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The Story of a FReeper Chapter
A Publius Essay | 14 February 2002 | Publius

Posted on 02/14/2002 11:07:37 AM PST by Publius

The Puget Sound Free Republic Chapter has been in existence since June 1998, but it hasn’t been a smooth ride. While starting a chapter is not all that difficult, keeping one alive is a genuine challenge. People come and people go from this site, and maintaining an active chapter is more than enough work for one individual. This is the story of one chapter. My purpose is to provide some object lessons for other Chapter Executives and some pointers for those who want to start and maintain a chapter.

In the Beginning

In the dark ages, Free Republic had neither FReepmail nor state home pages nor individual home pages. In the spring of 1998, “MaryBug” began collecting the names of people she thought might be from the Puget Sound area. She posted a thread about gathering local FReepers at a meeting place, and people responded. The lunch meeting was scheduled for a June Saturday at Ivar’s Acres of Clams on the Seattle waterfront. It was a small start. Only twenty people -- give or take a few -- showed up. But it was auspicious.

Our star was “LittleLulu”, also known as Michelle Malkin, who came with her husband Jesse. Michelle was then the self-described “token conservative” on the Seattle Times editorial board. It was a delight seeing a writer of note who was female, minority, conservative and gorgeous all at the same time. Shortly after the meeting, Michelle wrote an op-ed for the Times where she described our meeting. I should note here that I owe Michelle big time. She mentioned me in the article and made me sound much more intelligent than I really am.

The one thing that stood out was that most of us had military backgrounds. A lot of us worked at Boeing. In the politically correct principal city of what James Farley, FDR’s Postmaster General and political fixer, referred to as “the Soviet of Washington”, a group of like-minded citizens had reached out from the anonymity of the Internet to meet and organize. It would be hard for me to describe that moment in my own life. I was a lonely libertarian, clueless in Seattle, until the day I met my fellow FReepers.

The Impeachment Wave

Free Republic has seen tidal waves of change over the years. With impeachment, a whole new tide of people came to the site. ”MaryBug” held the chapter together and helped “Seattle” put together our second FReeper Meet at his West Seattle home overlooking Elliott Bay in September 1998. “Seattle” owned a dot-com business devoted to outdoorsmen and big game hunters. At his house we feasted on such delicacies as moose kielbasa, corned elk and bear pastrami, not to mention fresh clams, mussels and oysters. The beer flowed freely, much of it into my mouth.

After Clinton ducked conviction, however, the tide washed out, and many Puget Sound FReepers disappeared into the waves. Even “MaryBug” disappeared as her computer crashed and burned. (She thought Clinton’s NSA had attacked her.) At that moment, as the chapter disintegrated, I stepped to the fore to keep it going. I don’t attribute this to superior qualities of leadership. It was just that I was again becoming clueless in Seattle.

The Mechanics of Managing a Chapter

By this time Free Republic had some useful tools, including FReepmail and personal and state home pages.

In September 1999, “Seattle” hosted another FReeper Meet at his home. This now required me to perform the role of Communications Director.

Our June 2000 FReeper Meet was our last outing at the home of “Seattle”, and we met and were conquered by the righteous home brew of “Billthedrill”. By this time we had developed a ritual to begin the festivities, and I traditionally waited for everyone to arrive before invoking it. We called it the “Three Toasts of the Puget Sound Chapter”.

With the chapter organized, I decided to shoot for quarterly FReeper Meets.

An Honor Guard for the Hog

For our September 2000 FReeper Meet, “Right in Seattle” volunteered his home at Browns Point overlooking Commencement Bay. The event was to be a hog roast, complete with a “Name the Hog Contest”. “Right” was an expert in the art of smoking a hog, and he informed us that the hog would require an all-night honor guard. Rather than carry rifles and pace the vicinity of the smoker, the honor guard would bravely stay up, drink beer, listen to music and check on the fire and the temperature. “Right”, “Gov’t Mule” and I bravely shouldered our burden and made sure the hog was smoking at just the right temperature. I brought some classical music, that being my obsession, and “Mule” brought some of the most obnoxious techno-punk I’ve ever heard. (After enough beer, it didn’t sound any worse than Stockhausen or Cage.)

We had over 40 FReepers and family members present the next day. “Diane Fineswine” was delicious, and the twelve year old son of “Vineyard” took digital photographs that were pasted onto a web site and then posted to a “Live from the Hog Roast” thread on Free Republic.

