FREE REPUBLIC @ ALABAMA: General Thread

02/24/2009

[Ultra Sonic 007]

Okay everyone, welcome to the general Alabama thread on Free Republic!

Use this thread to post interesting news, tidbits, plans, meeting times, or just to converse with your fellow people of Alabama. This thread will be used to properly coordinate FR activism and various other activities...and, if things go well, serve as the proper thread for Alabama FR chapters to plan and organize.

Hope you all make good use of it!

[LadyPilgrim]

Thank you for praying for her. She and her family are precious to us, and also thanks for the offer of a ride.
But I may just drive. :-)
I’ll keep in touch via cell, though.

Thank you again...you’re sweet. :-)

[LowOiL]

Please keep me in your pings, I don’t make many events anymore, but I like keeping abreast of situations.

Fort Payne Lookout Mnt. Area

[Ultra Sonic 007]

Pinging the whole list about the meetings this Friday...of which there are now TWO!

From the Alabama board, Southron Patriot has proposed a 'Tea Party' meeting for the people in North Alabama:

xxxx

Attention all North Alabama Freepers!

We are planing a “Tea Party” demonstration commitee this Friday at Cracker Barrel in Decatur around 7:30pm.

If you are interested in coming please let me know so we can get a headcount so we can reserve a table.

I have been in touch with Michelle Malkin and Patrick Leahy and they have offered us advice about how to swing this. Any additional ideas are greatly welcome.

Let’s show them that North Alabama has the gumption to stand up to Rex Obama

xxxx

So there's that! A 'Tea Party' meeting at Cracker Barrel in Decatur, this Friday night at 7:30. A hand to Southron Patriot for notifying us of this.

And now, for those closer to the center of the state in the Greater Birmingham Area...the dinner meeting at Ruby Tuesday's in Hoover (at the Galleria), this Friday night at 7:30.

Here's a map of the Galleria:

That's where we'll meet; for those coming, we'll meet up outside the Galleria Mall Entrance, where the Ruby Tuesday's is. So in that red circle. I'll be arriving some time between 6:30 PM - 6:50 PM, so I should be there in time for those coming. We'll all enter the restaurant at 7:30 PM, so it'd be best to arrive by around 7:25 PM.

Those confirmed to be coming so far:

Myself, BudgieRamone (and wife), LadyPilgrim, RatRipper, and ImaGraftedBranch. Those who are likely to come (but have yet to give full confirmation either way, pending on their own plans) are del4hope (and husband) and Bizzy Bugz.

FReepmail me by Thursday night if you plan on coming, so I can reserve for an appropriate table size.

So that's how things are planned thus far! Two meetings this Friday night at 7:30 PM; one in Decatur, one in Hoover.

Hope we get a good turnout!

[4Godsoloved..Hegave]

Regarding the Alabama Tea Parties. Anybody think it wise to let Dale Jackson know about it and maybe he can get the word out via his radio show?
http://www.wvnn.com/dale.shtml

[Ultra Sonic 007]

To members of the Alabama ping list: mtnwmn has plans for Saturday, March 7!

xxxx

How does the Western Sizzlin near Scottsboro sound? It is on Hwy 72. We used to meet in the Fort Payne Western Sizzlin when I was in Civitans. If we have enough people, we may can get a room.

Date: Saturday, March 7 Time: 11:30 A.M. R.S.V.P.

Western Sizzlin Wood Grill
23980 John T Reid Pkwy
Scottsboro, AL 35768
(256) 259-6888

xxxx

The location is the one marked 'A' on Google Maps.

If anyone wants to go, give her a holler!

[TomServo]

Please remove me from the ping list.

Thanks!,

[Ultra Sonic 007]

To those who have confirmed to be attending the Ruby Tuesday meeting tomorrow night: a final reminder!

The dinner meeting at Ruby Tuesday's in Hoover (at the Galleria), this Friday night at 7:30.

Here's a map of the Galleria:

That's where we'll meet; for those coming, we'll meet up outside the Galleria Mall Entrance, where the Ruby Tuesday's is. So in that red circle. I'll be arriving some time between 6:30 PM - 6:50 PM, so I should be there in time for those coming (I'll be the guy in a blue Polo shirt). We'll all enter the restaurant at 7:30 PM, so it'd be best to arrive by around 7:25 PM.

Those confirmed to be coming:

Myself, BudgieRamone (and wife), LadyPilgrim (maybe her husband), del4hope (and her husband), RatRipper (and at least one acquaintance, perhaps two), and ImaGraftedBranch. Due to forecasting for bad weather, Bizzy Bugz will not be coming.

I have reserved for an appropriate table size of about 12.

I'll see you all tomorrow night.

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

Give it a shot!

[LadyPilgrim]

If Bizzy Bugz is close to me, she can ride with us.
D...do you have her phone number?

[6ppc]

Ultra,
Friday evenings are not a good time for me to attend, but I will try to make the meeting at Ruby Tuesday’s this evening.

[Ultra Sonic 007]

Well well well, I'm as pleased as a puppy.

Despite the weather...tonight went great.

How about I start at the beginning?

Leaving my college at around 5:50 PM, I made the slow trek to the Hoover Galleria (despite a lot of rain, the wind and lightning had moved further southward, so we were mostly in the clear), wondering if today's bad weather would keep some people away. It would; Bizzy Bugz and ImaGraftedBranch held off due to the rain, and one late addition - 6ppc - was unable to make it. So I stood under the veranda at the Galleria entrance to Ruby Tuesday's, waiting from 6:30 onward until someone would show.

