T HE R EDWOOD A LERT

E UREKA R EPUBLICAN W OMEN F EDERATED , SINCE 1938

Serving the Republican Women of Humboldt County

V OLUME 34, I SSUE 1 J ANUARY 2009

Colleen Hedrick, President · Margaret Stafford, Program Chair

P RESIDENT ’ S
Eureka Republican Women Federated M ESSAGE
Welcomes BY C OLLEEN H EDRICK
William G. Bertain Typically we think of election
years as most significant periods
for Eureka Republican Women
Federated as we work in support of
Republican campaigns. Starting
this month with the installation of
President Obama who presented
his candidacy as the very essence
of change we are looking at a real
need for change in our thinking.
Contrasts between his
administration’s purposes and our
convictions indicates that this
needs to be a hard working year for
us. There is need to be vigilant in
January 22nd ~ Elks Lodge, Eureka watching legislation and to react as
best serves our conservative
Buffet Lunch-$12.50 Beverage Only-$4.00 principles. There’s a bill
introduced to recycle The Fairness
Doctrine (which is anything but
William G. Bertain is a Eureka attorney. His topic will be Port and Rail fair) and Obama comes to office
Development for Humboldt County. He brings extensive background and expertise with a huge commitment to
to his subject dating back to 1977 due to his involvement as a representative for Planned Parenthood. Watch
for pandering to ACORN, a
the Humboldt Bar Pilots and for the North Coast Export Company. The latter supposed community action
was a cooperative of more than 10 local sawmills exporting wood chips to organization that functions on the
Japan. Bertain worked in relation to the redesign of the Humboldt Bay taxpayers’ dime mostly as a radical
extension of the Democrat party.
Wastewater Authority Sewage Treatment Plan. We will need to write, fax,
telephone, and be as visible as
Members, their guests, and interested persons will be welcome to gather at the possible if we are to best represent
and defend our core beliefs.
Elks Lodge beginning at 11:30 a.m. Lunch will be served at noon. The cost is
$12.50 for lunch including tax and tip. Coffee or tea will be included. Those
wanting soft drinks will be able to purchase their choice. Beverage only is $4. More immediately we have a
change in time and place for our
January meeting. Meeting date is
Please RSVP to Colleen Hedrick at 268-0101 Thurs. January 22 at the Elk Lodge
Reservations are to be honored. at noon . Members, guests and the
public are encouraged to bring
Cancellation notice is a necessity. cans or plastic containers of food
to contribute to Food for People.
P AGE 2 T HE R EDWOOD A LERT

C ONTACTS
Rep. Mike Thompson Senator Barbara Boxer Senator Diane Feinstein
260-9595 1-202-224-3553 1-202-224-3841
1-415-403-0100 1-415-393-0710

Email boxes for senator’s offices are often a lost cause because they are full. This sometimes also
happens with voice mail but persistence pays.

C ALIFORNIA L EGISLATIO N BY V EE S ORENSON

I have been asked to cover
Sacramento politics for our club
this year. What a daunting task to
follow the circus going on there.
The budget process is out of
control. The politics are out of
control. I believe the confusion is
because the majority of the policy
makers are out in left field.
I am hoping that someday, we
can have Republican candidates
running for State offices that the
public will listen to. I want a
candidate who will stand up and
ask, “Are you happy with what
our state has become? Are you
satisfied with our
indebtedness? Are you willing to
pay higher and higher taxes? Are
you happy with your children’s
education? Are you tired of
handing over more of your hard-
earned money to those who
carelessly spend the dollars on
themselves first and then let a few
coins trickle down to
infrastructure and help for
working families? Are you tired
of the foolish legislation those in
left field thrust upon us? Are you
fed up with the judges Democrats
are forcing on us? Then why on
earth do you keep sending back
the same politicians election after
election?”
I personally am tired of
recycled politicians and the
network of destructive people we
keep having represent us. I urge
you to become active with the
County Republican Party and the
Taxpayers League. Get a little
angry at what is going on in
Sacramento. Donate to our
Republican candidates, carry
voter registration forms in the
trunk of your car. Study, learn
facts and don’t be afraid to throw
them out at your Democrat
friends. They have certainly
mastered the art of intimidating us
to the point we are afraid to place
bumper stickers on our cars or
yard signs indicating our
causes. Write letters to the editor,
and the next election volunteer to
phone bank for our candidates and
to get the vote out, walk precincts
and distribute Republican
literature. Volunteer to work on
the campaign of a conservative
candidate running for
office. They deserve our help.
Let’s work together for
honest representation so our State
can once again be a place friendly
to family, businesses and the
quality of good living.

