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April 1st is known as April Fools’ Day. Thoughthe true origin of April Fools’ Day remains a

mystery, the tradition of the day dates back to1700 and some historians use the date of 1532 when

France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar,as called for in the Council of Trent in 1563. People slow to get thenews continued to celebrate the new year during the last week ofMarch leading to April 1st instead of the newly designated first dayof the year being January 1st. They became the butt of jokes andhoaxes, including hanging paper fish on their backs and beingreferred to as “poissond’avril” (April fish), said to symbolize ayoung, easy to catch fish or gullible person. Think of more moderntimes when someone put a “kick me” sign on another’s back orother varieties of pranks.

In recent years, the media has become part of the player ofpranks for April Fools’ Day publishing false stories, sometimesfunny, but not always. Fake news today has reached a whole newlevel, nor is it published as a prank. No longer a tradition left justfor April 1st, false news today is ongoing, purposeful, and itsgeneral intent is to cause unrest, illicit strong responses, and/or seekothers’ help to spread the falsehood. Even for those of us who areand continue to seek to be well informed, it is not always easy toimmediately identify false stories.

Rest assured that the millions of Americans who voted forDonald J. Trump for President are not April fools. Remember theplan Trump put forward during the latter part of the campaign forhis first 100 days in office? While the recent first effort to repealand replace ObamaCare was not successful, President Trumpsigned a presidential permit approving the Keystone Pipeline – abig win for energy and jobs in the U.S. and certainly not his firstachievement in the jobs arena. The President and hisadministration are tackling immigration, border security, veterans’affairs, and tax reform just to name a few. President Trump is usingexecutive orders to undo damage done by the Obamaadministration over the last 8 years and, one of my favorites, signedan order requiring agencies to eliminate two regulations for eachregulation they introduce.

This is no April Fools’ joke: Donald Trump was dulyelected and is the President of the United States. As supporters ofPresident Trump and his platform we need to be reaching out to ourSenators and Representatives, letting them know of our support anddesire for each of them to help move the President’s agendaforward successfully.

A Look at Our Upcoming MembershipReception, page 3

Meeting Recap (CISD Bond), pages 4-6Volunteer Power, page 8Chaplain’s Chat, page 9

BAR-W MEMBERS ARE NOT AFRAID– Please Come Out in Force!

By Kaci SiskBar-W Immediate Past President & Member

Congressman Smith’s Advisory Council

We are honored to host Congressman LamarSmith, a favorite speaker, at our Aprilmeeting. We also have been alerted thatprotesters will no doubt attempt to disrupt ourmeeting. Both the Texas Federation and theNational Federation of Republican Women(TFRW & NFRW) have informed us thatwhenever U.S. Congressmen and Senatorsappear at Republican Women’s clubmeetings, protesters turn up. This trend hascontinued, and there is every indication theywill appear at GVTC April 10th.I have a special request: It is our annualmembership dinner meeting – please bringa friend or neighbor and show thesedissidents that Republican Women & Menare proud to support Congressman Smith!

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Geri B. Ray, President

Vacant, 1st Vice President, Programs

Terry Rogers, 2nd Vice President, Membership

Diane L. Moore, 3rd Vice President, CampaignActivities/Volunteers

Dr. Sheila K. McHenry, Recording/Corresponding Secretary

Gloria O. Hawkins, PAC Treasurer

Mary F. Dockery, Chaplain

Vacant, Parliamentarian

Kaci Sisk, Immediate Past President

COMMITTEE CHAIR COMMITTEE CHAIR

Achievement Awards Diane L. Moore Literacy Fran Carlson

Boutique Audrey Cheatum Military Liaison Millie Young

Caring for America Diane M. Zornow Newsletter Gwen Pain & Judy Millspaugh

Community Presence Initiative Linda L. Bartle Publicity Sally Jane Driscoll

Directory Terry Rogers Senior Americans Tina White

Fundraising Gloria O. Hawkins Teenage Rep. Liaison Sandy Hancock

Historian Marta Dolan Telephone Jeaniene Jolley

Hospitality Co-Chair Jo Basey Website Caryn Maus

Legislative Jen Crownover Women’s Fitness Jan Tilley

2017 Committee ChairmenPlease contact the Committee Chairman if you

would like to serve on their Committee

Bar-W OfficersNot Afraid (continued from front cover)

Only members and their guests with reservations canattend (count is needed for dinner service), so makeyour reservation and reserve your spot by April 3rd.Instead of allowing these unwelcome would-bedisrupting intruders to effectively express theirdisapproval, strength in numbers can silencethem(and our local law enforcement will be present,as always).

