Anne Roberts Scholarship Winners
At our regular lunch meeting on July 23rd, the Anne Roberts scholarships for the 2024-25 school year were awarded to two deserving students by our Scholarship chairman Bette Anne Starkey.
William Hernandez is attending Palm Beach State College to study aeronautical engineering. Joining us for the meeting, he shared with us his interests and goals, which also include computer engineering and game design.
Graduating this year from Park Vista Community High School in Lake Worth, he has been active in the community as a volunteer for Women Impacting the Nation, and the FIRST Robotics competition and as a judge for the First Lego League competition. In politics, he worked in his mother’s 2022 campaign for HD92 and went door to door for Governor DeSantis.
Nate Waldstein graduated this year from Jupiter High School with academic merit. A cello player, he is a member of the Youth Orchestra of Palm Beach County, and the National Society of High School Scholars. In the community he did an internship at an assisted living facility and performed on the cello there and other similar facilities. He has also authored several books on living through the pandemic as a teen.
Headed to the University of Central Florida in Lakeland to study business marketing, his interests include improving the lives of residents of senior care facilities and he would like to ultimately own and operate such businesses.
Nate was unable to join us for the meeting but sends his thanks. His grandparents Marla and Gary Werner represented him at the meeting.
The Anne Roberts Memorial Scholarship is available to any resident of Palm Beach County who is a full or part time undergraduate or graduate student seeking to further their education. Students must have a GPA of 3.0 or above and plan to attend an accredited college. Applicants must be registered (or pre-registered under 18 yrs. of age) Republicans. Current members of our Club may refer applicants for this scholarship.
William Hernandez (third from left) with his parents and club leaders:
The club has been awarding these scholarships since 2009, with the following winners:
- 2024: William Hernandez, Palm Beach State, aeronautical engineering and Nate Waldstein, Univ of Central FL, Lakeland, business marketing
- 2023: Grace Templeton, Southeastern, Lakeland – sophomore
- 2022: no scholarships
- 2021: no scholarships
- 2020: Keelie Hanley, Embry Riddle Aeronautics, AZ, Soph and Rileigh Hanley got a full ride to USAF Academy, CO
- 2019: Jenna Calderaio-FSU-Senior, Jessica Blakley-Belmont University -Senior, Ben DeHaan-PBAU Junior, Rileigh Hanley-Embry Riddle Aeronautics -Freshman, and Keelie Hanley-Embry Riddle Aeronautics-Freshman
- 2018: Jenna Calderaio – FSU; Lauren Staff– UF and Jessica Blakley –Belmont University
- 2017: Jenna Calderaio – FSU, Lauren Staff – UF, Ryan Walker – Stetson Law, and Madison Andrews—PB State
- 2016: Dylan Brandenburg-FSU, Jenna Calderaio – FSU, Lauren Staff – UF and Ryan Walker-UF
- 2015: Dylan Brandenburg-FSU, Daniel Kozell-FSU, Hanna Matry-UF, Ryan Walker-UF, and Aaron Mejias-PBAU
- 2014: Dylan Brandenburg-FSU, John Clark-FSU, Jason Ferrara-Alabama, Daniel Kozell-FSU and Hanna Matry-UF
- 2013: Dylan Brandenburg-FSU, Elizabeth Cayson-Walden Univ., John Clark-FSU, Jason Ferrara-Alabama, Daniel Kozell-FSU, and Danielle Madsen-PBAU
- 2012: John Ryan Clark-FSU, Jason Ferrara-Alabama, Daniel Kozell-FSU, Shirley Schaff-Northwood Univ., and James Shackelford-FAU
- 2011: John Ryan Clark-FSU, Jason Ferrara-Alabama, Kimberly Twoey-PBAU, and Shirley Schaff-Northwood Univ.
- 2010: James Schackelford-FAU, and Cindy Morris-PBAU
- 2009: Nicole Vega-FAU
School Board Candidates on the Challenges and Opportunities of the 2024 Education Legislation
Challenges and Opportunities in the School System
SB1 candidate Matthew Lane
SB1 candidate Page Lewis
SB5 candidate Mike Letsky
SB5 candidate Suzanne Page
SB5 candidate Gloria Branch
At least until November, when ballot amendment one will decide if they remain that way, the School Board races are non-partisan. The candidates who are registered as Republicans tend to let you know that by advertising in the wire and appearing at clubs and the REC, and we have asked them to participate in our forum on July 23rd.