C HAPLAIN ’ S C ORNER BY V EE S ORENSON

Since our minister was on
vacation, my husband Richard
was asked to deliver the first 2007
sermon given at our church. I
found his message on the
computer the other day and was
amazed, as he was fighting his
battle with cancer, his talk was of
looking to the future and how
important it is to not dwell on the
past.
He pointed out how the
Israelites became discouraged and
began complaining. Some
actually wanted to turn back to
Egypt and slavery rather than
continuing on their journey to the
Promised Land. How different
Jewish history would have been
had they not continued to follow
Moses.
With a discouraging 2008
election, we must take his words
seriously and continue going
forward on our political journey.
Also some of us have
experienced indescribable grief in
the loss of our loved ones. I
would like to mention some of the
loyal Republican men who left us
in 2008. Roger Rodoni, William
Wennerholm, John Campbell,
Les Westfall, and my husband,
Richard Sorenson. Let us take
Richard’s words, and move
forward in life’s journey. We
cannot forget the past, especially
the good memories, but we must
look for opportunities to comfort
and pray for those hurting. Look
for opportunities to help make our
nation stronger. Become more
active and strive to do what is
right for the future of our country,
our families and our friends.
I am sure those great men who
have gone on before us would
want us to look forward to a better
future, beginning this year, 2009.

A T HOUGHT TO P ONDER
Upon arrival in Washington President-elect Obama announced that the first Item in his $1-trillion stimulus
plan is new jobs. He said 80-percent of the jobs will be in the public sector. This would add 600,000 jobs to
the already bloated government payroll. This does make one wonder how do we meet paydays?
 V OLUME 34, I SSUE 1 P AGE 3

2009 B OARD OF D IRECTORS

POSITION NAME PHONE EMAIL

President Colleen Hedrick 268-0101 colleen1516@sbcglobal.net

1st Vice Debbie Walker 441-1126 walktalk@suddenlink.net
2nd Vice Joy Finley 845-2575 joyfinley@suddenlink.net
T REASURER ’ S
terry- R EPORT
Rec. Secretary Terry Roberts 599-3255 roberts@coldwellbanker.com BY C INDY L EWIS
Corr. Secretary Donna Bellairs 442-6648 bellairsx2@suddenlink.net
Balance 10/31/2008 $3249.25
Treasurer Cindy Lewis 442-1187 liberty741776@sbcglobal.net
Income +598.00
Auditor JoAnn Stanhope 822-4776 jstanhope@suddenlink.net Expenses --425.87
Americanism Chris Wennerholm 725-2020 chrisw500@suddenlink.net Balance 12/31/08 =$3421.38
Advertising Joy Finley 845-2575 joyfinley@suddenlink.net
Business Cathy Pierson 443-1665 cathyray@pierson1.com
Chaplain Vee Sorenson 822-2359 veesign@aol.com
Commentary Colleen Hedrick 268-0101 colleen1516@sbcglobal.net
County Politics Joy Finley 845-2575 joyfinley@suddenlink.net
Education Sheryl Fearrien 725-6200 schoolmarm50@sbcglobal.net
Historian Helen Lanning 442-8897 lanninghrb@aol.com
Hospitality Haline Sundet 442-2623 sun17@suddenlink.net
HSU Club Carolyn Eisner 666-3680
Legislation Vee Sorensen 822-2359 veesign@aol.com
W AYS & M EANS
Luncheons Joy Finley 845-2575 joyfinley@suddenlink.net
BY J OY F INLEY
Membership Barbara Hecathorn 442-7124 hecathorn@aol.com Happy New Year!!! We are
Mailing Haline Sundet 442-2623 sun17@suddenlink.net starting our first meeting of the
Name Tags Delores Theuerkauf 822-5090 erniet@suddenlink.net year at the ELKS Club. We have
some interesting items for this
Newsletter Joy Finley 845-2575 joyfinley@suddenlink.net
year’s opportunity drawing. Last
Parliamentarian Lynda Pozel 845-2575 lynda@hopkinsportraits.com month, yours truly, won the
Program Margaret Stafford 822-3522 tom-marg@suddenlink.net Kadilac Kindling donated by
Publicity Colleen Hedrick 268-0101 colleen1516@sbcglobal.net Gordie Amos. My niece, Sarah
Telephone Bernice Huston 822-0997 bhuston21@att.net Pescassio, won the Stag Horn
fern that was donated by
Ways & Means Joy Finley 845-2575 joyfinley@suddenlink.net
Margaret Stafford.
Website Master Bill Odonnell 442-4117 ERWF@odonnell.ws

