Tuesday, April 25, 2023, Harrisburg, PA.
I have never been to an in-person COSA event or to our State Capital for that matter, and like many, was unsure what to expect. Our leaders and speakers put all at ease and demystified the purpose and the process.
On Arrival: I easily found our COSA crowd gathered in the warming sun of the bright crisp morning, outside our stately Capitol Building. The crowd felt a little lighter than I expected, but all were eager to DO something to talk with the representatives we elected to our payroll and to make a difference.
Senator Rick Santorum was already giving his welcome address. His words and demeanor were appropriately serious but encouraging - "Today is about relationship building. Be kind, be polite, be informed."
Steve Patten, COSA Associate Regional Director spoke next with his professional composure building confidence, simply, and clearly. “You don’t need to be an Article V scholar to be face-to-face with a legislator or staffer and say I care about our country. Article V Convention of States is about helping save our country by getting back to our founding principles. I support the resolution and I ask you, as your constituent, to support it as well."
Jared Bill, our PA State Director, followed. Jared and a small group spent most of the night stuffing packets and putting the final touches on the morning's plans. He shared tips and guidance as well. "Your senators and representatives make calculated decisions. Sometimes all they need is to hear from you, their constituents, and that’s the encouragement they need to talk to the guys in the offices next to theirs and say, hey, these Convention of States people are serious."
Jared also gave the detailed boots-on-the-ground instruction we needed. I had not pre-registered, yet help was easily available to get assigned to my appropriate group. Again, sincere appreciation for the planning of the important details that makes all the difference to making an event like this a success.
To those mentioned and all who helped organize- a shout-out. These volunteers are very good, all of them, and inspire a sense of faith and pride in our leadership.
Our COSA crowd: I chatted with several people before finding my group. All, as well as my group of 7, were informed, like-minded, and there for the same reason, to have an impact and help move our resolution forward. There was no contention, or conflicting points of view, just a simple love of country, freedom, and belief in our founding principles. To a person, everyone was a pleasure to meet.
The Setting: We entered the Capitol Building together. It’s beautiful and is one of those rare historic places that is still alive with purpose and life and quintessentially American. It is imposing and should remind all the workers there of their duty to serve the people and the weight of their responsibility.
Collaboration: Everyone put their heads together to figure out the best strategy to deliver the packets of information we had been provided with, clearly marked with the names and office numbers of our legislators. We moved as a group, so as you can imagine, seven of us filled up smaller offices and took some staff and representatives by surprise. Most of the folks on our state payroll we encountered were respectful. A couple were a little prickly. A few actually wanted to talk about COS, its merits, and our concerns.
The pitch: The self-governing activists in my group were articulate and well informed and better prepared than I was; a few with their well-polished elevator speeches.
Our representatives: The only representative I’ve met and spoken to personally is in our district, Ann Flood. We attended the same event last summer and had a bit of time to talk there. She explained some of the great work she was doing in her district and seemed to support the Convention of States. We connected on serious topics but also on the struggles of curly hair in the summer. I was looking forward to trying to connect with her.
Though she was not in her office as we made our rounds, I was able to see her office, greet a staffer and leave our packet for her along with a personal note. And I now have a great excuse to follow up with her once again.
Success: By 11:45 our objective, launched at 9 am, was complete. Not too shabby!
I had a couple of hours drive back to make it on time for a work meeting, so I left before all groups reconvened to compare results and conversations.
I know our group all felt our efforts had been fruitful and resulted in meaningful conversations and bringing COS to the top of the minds of those we visited. As far as I am concerned, mission accomplished!
What can you do to help?
- Become an ever more engaged self-governing activist - as citizens are intended to be.
- Show up now and be persistent, call your legislators regularly.
- Spread our positive unifying message as often as possible.
- Please take this brief survey to help COSA PA leadership plan future events in the capital building.