Around 7:00 PM, BudgieRamone (whom I met last week) and his wife showed up.

We casually conversed for several minutes, exchanging a joke about the 'unfortunate' timing of Lent due to fish-only Fridays (good thing Ruby Tuesday's has a seafood menu). ;)

Then came along LadyPilgrim, whose husband would be unable to make it due to weather-related traffic. However, her son and grandson were coming along to eat out, so they figured they'd eat with us. Hey, the more the better!

This is about the time we noticed two other men coming towards us: RatRipper and his brother. We had another round of introductions when 7:30 PM hit; I knew I had notified the others who had yet to arrive about the name of the reserved table, so we decided to go on in.

Less than five minutes later, del4hope and her husband arrived, followed shortly by LadyPilgrim's son and grandson. So now, we had a grand total of 10 people. And I was digging that!

Sitting all at one table, we engaged in casual conversation, eating some appetizers and then our main course. Talking about what we ate...well, that's not the point. It provided the vehicle for all SORTS of discussions. A brief summary follows:

The tea parties, the meeting hosted at the Madison Cracker Barrel by Southron Patriot, the media and their role in advancing liberalism, the corruption of politicians, the lack of statesmen in Washington, sports-related tales, local Alabama politics (Shelby...but a lot of it regarding potential challengers to Arthur Davis in the heavily gerrymandered 7th Congressional District), the Rick and Bubba Show, how history repeats itself, the strangeness of the withdrawal of $550 BILLION over two hours from the banking institutions late last year, our jobs and educational background, the banking and financial industry and its current state, home-schooling, the witty and sarcastic humor of FReepers, ideas for the next meetings, how to get wider visibility...and I'm sure there's a couple of things I've already forgotten.

I was on one half of the table for most of the evening, talking mostly with RatRipper, LadyPilgrim, and her descendants. The other half of the table consisted of BudgieRamone, his wife, RatRipper's brother, del4hope, and her husband (del4hope and BudgieRamone will have to fill us in on details regarding your half of the table).

All in all, I personally thought it was a blast. We got to actually meet face-to-face, got to discuss political/nonpolitical stuff with fellow conservatives, and enjoy a good meal while doing so. Even found out some interesting things (did you know Free Republic has its own Facebook Group? How neat is that?).

Of interest were the tea parties...so I bring lists!

More on Tea Party Cities (the Calera and Shelby County @ HWY 280 tea parties scheduled for today were probably canceled due to weather).

Michelle Malkin and Tea Party News

How to Organize a Tea Party

So there's that!

Anyhow, we all put down a FINALIZED, REGULARIZED meeting time that should be more inclusive for other FReepers on the list within the Greater Birmingham Area:

A biweekly meeting.

Every Saturday at noon.

Meeting place: the Food Court of the Brookview Mall-

LadyPilgrim: BrookWOOD.

Oh yeah! *smacks forehead*

(Running joke of the evening; when talking about the next meeting, I would always say Brookview instead of Brookwood. Cue crack about Tourette's Syndrome.)

So here's the time for the next meeting: Saturday, March 14 at 12:00 PM. Location is the Brookwood Mall in the Food Court. It's sandwiched between Lakeshore, I-65/HWY 31, and HWY 280; it's right next to Sanford University.

Google Maps.

So there. We plan to talk about Tea Parties, possible methods of educating people about conservatism, and the organizing of public events (one suggestion was of a public forum to try and educate people about the economy, the history of free markets, past recessions...and the response to them. Of particular interest will be Harding's response to the 1920-21 recession, Hoover/FDR's response to the 1929 recession and how the Great Depression began, and Reagan's response to the 1980-81 recession).

Well, that's my write-up. It was a pleasure meeting you all, and I hope to see more people two weeks from now. (First 4...now 10...let's try for at least 16. Or maybe even 25!)

So Southron Patriot...how'd your meeting at Cracker Barrel go?

[LadyPilgrim]

Thanks! I have since emailed the person who was supposed to have a tea freep at my subdivision.

Thank you for getting this together! It was inspiring!

[Jemian]

War Eagle to you, too! I’m sorry I missed you while I was in Auburn. Hubby and I left for Indonesia in January and we’ll return for Christmas 2010.

Anyway, save a place for me at our area meetings. When I return I’ll be active.

[mtnwmn]

Thanks so much. Wish us luck with North Alabama FReepers and Friends in Scottsboro. Don’t forget ;o)

[RatRipper]

Thanks, Ultra Sonic 007!!

[rhetorica]

Good thing you weren’t here today—we had several tornadoes this morning. Damage out on 280 at the bottle and on 280 heading to Smiths Station. Now they are calling for snow tonight.

Be safe and we’ll keep te homefires burning. War Eagle!

[Ultra Sonic 007]

My my, crazy weekend for weather!

First the thunderstorms and tornadoes on Friday...

And now, this morning? Snow all over.

Everyone enjoy the snowfall?

[4Godsoloved..Hegave]

It was quite fun for the children. Making angels, throwing snowballs, picture taking all before church this morning. Good thing they got all that in before church as there was hardly any snow by the time we got home.

[RatRipper]

‘Bout 2 inches this morning in Cullman. The wind is really strong now. I drove out to my brother’s house this afternoon and I had to fight the wind to steer sometimes.

[mtnwmn]

We didn’t get ANY on Lookout Mountain in NE AL. A few flakes....sunshine now no less! It’not fair :o(