It is event time for Convention of States Action in Colorado and our COS Veterans Coalition has stuffed the summer days full of opportunities to meet people, educate them about an Article V Convention of States, and collect COS petitions that help put pressure on Colorado legislators next year when they resume and many new legislators swear-in at the Capitol in January.
We have over 55,000 petitions signed in Colorado and they have all been gathered from Colorado grassroots volunteers over the last 10 years! When COS Vets got involved in the previous two summers with events, under the leadership of COS Vets Director Art Sickler and his XO, VCD Team Leader Lynn Ray, they created many opportunities to get these signatures.
They’ve been so successful that they double-booked the weekend of July 27th and 28th in the Denver Metro area! There were booths at both the Arapahoe County Fair in Aurora and the Dragon Boat Regatta in Sheridan.
The Dragon Boat event on July 27th and 28th is a story of persistence and diligence. A booth spot was secured months ago by Colorado COS Vets and then a couple of weeks ago, the organization canceled our booth citing that COS is too “political.” So that was their way to get rid of Convention of States at the event - but they didn’t.
Art and Lynn walked the area and knocked on doors to see if any supportive property owners would be willing to allow them to build the booths on their lawns and talk to people who would be all around the area. They found a couple who support Convention of States and allowed COS Vets to use their property to reach out to event-goers. The bus stop is right in front of the house so it worked better there than at the Regatta vendors area - and they didn’t have to pay the very large vendor fees! Here’s Lynn’s take on the Dragon Boat efforts:
“We were rejected by the Dragon Boat Festival for being too political. They accepted the Democratic Party which did have a booth at the festival. It consisted of a survey with 7 Dixie Cups. Each with a political agenda: gun control, reproductive rights, gender ID, etc. you were asked to place a colorful fuzzy ball in the cups you were most passionate about. We did not participate. We were successful to sign about 80 patriots to our cause in the 2 days. We had about 10 volunteers.
"God had a better plan. We are so happy we were rejected. Toward the end of each day, as people were headed back to their cars, people were approaching our booth from many different directions to see our magnificent booth, the banners and to speak to us saying things like, 'We have never heard of this, this is so incredible, we were never taught this in school.' It was so exciting to see the new hope in their eye that we might save this country! Plus, many of us COS VETS had a chance to bond, network and strengthen our friendship and determination...COS VETS signed up about 240 new patriots these past 4 days.”
Lynn Ray
It’s evident that the people running the Dragon Boat Regatta were not dealing honestly when they said they didn’t want political booths at their event. They did accept political booths…but they were partisan and they weren’t honest about their partisanship.
At the same time, the booth at Arapahoe County ran from July 25th - July 28th and is right in the middle of all of the vendors as fair-goers come in and out of the fair. Volunteers came from as far as Winter Park, Woodland Park, and Colorado Springs, and Veterans spent the weekend in a camper trailer so that they could participate in the whole event.
Power was not available at the booth so a Jackery portable power station was used to power all of the tablets and equipment needed to gather petitions. Art Sickler takes all of the new challenges and experiences at these events and then takes his VCD Team and they re-charge their life experiences with new and improved input so that the next events are prepared for the coming obstacles and are answered with solutions.
We are not a political party. We are a non-partisan organization but our principles are about balance of power and an equal footing between the rights of the states and the rights of the federal government. Unquestionably, the federal government has overstepped its Constitutional authority over Americans' liberty. Dragon Boat Regatta made a decision to cancel the Convention of States Action booth and allow a political party to participate in the family event. They made that decision a short time before the event after allowing COS Vets to believe they had a spot for months before they canceled. This is important to take notice of because Colorado COS Vets are an example to other states that, yes, our efforts are important enough that we do have foes who are willing to shut us down because what we stand for will get results that take the People’s power and the People’s money away from tyrants and put back in the hands of the American citizens who Constitutionally own both.
Colorado COS Vets found a way to do the COS booth at the Dragon Boat Regatta anyway in the greatest legal way possible: property rights. They found property owners who allowed them to have enough space for two booths, power access, and no restrictions. Property is another Constitutional right that we have as Americans that protects us and allows us to self-govern. We are on the right track with an Article V convention and our enemies know it. We are not called a Grassroots Army for nothing. Strategy is required, and who knows strategy and teamwork better than U.S. Veterans?