Just a bit about our Congressman you might not know.● He serves as Chairman of the Science, Space,

and Technology Committee, which has, andwill continue to have an important role in theTrump agenda.

● Congressman Smith also continues to serve onboth the Judiciary Committee and theHomeland Security Committee. He founded theBorder Security Caucus and Media FairnessCaucus (combating fake news for years).

● Representative Smith has repeatedly beenranked one of the most effective Housemembers,and also was named Policymaker ofthe Year by POLITICO for his work on patentreform legislation.

● A fifth generation Texan and native of SanAntonio, he graduated from TMI, TheEpiscopal School of Texas, then from YaleUniversity, and Southern Methodist UniversitySchool of Law.

I hope you will join me to support our honored guestspeaker and Congressman – it will be informativeand fun, with delicious food, a great silent auction --it’s bound to be an interesting evening!

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General Meetings Board Meetings

April 10th (Monday) April 6th (Thursday)

May 17th (Wednesday) May 4th (Thursday)

June 12th (Monday) June (TBD)

July Summer Social (TBD) July (TBD)

August 14th (Monday) August (TBD)

September 11th (Monday) September (TBD)

October 9th (Monday) October (TBD)

November 13th (Monday) November (TBD)

December Christmas Party (TBD) December (TBD)

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15th Annual Membership ReceptionBy The Membership Reception Committee

April 10th is our 4th annual Boots, Brisket, and Bluebonnets meeting and our 15th annualMembership Reception! We are planning a brisket dinner with all the trimmings (FREE!), fun, fellowship,AND a speaker who is a Bar-W favorite and will let us in on progress being made in Washington, D.C., in thenew Republican administration. Bar-W will provide the brisket, beans, condiments, and tea/coffee/water, but we need your help for thetrimmings (potato salad, cole slaw, and desserts). RSVPs are needed by Monday, April 3rd. Just drop a quick note to and let us know you are coming,your guests’ names, and tell us what delicious dish you will bring!

Bar-W members make the BEST sides and desserts! Thank you in advance for once again supportingBar-W with your generous donation of time and food!

See you on Monday, April 10th! Don’t forget to wear your boots and jeans! Come prepared to have agreat evening!

Members and invited guests only, please!

It’s Silent Auction Time!The Silent Auction Committee

It’s time for the first of our two annual silent auctions! Your donation will help support the operation ofBar-W and fund community service projects, like dictionaries to third-graders, in which Bar-W participates. If you own a non-incorporated business, we can accept merchandise or a gift certificate from your business.If you own an incorporated business, due to Campaign Finance Laws, we cannot accept a donation from yourbusiness, but you are welcome to donate an item in your personal name.

We need a variety of items, in all price ranges. If you have a favorite store or restaurant, stop by and ask themif they would like to donate something. We will advertise the names of donors in the printed program and throughoutthe event. Donations are easy to make – just drop an e-mail to us to arrange pickup!

Your support of Bar-W is really appreciated!

Meetings

The Bugle Page 4 «$263.5 Million School Bond Vote Coming Up in May

At this time when the continued existence of the U.S. Department of Education is in doubt underthe leadership of President Trump, the Bulverde Spring Branch Area Chamber of Commerce and Bar-Wcame together to present a moderated discussion on the proposed $263.5 million 2017 ComalIndependent School District (CISD) bond, which is up for a public vote in May. The two main speakerswere Stephen Smith, President of the CISD Board of Trustees, and Jerry Lovell, President of A&J CustomHomes in New Braunfels, previously active on a bond committee as a concerned citizen. Attorney ChrisByrd, 2016 candidate for the Texas House of Representatives, served as moderator. After the twospeakers explained their positions, they responded to written questions from the audience that were readaloud by business consultant Ken Dockery.

