Bill Ely, State Coalition Director for Convention of States Texas, spoke to a standing room only crowd packed into the Lago del Pino restaurant in Tyler on Saturday, February 9th.
Bill was inspired and motivated by the decidedly enthusiastic support for the Convention of States. The meeting, scheduled from 10:00am-2:00pm, went on until about 3:30pm.
Of the 120 RSVPs, 90 people attended, but the turnout of motorcycle group members was an unexpected surprise. Carl Scott, a member of the Veterans' Coalition team, invited one motorcycle group who, in turn, invited a couple of other motorcycle groups, increasing attendance by about 30-40 people.
This particularly patriotic group was curious and thoroughly engaged. Carl hopes to set up a vet-to-vet call program to enlist veterans in other states to not only join COS, but also to encourage the states who haven't passed a COS resolution to do so.
Bill's presentation, with a focus on engagement, incorporated a discussion on a constitutional bootcamp with a slideshow on self-governance, including quotes from Founding Fathers encouraging patriots to get involved.
Attendees were highly motivated to find out more about what they could do, and Bill's stock of 50 pocket Constitutions sold out quickly! Many were also interested in COS involvement with education through our association with Turning Point USA.
The after-lunch question-and-answer session was a great success. There was also interest in leaders who wanted to start a motorcycle coalition.
A big shout-out to all those who helped make this event a huge success! Thanks to Carl Scott who secured the venue and recruited folks to help. Thanks to the following for their support: Greg Holton, John Van Compernolle, Juan Carlos, and David Doroin.
And thanks to Bill Ely for the great job presenting the COS agenda and leading the training session, answering questions and hosting the event.
