UNYTEA reaches 1,000 members

Here's a release issued last week by Mark Barie, chairman of the Upstate New York Tea Party (UNYTEA):

The Upstate New York Tea (UNYTEA) party has reached its goal of one thousand members.

According to UNYTEA party Chairman, Mark L Barie, the grassroots organization surpassed its goal of one thousand members by September 1st, just this week. At an organizational meeting in Port Henry on Thursday an additional sixteen members were signed up.

The one thousandth member was also one of UNYTEA’s youngest recruits. Fourteen year old Tommy Yakalis of Mineville was in attendance with his mother Jill. The teenager will be a freshman at Moriah Central School in the fall. He recently scored a perfect 100 on his eighth grade State of New York history exams.

Doug Hoffman, a GOP candidate for the US Congress was a guest speaker at the meeting. He, along with UNYTEA’s Port Henry Volunteer Coordinator, Brett Thompson, presented Yakalis with a U.S. flag, an engraved UNYTEA lapel pin and a replica of a Revolutionary War tri-corner hat.

“Young Tommy and his mom are typical of the people who support UNYTEA and continue to work very hard on our behalf, said Barie, adding, “These are the people who are hurt most by the tax and spend policies of politicians in both Washington and Albany.”

Both Hoffman and Barie criticized incumbent Congressman Bill Owens for his recent vote in favor of a 26 billion dollar aid package for public schools and state governments.

Barie told the group, “Public schools and state governments will never cut their spending as long as Washington is there to bail them out with more of our tax dollars.”