Where: fourth floor - 18 Grafton St Worcester MA (Bradley-Osgood Building)

The doors will open at 12:00 noon for an hour of meet and greet.

The convention will start at 1:00pm with an introduction by MassLPA President Laura Jackson.

Dave Kopacz will be announcing our plans to organize a Mass Freedom Ride, which will prove to be a huge event, where Dave will be leading a cross state horseback ride in a celebration of Liberty and Independence. The plan is to start in Pittsfield, MA with a kick off celebration on June 20th. Then on June 21st the riders will set out from Alford MA at the Massachusetts / New York stateline and follow the Knox Trail, stopping in local communities along the trail for speaker events and evening gatherrings at farms, state parks and historical sites. The Ride will culminate on the Boston Common on the Fourth of July. We are looking for volunteers to assist with many different aspects of this venture.

We will take a short break at 2:45 and then resume at 3:00 to welcome our esteemed guest speaker:

State Representative Lew Evangelidis (R-Holden) represents the 1st District of Worcester County consisting of the towns of Holden, Hubbardston, Oakham, Princeton, Rutland, Sterling and Westminster.  After a hard fought Republican Primary, Evangelidis continued his momentum and was elected to the legislature in the 2003 General Election.  He is the only Republican to bean an incumbent Democrat in the last ten years. Last November he was elected to his fourth term in the House of Representatives.

He currently serves on the Committee to the Judiciary, Environment, Public Health, Revenue and Consumer Protection.  He is also active in a number of legislative caucuses including the Regional School caucus and the Dairy Farmers Caucus.  Throughout his tenure in the House of Representatives he has been recognized for his extraordinary constituent services and dedication to the 1st District of Worcester. In 2008 Evangelidis was awarded Massachusetts Recreation and Parks Association’s “Legislator of the Year” award.

Evangelidis grew up in Holden and still resides there with his wife and two daughters.  He is a graduate of Wachusett High School, the University of Massachusetts, and Temple University School of Law.  Prior to becoming an elected official, Evangelidis was an Assistant District Attorney, an Assistant State Prosecutor, in addition to spending over ten years in the private sector. He is easily distinguished from other members of the General Court as the tallest member of the legislature.

After Lew's speech we will break for some social networking and refreshments.

Please bring some baked goods or a specialty plate of food and any liquid refreshments.

Please do not miss this organizational convention.

More details to come