This New Year is filled with

great challenges and exciting
The Redwood Alert is designed by Sondra Kirtley of Scrapper’s Edge. possibilities. Republican
Women is an important vehicle
for these tasks. Hope to see you
To assist Sondra, please submit newsletter contributions as Word
documents, typed with Times Roman 10-point font and single-spaced. January 22, 2009 at the ELKS
Send as attachments to: ScrappersEdge@sbcglobal.net Club!

Does anyone want to help? It would be helpful if one member could gather
all the articles and submit them as one Word document to Sondra. If you’re
interested, please contact Sondra or Joy.
P AGE 4 T HE R EDWOOD A LERT

N EWS F ROM THE H UMBOLDT C OUNTY R EPUBLICAN P ARTY

by Patricia Welch, Chairman
Happy New Year!
I trust all of you had a joyous
holiday season. The Humboldt
County Republican Party is
starting fast and furious. As
Chairman, I have laid out the
following four building blocks for
2009:
 Voter Registration, voter
registration, voter registration:
Voter registration amongst both
political parties has been
declining. We must reach out to
those voters who may have
switched party affiliations or who
have yet to register and
effectively communicate our
message of less government and
no new taxes.
 Fundraising within Humboldt
County: a strategy that is
aggressive at providing the
necessary donations to our party
to sustain our programs and goal
of achieving a majority.
 Committee organization: this
includes the establishment of
bylaws and other regulations that
will govern the central committee
and its effectiveness within
Humboldt County.
Candidate Recruitment
We have several events on the
horizon; the most important is our
Republican of the Year Dinner
which will be held on Tuesday,
February 17. This year, Joy
Finley will be our honoree. Joy
has worked tirelessly for
Republicans for many years,
serving most recently as president
of Eureka Republican Women,
and also Chairman of the
Humboldt County Republican
Party. Please plan to join us as
we celebrate Joy’s enthusiastic
volunteerism! This event will be
held at the Fortuna River Lodge
and the catering will be provided
by Avalon; please watch your
mailbox and your inbox for more
information
We are also working on a special
event in April- Peter Foy;
Chairman of Americans for
Prosperity will be our guest.
Americans for Prosperity is the
premier tax fighting organization
in the state. Mr. Foy has been
traveling the state holding press
conferences with a giant ATM—
“already taxed to the max.”
Learn more at
www.americansforprosperity.org/
california

R EGION 13 R EPORT
by Patricia Welch, Chairman, Regional Director, CFRW Northern Division

CFRW Northern Division will be holding a Leadership Workshop on Saturday, February 17th in Fairfield.
The cost is $50 per person which includes a Leadership Guide and lunch. Accommodations are at the
Courtyard by Marriott for $119. I encourage everyone to attend this informative workshop.