We even had some militia FReepers from far-away eastern Washington show up, dressed in their cammies. Shortly after the Hog Roast, the eastern Washington folks joined up with “Noumenon” in the Idaho chapter.

The Disputed Election Wave and the Christmas Party

By this time I had a clear grasp of the nature of the Puget Sound Chapter. We were a group of like-minded people who liked to meet over good food and beer and discuss the issues. We were a laid-back crowd and weren’t terribly interested in demonstrating or making a fuss. After watching the Seattle police in action during the World Trade riots, we thought discretion was the better part of valor.

And then Al Gore tried to steal the election.

It was time for us to mobilize, become agile street fighters and take on the role of “thugs in Dockers”. But we needed a leader or two. And that was when a whole new wave of FReepers entered the chapter, thanks to some aggressive recruiting on my part. “Libertina” joined up, and with “CMSGOP” and “Big Ern” she helped bring Puget Sound FReepers to a demonstration in downtown Seattle, the belly of the beast. The marchers with their “W1” signs drew many a one-finger salute from the local inhabitants, but the police liked us. The local NBC affiliate covered the march, but explained to its viewers that it was a pro-Gore event! Talk about media bias!

About this time “Billthedrill” and I began working on a semi-formal FReeper Christmas Party at a fancy hotel across Lake Washington, and we heavily subsidized this event to keep the price down to $30 per person. But very few people were interested in paying money for a FReeper Meet. One said he wouldn’t come to any event that required wearing a suit. Another said he wouldn’t come to any event that wasn’t free of charge. Others simply couldn’t afford it. Out of a chapter of 84 FReepers, only 11 sent in a positive RSVP.

On the day the Electoral College voted, we held that Christmas Party, and it was a resounding success in spite of the low turnout. For the first time we now had the “Four Toasts of the Puget Sound Chapter”, for the toast in third position was, “To President George Walker Bush and Vice President Richard Bruce Cheney.” That was worth the price of admission alone.

The crowd included some of the leading conservative intellects of the area (I thought), and we had everything from financial analysts and software engineers to a Lithuanian MD. The level of conversation would have turned a university faculty green with envy, and it was worth every painful dollar I’d had to spend. But I wasn’t going to do it again.

The Last Meet and the Executive Committee

In March 2001, “PatriotPride” hosted a Saint Paddy’s Day FReeper Meet at his home in Newcastle. Along with a lot of fine corned beef and cabbage, we quaffed prodigious quantities of the magnificent home brew of “Billthedrill”.

Shortly afterward, I put together an Executive Committee for the chapter because I no longer had the time to perform all the tasks necessary for the many roles I was fulfilling. On a Saturday morning in April, I met with “Libertina,” “Big Ern” and “Billthedrill” at the home of “MaryBug”, where we divvied up responsibilities and began planning for a June FReeper Meet. “Big Ern” sent out a FReepergram asking for a volunteer to hold the Meet, but nobody wanted to host it. June came and went.

When “MaryBug” left the committee due to ill health, we met in August at the home of “Libertina” and planned for a second September Hog Roast, but the events of 9/11 stopped it cold. The host of the Hog Roast was banned from Free Republic, and everything dissolved into utter chaos.

There was no attempt at a Christmas gathering, although the Executive Committee, again hosted by “Libertina” in December, planned for a FReeper Meet in February or March. Due to pressures at work, I stepped aside as Chapter Executive and handed the reins to “Libertina”. Today she and “Billthedrill” and “Big Ern” run the chapter, as I will soon be required to step away from involvement in the Executive Committee altogether.

Lessons Learned

After over four years with Free Republic and nearly three years as Chapter Executive, I’ve learned some lessons about the reality of running an organization like a FReeper Chapter.

I hope this provides some guidance to those who head chapters or want to organize chapters. It’s a rocky road, and not that many FReepers will appreciate all the work that goes into it. But without this kind of work, the Disputed Election might have turned out very differently. We need leaders. We can’t all just lurk anymore.


TOPICS: Activism/Chapters; Free Republic
KEYWORDS: chapter; chapters; frchapters; pittsburgh; washington
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To: Publius;Howlin;Southflanknorthpawsis
Oh Yeah!!!!! BEST DAMM PORK EVER!
41 posted on 02/14/2002 12:56:41 PM PST by cmsgop
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To: Publius
BTW I love Michelle Malkin, She Rocks, and she is HOT!
42 posted on 02/14/2002 12:58:31 PM PST by cmsgop
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To: cmsgop
It was a sad day when Michelle and Jesse Malkin left Seattle for Maryland. I hear she still lurks here on occasion.
43 posted on 02/14/2002 1:03:30 PM PST by Publius
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To: Publius
"They're usually just recycling what they read from us first," said a Seattle-area Freeper who calls himself "Publius" (the famous pseudonym of the authors of the Federalist Papers).