In district one, the far north part of the county and heavily Republican (R+17), Matthew Lane and Page Lewis are facing Democrat Francesca Wernisch.
In district five, which is the far south part of the county mostly south of Clint Moore Road and evenly divided (R+0), Gloria Branch, Suzanne Page and Mike Letsky will face off against Democrats Mindy Koch and Charman Postel.
In both districts, all the Republican candidates have agreed to join us.
If no candidate receives a majority of the votes in August, a run-off with the top 2 will appear on the November ballot.
Besides hearing the candidates present their value proposition – why they are the best choice, we have asked them to comment on some of the legislation passed this year that affects K-12 education. That includes for example, a focus on courses supporting the building trades (HB917), the introduction of chaplains (HB931) and presentations by patriotic organizations (HB1317) and the teaching of the history of Communism in the curriculum (SB1264). There were also enhancements to school choice (HB1403) and the school guardian program (HB1473), and the use of Artificial Intelligence to improve classroom effectiveness (HB1361). We would also like to hear their views on Amendment one which would make their races partisan.
We will also be awarding our 2024 Anne Roberts Scholarships at this meeting.
Please join us for what should be an interesting event!
Program Noon – 1PM, Buffet starts at 11:30AM
Cash Bar Available
Palm Beach Kennel Club – Paddock Restaurant
1111 N Congress Ave
West Palm Beach, FL 33409
MAP
$28/Members $35/Guests
Pay at the door.
Make sure you submit your RSVP in advance by clicking on our link below:
Republican Club of the Palm Beaches
213 29th Street
West Palm Beach, FL 33407
(561) 855-0749
Club Participates in Red White and Blue Barbecue
On Saturday, June 15th, the club had a table at the President’s Council barbecue featuring many candidates for this year’s elections. We also met some new people and added to the club roster.
With Armand Grossman as master of ceremonies, John Fischer in colonial garb singing the anthem, and keynote speaker and Trump friend Peter Ticktin, we ate sandwiches from a food truck and heard the stump speeches from county Republicans candidates, many of whom had their teams manning information booths throughout the SCCC pavilion area.
If you weren’t able to attend, here are the candidates that spoke to us (or were represented by surrogates). CLICK HERE For a full list of candidates, with links to their websites.
 Brian Mast (surr) Congress 21 |
 Dan Franzese Congress 22 |
 Andrew Gutmann Congress 22 |
 Deborah Adeimy Congress 22 |
|---|---|---|---|
 Gary Barve Congress 23 |
 Bob Weinroth Congress 23 |
 Joe Kaufman (surr) Congress 23 |
 Forest Freedman State Attorney |
 Sam Stern State Attorney |
 Mike Caruso House district 87 |
 Dan Zapata House district 89 |
 Bill Reicherter House district 90 |
 Anne Gerwig House district 93 |
 Christian Acosta (surr) House district 94 |
 John Fischer County Comm 5 |
 Laurel Diaz Sheriff |
 Mike Gauger Sheriff |
 Roderick Clarke Port district 3 |
 Tami Donnally State Committeewoman |
 Jodi Schwartz State Committeewoman |
 Jenniffer Lee State Committeewoman |
Jason Kulp State Committeeman |
 Joe LaFauci State Committeeman |
Representatives Roth and Caruso Give their Views on the 2024 Session
Representative Mike Caruso, RCPB President Kim Davis, JID Commissioner Jim Davis, Representative Rick Roth
On Tuesday, May 28th, Representatives Rick Roth and Mike Caruso gave us their impressions of the accomplishments of this year’s legislative session.