M EMBERSHIP BY B ARBARA H ECATHORN

Happy New Year – 2009 is going to be a good year. I am so pleased to have Terry Roberts and
Kathy Rodriguez as co-chairs of Membership. Kathy has several new ideas for ERWF and has agreed to
head up this year’s membership drive. We hope to increase membership this year so we will be looking
to everyone for support to grow and keep our views alive in this community. If you have ideas for
improvement, please share them.

Statements for 2009 dues are in the mail and you should receive them in the next day or so. Your early
response is appreciated. If you wish to pay dues at the Luncheon, Kathy, Terry or I will be set up to take
them . For those who have already paid your dues, thank you.
V OLUME 34, I SSUE 1 P AGE 5

A MERICANISM R EPORT BY C HRIS W ENNERHOLM

Barack Obama was briefed this morning on the state of the economy, and this afternoon, he called
McCain to offer him the presidency.
--------------
"Poor People have been voting for Democrats for the last 50 years .......and they are still poor." --
Charles Barkley of the NBA
------------------
God Bless America!
The rest of the world cannot understand how after bitter election campaigns, American politicians can
return to reality. For Instance, Sarah Palin has invited to her great state of Alaska the men who defeated
her, Barack Obama and Joe Biden. She has provided a moose hunting trip for their enjoyment and has
hired two other prominent men to assist them.... Dick Cheney will instruct them in safe gun handling and
Ted Kennedy will drive them back to their cabins in the evening.

What a gal!!
----------------------
TRIBUTE TO PRES. GEORGE BUSH

Despite what some folks may think about President Bush, he will be missed by a lot of folks that worked
for and around him!!

A Thought for Our Future ... by Neil Cavuto, Fox News:

As was the case with Ronald Reagan, there are characteristics that mark a great man and a President.
President and Mrs. George W. Bush are people of both style and grace. Unlike the couple who preceded
them in The White House, they depart with magnanimity and Christian goodwill toward their successors.
The world watches what we do and judges us by our small gestures a lot more than they do by our
flamboyant deeds.
Now that the election season is over, a tribute to our President.
He was classy. Magnanimous. A gentleman. Ripped for being out of touch, he chose just the right
touch. A man who critics say only mangled his words, conjured just the right ones. The president took
care, months ago, to put a transition team in place, so that a smooth transfer of power could take
place. President Bush wasn't so lucky when he was coming in. Maybe things were different then. A lot
of ill will. Lots of hurtful words since then.
He wasn't even running this year but it seemed everyone, including his own party's nominee, was run-
ning against him all year. If he minded, he didn't show it.
I remember talking to the president on the White House south lawn about
it. "Does it all bug you?" I asked. "Nah," he said, shrugging his shoulders and adding simply, "I
understand."
A man at peace with a nation seemingly at war with him? Some for good reason, others apparently lack-
ing reason. He took nothing personally, always handling himself with dignity. Not by what he said, but
precisely what he did not.
I've read that the President is as kind to the elevator operator at the White House as he is a visiting head
of state to the White House.
I've seen it myself. Every time I've interviewed him, he sticks around and personally shakes the hands of
each member of my crew and then hangs out for pictures. Lots of pictures. I know, little things. But to
me, big things. That bespeaks of a man far bigger than the petty things I see in the press. Or hear in a
harsh campaign year.
That ended, with a quiet gesture. From a president who'd be in his right to wag a finger. But instead,
simply offered his hand.
P AGE 6 T HE R EDWOOD A LERT

M ARK Y OUR C ALENDAR

January 17 Northern Division Leadership Seminar
Courtyard by Marriot in Fairfield
January 22 ERWF Luncheon, Elks Lodge, Eureka
Feb. 6-8 CFRW Winter Conference, San LuisObispo
Reservations are still being accepted:
Courtyard Marriott at 805-786-4200
Conference package is $150, due by January 23rd.
Please call Colleen Hedrick 268-0101 or email at
Colleen1516@sbcglobal.net if you want additional information.
Feb. 17 CFRW Northern Leadership Workshop, Fairfield