Michelle Malkin!!!!!!
44 posted on 02/14/2002 1:14:26 PM PST by cmsgop
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To: cmsgop
BEST DAMM PORK EVER!

LOL !!!!!!!!!!

45 posted on 02/14/2002 1:37:29 PM PST by Southflanknorthpawsis
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To: cmsgop
Michelle made me look good. I owe her one.
46 posted on 02/14/2002 1:39:20 PM PST by Publius
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To: MrConfettiMan; Ms. AntiFeminazi
the vast majority of the people on this site can "talk the talk" but when push comes to shove they are just not willing to "walk the walk".

You have to realize though that the first and best job we do here on this site is what we type into it. We are letting the world know what we think and when people read our responses or the articles we post they will find out many things. For example, people just like us will know that they are not alone in how they feel. Any media types, be they radio, tv or print will know what a vocal segment of the population feels about stuff. Government officials can read the mood of the populus here WITHOUT having to pay some high-falutin' pollster to do a poll for them.

Don't sell your fellow Freepers short. I know some extremely busy people who are doing their level best just to log on for 30 minutes a day. Consider it a blessed luxury that you have the time and the gumption to do something extra.

47 posted on 02/14/2002 1:49:16 PM PST by Slyfox
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To: AppyPappy
I don't live close to DC anymore. I'm in Maryland these days, near Annapolis.
48 posted on 02/14/2002 5:13:37 PM PST by MrConfettiMan
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To: Seeking the truth
The difference is you're still going strong, Gene.

I haven't been motivated to help "solve the country's woes" since early '99.

Most would say I'd given up and I suppose they're right.

49 posted on 02/14/2002 5:17:23 PM PST by MrConfettiMan
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To: Slyfox
Consider it a blessed luxury that you have the time and the gumption to do something extra.

That's just it, Slyfox. I haven't had the gumption for some years now. I guess that disqualifies me from complaining. :)

50 posted on 02/14/2002 5:19:23 PM PST by MrConfettiMan
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To: Publius

Publius, I agree with all that you said.

51 posted on 02/14/2002 5:44:52 PM PST by blam
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To: cmsgop
RE: reply # 19
I remember that march and I even recognize myself in the photo.
Thanks for posting it.
52 posted on 02/14/2002 6:23:11 PM PST by Free the USA
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To: **Washington
Bump List
53 posted on 02/14/2002 6:24:58 PM PST by Free the USA
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To: MrConfettiMan
MCM, I wouldn't put it down to "gumption". You've had some horrific medical trials - Thank God you have done well. I, for one, am pleased to see you back on FR and happy to see that the united prayers of your fellows have had an impact! :-))
54 posted on 02/14/2002 6:36:04 PM PST by The Right Stuff
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To: Seeking the truth
I like your analogy comparing Freeper chapters to the Continental Army. It is probably the best way to describe Freeper activity.
55 posted on 02/14/2002 6:53:06 PM PST by TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig
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To: Publius
Is this your farewell addressMcAurthur/publius?LOL
56 posted on 02/14/2002 6:54:46 PM PST by TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig
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To: Billthedrill
If I can't have a girl named Amber I'll settle for a beer named Amber on St. Patty's day.
57 posted on 02/14/2002 6:59:45 PM PST by TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig
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To: big ern
No, not farewell. I'll still be around in one way or another.

"Old soldiers never die. They just lose their privates."

58 posted on 02/14/2002 9:05:27 PM PST by Publius
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To: Publius
This post, this entire thread, should be required Freeper reading. Our Southern California chapter, such as it is, is losing its president (I had no idea how much work he must have done.... ocflyfish, thank you) and we didn't do anything anyway, but we know we're all around, reading to muster if something really important arises......
59 posted on 02/14/2002 10:10:05 PM PST by WillaJohns
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To: Publius
One more time....

This post, this entire thread, should be required Freeper reading. Our Southern California chapter, such as it is, is losing its president (I had no idea how much work he must have done.... ocflyfish, thank you) and we didn't do anything anyway, but we know we're all around, ready to muster if something really important arises......

60 posted on 02/14/2002 10:11:16 PM PST by WillaJohns
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