On Tuesday, August 17,2010 the Metro East Pachyderm Club had a special meeting arranged for Tom Cross, Illinois House of Representatives Minority Leader. Mr Cross could not get there in time, so Ron Stephens, a Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives, was gracious enough to fill in for him. Ron has represented the 102nd Illinois District since 1993 and is currently the Assistant Republican Leader in the State House. The district includes portions of Bond, Madison, Effingham, Fayette and St Clair counties. Representative Stephens geared his comments toward the need for all Republicans to come together this election cycle and give their full support the the full slate of Republicans. He encouraged all at the meeting to get out the vote so we can get Republicans in the Illinois Assembly to reverse some of the spending and taxing trends in our state. Thanks to Representative Ron Stephens for stepping up to the plate in our time of need, and thanks to him for the fine work he has done for his district and for the State of Illinois.

Click here for a slide show of this meeting.

GOVENOR FRENCH ACADEMY HEADMASTER TALKS EDUCATION

On Friday, August 13, 2010 Phillip Paeltz, Headmaster of The Govenor French Adacemy private school in Belleville, spoke to the Metro East Pachyderm Club about the costs and results of private schools. Headmaster Paeltz was very candid in his assessment of public education and it's problems and pitfalls. He addressed specific areas of concern of Pachyderm members regarding costs, budgets, student achievement, special ed students and local boards of education. The meeting went overtime as Mr Paeltz was willing to stay until all questions were answered. His was a very dynamic presentation and was well received and appreciated by all present. One Pachyderm member was overheard to say, "Is he going to run for office?". Thanks Headmaster Phillip Paeltz for such a great presentation.