As each legislator has their particular areas of focus, each had a different list of highlights. Here are the major items they discussed:
- 207 bills so far signed by the Governor, with 27 awaiting approval and 77 more to be presented to him
- Home schooling has really accelerated under the school choice framework – 77K 10 years ago is now 155K
- 2/3 of the house is republican – the reason we can pass such important legislation
- There was a focus on public safety this year, including:
- HB1365 – Unauthorized public camping and public sleeping – sets minimum standards for a county to allow homeless encampments
- HB49 – relaxed rules on hours worked for 16 and 17 year olds
- HB621 – allows for the efficient eviction of squatters
- HB549 – reduces threshold for felony theft to $40 from $750 and targets “group retail theft”
- HB75 – raises penalties for impeding, threatening or harassing 1st responders
- HB1451 – no ID cards for illegals issued by out of state jurisdictions accepted (issuing them already banned in Florida)
- HB1036 – enhanced penalty for illegals returning after being deported
- $117B budget, 40% health care, $22B for agriculture
- HB1 – Keeping roads open when closed by protestors
- HB7073 – cuts business rental tax to 2% from 4.5%
- HB1611 – reduced lawsuits against insurance companies and lower taxes on insurance
- CS/SB 7028 – up to $10K to harden homes under “my safe homes”
- HB3 – limit access to social media for under 14
- HB1403 – increases school choice with additional voucher programs
- SB184 – protects 1st responders – stay 20′ back
As reference material, Representative Roth provided his written notes on the session which are available HERE.
The meeting included some elected officials – County Commissioner Sara Baxter and Jupiter Inlet Commissioner Jim Davis were in attendance along with the two representatives.
Candidates introducing themselves included:
Joe LaFauci for State Committeeman
Jody Schwartz and Tami Donnally for State Committeewoman
Anthony Aguirre for House District 94
Michael Gauger for County Sheriff
Deborah Adeimy for Congressional District 22
President’s Council Red White and Blue BBQ
In lieu of holding a meeting in June, we are asking our members to attend the Republican Club President’s Council Barbeque on Saturday June 15th. Many of the federal, state and local candidates will speak in addition to Peter Ticktin’s anecdotes about former (and next) President Donald Trump. The club will have a tent at the event, so drop by and say hello!
May Meeting – Session Review with Representatives Roth and Caruso
A Review of the 2024 Florida Legislative Session
District 94 Representative Rick Roth
and
District 87 Representative Mike Caruso
Program Noon – 1PM, Buffet starts at 11:30AM
Cash Bar Available
Palm Beach Kennel Club – Paddock Restaurant
1111 N Congress Ave
West Palm Beach, FL 33409
MAP
$28/Members $35/Guests
Pay at the door.
Make sure you submit your RSVP in advance by clicking on our link below:
Republican Club of the Palm Beaches
213 29th Street
West Palm Beach, FL 33407
(561) 855-0749
Representative Rick Roth is the current representative for District 94, which encompasses most of the western part of Palm Beach county, including the Glades cities, Westlake, Royal Palm Beach, Loxahatchee Groves and the parts of Jupiter and Palm Beach Gardens west of the turnpike. Rick is term limited this year and has completed his eighth Legislative Session since his election in 2016 in what was then district 85. He currently serves as Vice-Chairman of the Republican Party of Palm Beach County.
With a degree in Mathematics from Emory University, Rick became President and principal owner of his family’s farming operation in 1986. Today, he is primary owner of both Roth Farms Inc., a diversified vegetables, sugar cane, and rice farming operation and Rays Heritage LLC., a vertically integrated state of the art packinghouse and sales operation in Palm Beach County. Rick has served in numerous leadership roles in his community, including on the Board of Directors for the Western Palm Beach County Farm Bureau, Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association and the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida.
Representative Mike Caruso is the current representative for District 87, a coastal district running from Juno Beach south to Manalapan and including parts of Palm Beach Gardens, North Palm Beach, Lake Park and Jupiter. Prior to the redistricting in 2022, Mike served two terms in district 89 which includes parts of Boca Raton and Delray Beach.
With a degree in Business Administration from George Washington University and several years as a CPA at KPMG and Grant Thornton, Mike opened his own CPA firm, Caruso & Caruso in Palm Beach County. He is deeply entrenched in the community both personally and professionally. In addition to his professional work as a CPA, he owns several residential and commercial properties throughout the county and is the CFO of Delray Beach Executive Suites. Mike has used his skills to benefit the community, serving on many community organization boards, and serving as an expert witness in many local and national court cases as a forensic accountant.