Mr. Smith began with a slide presentation outlining the expected county growth, which would resultin more students than the county's current schools could handle. The $263.5 million bond is broken downinto the proposed costs of one new high school at South I-35 and one at Borgfeld Road (total $250million); architect designs for an elementary school and a high school ($3.5 million); updating the HVACsystems at Goodwin Frazier and Specht Elementary Schools, Mountain Valley Middle School andSmithson Valley High School (total $3 million); 30 new buses (total $3 million); and the purchase of landon Highway 281 for a middle school and an elementary school, and on I-35 for an elementary school anda high school ($4 million).

Mr. Smith said that he'd like the population “to stop growing so we can focus on academics” insteadof facilities, but after adjusting for third world students, Comal County schools currently rank in the top tenin Texas. He stressed that the county tax rate, which is the second lowest in the San Antonio corridor,would not be impacted by the bond.

Mr. Lovell said that he's interested in educating kids, but building schools with great sportsfacilities, which will be expensive to operate and maintain, does not educate kids. He also wondered whythe plan is to pay for new buses over 30 years when the useful life of a bus is about 15 years.

Mr. Lovell had other concerns regarding the bond. Two high schools have already been built, butin Mr. Lovell’s opinion, in the wrong places to serve enough students. CISD already owns empty land,which will have to be sold. He wondered why maintenance and operations costs were included in a bondissue. Things like new buses and updating HVAC systems should be paid for out of funds that havealready been set aside, since when a school is built, it's obvious that maintenance will be needed.

He also wondered how this massive bond issue could pass without resulting in more taxes. ComalCounty residents already pay more property tax than the county needs, as shown by the amount sent toother counties as part of the state's “Robin Hood” school revenue redistribution program, in whichcounties that collect more tax money pass some of those funds to counties with less.

The audience provided more than three dozen questions. Not all of them could be presented, butamong the subjects that were discussed were:

● Some schools are not at capacity, but students can't attend them because the parents don't wanttheir children to move to a different school to simply adjust student population size.

● The bond wouldn't help reduce class overcrowding because teachers can't be paid out of bondmoney.

● If there could be ninth grade centers, they should be built near existing high schools so thestudents could take advantage of facilities, such as sports fields. Those centers would only beuseful for a few years and new high schools would be needed anyway.

● CISD Superintendent Kim had e-mailed parents that there could possibly be a 20% recapture ofRobin Hood funds though legal means. Comal County now has the lowest property tax rate since2012, but there's more revenue since more houses are being built. About $2 million may return tothe budget next year.

● In regard to establishing a citizens' oversight committee, Mr. Smith considers the Board itself to besuch an entity.

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Bond Vote(continued from previous page)

The moderator, Mr. Byrd,agreed that there may beRobin Hood relief and somemoney may be reallocated toComal ISD. In regard toschool choice, 26 stateshave passed it, but Texashas not yet done so. Heasked what school choicewould do to future financing,and if money were returnedto the district, whether therewould be increased property tax exemptions.

Mr. Lovell answered that the problem with Robin Hood is that the values sunk into the buildingsexceed the number of students coming in, which is why money is transferred out of Comal. However,school administrators should prepare for that transfer, just like people set money aside to pay incometax. He thought that school choice might pass in the current House session. If so, it would affect CISDplans, though it would be hard to foretell how.

Mr. Smith said he'd love to have Comal taxes returned since the amount lost per student isconsiderable. He didn't support overall school choice because student academic success is often relatedto the parents' socioeconomic status, and if there were choice, parents in better financial circumstanceswould probably send their children to private schools. However, he would support public school vouchers.

Mr. Lovell closed by suggesting that we wait until November to see what the legislature does.Many variations are possible and all would affect growth and the need for new schools. Besides, asneighborhoods mature, the need for schools decreases.

Before deciding whether to vote for or against the 2017 Comal ISD bond, visit the CISD website.

Important dates:

Thursday, April 6: Last day to register to voteMonday, April 24: Early voting begins

Sunday, April 30: Polls are closedTuesday, May 2: Early voting ends

Saturday, May 6: Election Day (polls open 7 a.m.-7 p.m.)

