Republican Club of Okaloosa County, Inc.
25 April 2013 General Meeting, American Legion Building
Ft. Walton Beach, Florida

Call to order; Melissa Windes sounded the chimes and President Marvin Brigman called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. Jeff Watson gave the invocation and led the membership in the Pledge of Allegiance. Meal choices were a chicken casserole dinner or a chicken salad plate.
Board Members present; President Marvin Brigman, First Vice President Don Adams, Second Vice President Corey Aittama, Treasurer Ron Webb, Corresponding Secretary Carol Koch and Recording Secretary Melissa Windes.
Elected Officials present and recognized; President Marvin Brigman recognized the elected officials in attendance as OCREC chairwoman Gaye Ellis, Committeewoman Sandra Atkinson, NORC President Ben White, SSRWF President Sally Dryden and County Commissioner Dave Parisot.
Open Mike; President Marvin Brigman announced that the minutes from the previous month's meeting are available on the back table for anyone who would like a copy and reminded members that Steve Menchel, on behalf of OCREC, is selling tickets to the June 8 Lincoln-Reagan Day Dinner at the Ramada for $55 per ticket. Silent auction donations are also being accepted. Mr. Brigman also reminded members of the upcoming Billy Bowlegs parade, which Jane Dale is organizing, and needs volunteers and participation from the club. Trucks and convertibles are needed as well as people to ride and walk in the parade. Additional callers are also needed for the club. Contact Jane Dale to volunteer. Mr. Brigman then introduced two past elected officials, Mike Mitchell and Howard Hill.

Program; Vice President Don Adams encouraged members to check out and "like" our new Facebook page and also announced the club's new domain name, okaloosarepublicanclub.org. The club is still in need of help building the website if anyone is able or knows someone able to assist. Mr. Adams announced next month's speaker as Colonel Tomassetti of the 33rd Fighter Wing. Col. Tomassetti's bio has been posted on the club's Facebook page. Mr. Adams then introduced the evening's speaker as County Commissioner Nathan Boyles.
Commissioner Boyles began with a political trivia wine gift. Duane Goehring was the winner. Commissioner Boyles is the youngest and newest member of the Okaloosa County Commission. He is a Crestview native with an engineering background and a law degree. Mr. Boyles addressed the issues being faced by the commission, using the TDC as an example and opened the floor for questions. Mr. Boyles answered several questions pertaining to a public line item budget, the Sheriff's budget, our new county administrator Ernie Padgett, and member's concerns of keeping our business local and out of the state's control. Mr. Boyles remained after the meeting to answer any further questions.
Adjournment; Vice President Don Adams thanked the speaker for attending and reminded the members of next month's meeting on May 23rd. President Marvin Brigman adjourned the meeting at 8:23 pm. The $40/$20/$20 drawing winners were Sally Dryden and Libby Hill. Carol Koch sold the raffle tickets.
Melissa Windes, Recording Secretary