Synopsis of Dr. Rob Otto’s talk
Know your surroundings
Know the exits
Be aware
When you are in a store look for the exit signs
Come prepared just in case of emergency
Don’t engage with danger just remove yourself
Remember to use your tools when needed. Tools for example would be purchasing —maze spray and hand held strob light
Trust your gut or instinct or intuition when you feel that something isn’t right
He reminded us of the huge amount of dangerous people in our country
Gloria Giorno to Speak at the April 23rd Meeting
Educating parents, grandparents and students about the truth of the indoctrination happening in our schools today.
Gloria Giorno
Author, speaker, panelist
Program Noon – 1PM, Buffet starts at 11:30AM
Cash Bar Available
Palm Beach Kennel Club – Paddock Restaurant
1111 N Congress Ave
West Palm Beach, FL 33409
MAP
$28/Members $35/Guests
Pay at the door.
Make sure you submit your RSVP in advance by clicking on our link below:
Republican Club of the Palm Beaches
213 29th Street
West Palm Beach, FL 33407
(561) 855-0749
Gloria Giorno is the author of “Outcast-How the Radical Left Tried to Destroy a Young Conservative”. She is a Conservative Christian mother and wife. Born in the suburbs of Chicago, she lived in Communist Yugoslavia in 1972 while attending first grade. Gloria has first hand experience of the tragedies under Communism and a deep appreciation for the freedoms that are taken for granted in America.
2024 Anne Roberts Scholarship
The Republican Club of the Palm Beaches’ Scholarship was named after a long-standing and active member of our Club, Anne Roberts.
Anne Roberts
Anne Roberts, a petite but strong and dedicated Republican, was born in Virginia in 1920. She lived and worked in Maryland until 1954, and then moved to Palm Beach County. Interestingly, this was the year after our Club was chartered.
While working as an R.N. for 50 year, she and her husband served on the REC. She was presented the Jean Pipes award by Palm Beach County Republican Party as an acknowledgment of her dedication to Republican principles. She never sought the limelight herself, working behind the scenes, continually letting others take credit. She always admonished us to “do the right thing”, make sure there’s education involved, mentor the young to follow in the right path, have fun, be prepared, and by all means, don’t lose money doing it!!! That is who Anne Roberts was!
In the late 80’s she had worked her way to 2nd Vice President of the Florida Federated Women. She was tasked with the “Entertainment”/Program for the NFRW National Convention held in Orlando on the 50th anniversary of the organization. She had the entire PB delegation, consisting of 6 Federated clubs, involved –even doing a “can-can” dance for one evening’s entertainment. What a “hoot” Anne was!
Her many committees remember her, not only for her great character and good judgment, but as the epitome of organization –always ready with even the tape, paper clips and scissors. She chaired a Lincoln Day Dinner in the 90’s, and true to who she was, read up on protocol for seating. She knew the value of research for allowing her to be sure everything ran smoothly—and many of us remember she knew how to delegate that research..
In 2005, Anne chaired the FFRW State Convention held in West Palm Beach. Despite a recent hurricane which cancelled the keynote speaker, she found a better one; and the show went on! If there were glitches, no one knew.
Anne left us before our club chartered with Republican Party of Florida. But, being a renaissance woman who realized that times change, I am sure she is smiling as we carry our Club’s Legacy onward. She would be very proud of the young folks who have received a scholarship in her name.
The Anne Roberts Memorial Scholarship is available to any resident of Palm Beach County who is a full or part time undergraduate or graduate student seeking to further their education. Students must have a GPA of 3.0 or above and plan to attend an accredited college. Applicants must be registered (or pre-registered under 18 yrs. of age) Republicans. Current members of our Club may refer applicants for this scholarship. The deadline for this application is May 31. The recipient will be eligible to receive up to $500 to be sent to the school they will attend. Award will be presented at the monthly luncheon in June 2024.
RCPB Scholarship application 2024
General Mark Holler’s Remarks at the February Meeting
General Holler told us some of the stories of serving under and with Generals we read about in the paper while serving several tours in the Middle East, South Korea, and in between and while serving as Executive Officer in the Army Inspector General at the Pentagon. The General also talked about the time he spent in Afghanistan and remarked how he was disappointed with the way the US exited from the country and gave us a 250 year history lesson on the practicality of the military from isolationism to pragmatism.