Feb. 17 Humboldt County Republican of the Year Dinner,

honoring Joy Finley - River Lodge, Fortuna
Mar. 13-14 Northern Division Spring Conference, Redding
May 3-5 CFRW 34th Advocacy Workshop and
Spring 2009 Board Meeting
Hyatt Regency at Capitol Park, Sacramento

C OMMENTARY BY C OLLEEN H EDRICK

Liberals Whine Because
Limbaugh, Hannity, O’Reilly,
And Others Tell It Just Like It
Is-We Say Hurrah……
If we are of a mindset that doesn’t
accept the idea that the
Democrats and other like-minded
folk should be able to tell us what
it is acceptable for conservatives
to say it is advisable to bird dog
bills that have been introduced in
the House and Senate.
In the House (H.R. 1985) by Bill
Hefner, a North Carolina
Democrat and in the Senate
it's (S.333) by Ernest Hollings, a
South Carolina Democrat under a
nomenclature of “Fairness In
Broadcasting Act of 1993.”
Currently Nancy Pelosi, Dick
Durbin, John Kerry, John Kerry,
Al Gore, and Reverend Wright’s
church are among the supporters
who want to have regulations
imposed that would monitor radio
broadcasters to police an equal
presentation of pro and con views
on any and all issues.
No consideration is given to the
reality that the prime media is
about ninety percent dominated in
favoring liberal candidates and
opinions. We all pay for Public
Broadcasting but Liberals control.
that media. Nor does it appear to
register that there have been
several failed efforts to establish
liberal talk radio programs. All
the sponsors got for their efforts
was sizeable financial losses.
Listen-up boys and girls, “You
can’t sell what their isn’t a market
for.” Liberals have print and TV
advocates a plenty to support their
views and to ignore or cover up
what they don’t want told. They
didn’t support Al Franken or radio
but some Minnesotans think he
belongs in the Senate---how’s that
for a puzzler?
The first go-around on this
foolishness (and I know you are
just plain flabbergasted that
congress would function
foolishly) was 1949. It has gone
through a lengthy series of being
in effect and out of effect and a
number of court rulings. President
Reagan vetoed a bill attempting to
put it back in practice in 1987. In
June 2008, Barack Obama’s press
secretary wrote that Senator
Obama “does not support
reimposing the Fairness Doctrine
on broadcasters but that he
considers this debate to be a
distraction from the conversation
we should be having on the
airwaves.” He added that Obama
supports media-ownership caps,
network neutrality, public
broadcasting as well as increasing
minority ownership of
broadcasting and print outlets.’
That reads like he doesn’t but he
does.
Common sense and the first
amendment reads like we don’t
need congress to tell us what we
can listen to, what we can read,
nor what we can think.
V OLUME 34, I SSUE 1 P AGE 7

Jack R. MacDonald

Bella Baskets
Gourmet Gifts & More
412 2nd St. Eureka, CA 95501
707-444-2823 or 877-445-0152
ordergifts@bella-baskets.com
www.bella-baskets.com

Bernice Huston, artist/weaver

P.O. Box 785
Blue Lake, CA 95525
707-822-0997

Studio: 29 Glendale Road

THE REDWOOD ALERT 2008 Advertising Rates

Please contact: Joy Finley at 845-2575 or
Space is currently available for advertising joyfinley@suddenlink.net
Business Card $10 per issue
Quarter Page $20 per issue Prepayment is required.
Full Page $75 per issue Ad Copy Due Date: Last Thursday of each month
 www.EurekaRepublicanWomen.com
The Redwood Alert PRESORTED
Eureka Republican Women, Federated STANDARD
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PERMIT NO. 60

N:
ATTENTIO CATION!
TIN G LO
NEW MEE
e, Eurek a
Elks Lodg

Joy Finley
will be honored as the
Humboldt County
Republican of the Year
February 17, 2009
River Lodge, Fortuna
6:00pm Cocktails - 8:00pm Dinner

For more information,

Call Patricia Welch at 227-6562.