Coming Soon: Your Online Source for all things 85th Legislature!The Republican Party of Texas (RPT) Legislative Committee is working to put a specialsection on the RPT website that will contain everything you need to know to help navigatethe rest of this legislative session!  Links to:

● past webinars● information on how to read bill texts● information on how to better understand the legislative process● instructions on how to find your state senators and representatives on Twitter

Stay tuned for a link to this brand new page—coming soon!

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Timberwood Park ElementarySchool

Dictionary Race

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Volunteers NeededBy Diane Moore, 3rd VP Campaign Activities

In the short time since our 45th President was sworn in, thingsare occurring that seem to indicate that we may be on the returnpath to the values and traditions with which we were raised. One of those values is service: service to our church, serviceto our families, and service to our community. As the new ThirdVP, I am in charge of campaigns, awards, and volunteers. One ofmy duties is to gather and report our Club’s volunteer hours.Reviewing past reports, Bar-W, like most organizations, seems tohave a dedicated core of volunteers. However, there is alwaysroom for more volunteers! I know that many of you would love tobe more involved – do you know what you can participate in?Bar-W has many programs and activities that need volunteers.

We are all busy taking care of our own lives and it’s hard to find time for service projects, butit is important with our new President and majority in the House and Senate to keep up the pressureand let the world know that America is in a better place with our Republican office holders. Oneway we can accomplish this is to continue to be visible in the community – and increase ourparticipation. Consider representing Bar-W with support to our local businesses through theChamber of Commerce and Bulverde Spring Branch events. The BSB Chamber of Commerce’swebsite is a great local area events and information source. Check it out! Our Club has many participation opportunities. You can contribute your time or energy toany of our many activities:ü Monthly meetingsü Dictionary projectü Community, state, and nation by becoming a

Deputy Voter Registrarü Community-wide events like Bulverde

Spring Branch Market Days, BulverdeJubilee, and Bulverde Blue Breakfast

Let’s make sure Bar-W continues to be knownfor constant conservative support in our community!At our next meeting, let me know what you’d likemore information about!

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By Mary Dockery

Can anything be so enduring and needful that it can be carved in stone? Well, we knowabout the Tablets of 10 Commandments. While we have all seen many depictions,translations and artistic renditions of those eternal words, few have seen the NationalMonument to the Forefathers located near Plymouth Massachusetts.Revealed there, Absolutes, engraved in granite, foundational truths, the principles thesigners of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution held, defining for all time,what the eternal needs are of the unique nation they sought to establish: Faith, Morality,Law, Education and Liberty.Faith, heroic above and beyond all the virtues, Faith points to the heavens with one hand,and in her other hand, she holds the open Bible. On four buttresses beneath Faith, arethe seated statues that are the emblems of principles upon which the nation is founded.Morality – Morality has the Ten Commandments in her left hand and the scroll ofrevelation in her right, both being necessary to build a free nation. Sculpted in the base ofMorality’s throne are engravings of the Evangelist writing the Gospel and of Prophecy.

Law – Under Law is Treaty. Standing by are Justice and Mercy. The standard for anyparticular question of Law was to be gleaned from the Pentateuch, the first 10 books of theBible.Education – A statue to the Pilgrim Mother in Plymouth, Massachusetts, bears theinscription: “They brought up their families in sturdy virtue and a living faith in God, withoutwhich nations perish.” She is holding an open book of knowledge. Beneath her is Youthand Wisdom.Liberty – Well armed and courageously prepared for, but not seeking war. Sword in hishand, vigilant to overcome Tyranny and Peace beneath him.Times have changed. It doesn’t take more than a flash of a moment to see a headline,hear a radio, watch a TV newscast to know that every principle, every precept, every lawof God and Natures God is not just broken, but thosesame laws, virtues, principles are now posed by manyto be the diametric opposite of good and right.

We who live our daily lives have been silent, we havebeen distracted, attending to the daily-ness of the day.Truly as just one person, we cannot imagine changingit all. But, ONE did.. and 12 who trusted Him, took HisMessage, challenged the world, and won. A few on atiny ship challenged the known world and won, thisone nation under God. We are well able, fully readyto join in the challenge again.. victory is in our grasp.See more photos of the Monument

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Political ads are paid for by the candidates or their committees and DO NOT constitute an endorsement by the Bulverde AreaRepublican Women.Political advertising paid for by the Bulverde Area Republican Women – PAC Not endorsed by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

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