leads the Northern Michigan Liberty Alliance, a non-partisan organization comprised of individuals and tea party groups that seek a return to constitutionally limited government, free markets and individual freedoms. William Gelineau was named the Promoter of Liberty for 2010. Bill has long been a driving force behind the LP of West Michigan, was the LPM state chair 2003-4, and has organized several of our recent state conventions. The final award, Producer of Liberty, was given to Brian Wright, who unfortunately could not be at the event due to the terrible weather. Brian has been involved in Michigan’s freedom movement since the founding of the party in 1972. He was LPM state chair in the early 1980s and is currently our webmaster and newsletter editor.
The Defender of Liberty award selection committee was made up of Emily Salvette, Denee Rockman-Moon, and Amy Kilbourne, PhD, MPH. Amy is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan and Core Faculty Member in the VA Ann Arbor Serious Mental Illness Treatment Research and Evaluation Center (SMITREC). She grew up in California and John Hospers, first LP presidential candidate, is a family friend. The committee received many nominees this year and the selection was very difficult, but in the end, we honored 3 very worthy Defenders of Liberty.
The evening was a wonderful success and everyone enjoyed meeting old friends and making new ones as we wined and dined for Liberty. Thanks to our speaker, congratulations to our Libby Award winners, and all praise to the LibertyFest committee for organizing an elegant and well-run event. Denee Rockman-Moon would like to thank everyone who attended and made donations that evening. “This is a great party to be a part of,” she notes, “and I hope to help out more.” That’s the LibertyFest spirit!
About the Winners
- Chad Stevens is from Sault Saint Marie in the UP. He co-founded and leads the Northern Michigan Liberty Alliance, a non-partisan organization composed of individuals and tea party groups that seek a return to constitutionally limited government, free markets and individual freedoms. Chad organized two very well-attended events in 2010—a Tea Party rally last April in Sault Saint Marie where Libertarian Party candidate Ken Proctor and Vice Chair Dan Johnson were able to speak; and a candidate vetting rally on Labor Day weekend in Mackinaw City where Proctor, Scotty Boman and Keith Shelton appeared. And Chad’s been working directly with our affiliates’ chair, Dan Johnson, to help start an affiliate in the 1st Congressional District. Chad Stevens singlehandedly did more to spread the ideals of Libertarianism in Northern Michigan than anyone last year.
- Bill Gelineau has been the moving force behind the Libertarian Party of West Michigan for more than a decade, serving as Chair, Board Advisor and in many other roles. He is enthusiastic, outgoing and principled. He has personally contacted and spoken to hundreds of prospective libertarians, persuading them to join the constant flow of new activists who power the LPWM. His ongoing effort to contact West Michigan media personalities and become the “go to” person on libertarian issues has led to television, radio and print media appearances for him and many LP candidates. Bill ran for State Senate last year, he served as State Chair from 2003-2004, and has recently organized several well-run and successful state conventions for the LPM. He’s currently organizing and promoting our 2011 state convention in Midland scheduled for April 30th. Bill is truly a promoter of the LPM, and I’m pleased to present this award to him.
- Brian Wright was present when the Libertarian party was founded in 1972, was State Chair in the early 1980s, contributed to the LPM’s 25th Anniversary Project in 1997, has served in countless LPM leadership roles including a just—finished stint on the Libertarian Executive Committee. His latest outreach is a book he wrote entitled The Sacred Nonaggression Principle (http://www.brianrwright.com/BW.htm#8). Currently, Brian plays a critical role behind-the-scenes as the LPM Web master. If you have made an online donation to this party or purchased tickets to this event online, you’ve made use of Brian’s work. If you found out about LibertyFest in the newsletter, you can thank Brian, because he’s also responsible for editing, formatting and composing the electronic version of our monthly e-newsletter, The Michigan Libertarian. It was Brian Wright who engineered the successful transition from a paper newsletter to a digital one; a change that brings more frequent and timely information to a much larger libertarian community, and saves the LPM a great deal of money in printing and postage costs.
About Charlie Earl
Born in Fostoria, Charlie was reared on a farm in Seneca County near McCutchenville. After graduating from Mohawk High School (Sycamore, OH), Charlie later attended The College of Wooster where he earned his B.A. in English. Some years later he broadened his education with an M.A. from Bowling Green State University in Mass Communication, additional graduate work at the University of Virginia, and doctoral studies in Mass Communication at Bowling Green. Over the course of his life Charlie has worked in broadcasting, academia and corporate communications. In addition he has worked at a number of jobs in order to pay the bills while attending college and grad school. In the early 1980’s, Charlie served as a Republican member of the Ohio House of Representatives but chose not to run for re-election in 1984. After a 26 year “sabbatical,” Charlie has decided to run for Ohio Secretary of State as a member of the Libertarian Party of Ohio.
…click here to read more…
Defender of Liberty Awards
Defender of Liberty Awards (“Libbies”) have been presented at our annual LibertyFest Banquet to a maximum of four select individuals, Libertarian or otherwise, who have made notable personal efforts in the defense of liberty. Winners must live and/or work in the state of Michigan.
Three categories have been established:
A fourth award is available to be given at the judge’s discretion.
