Our monthly meeting will be held on Thursday, June 18, 2026
Seven Cafe and Grill
25 Shaw Avenue (Shaw and Minnewawa)
Members to convene at 6:00 p.m. Business at 6:15 p.m. Program to follow immediately.
A Letter from Club President, Jeni-Ann Kren
Between our upcoming June 18th meeting and the following July 16th one, the United States will “celebrate” its 250th anniversary, a remarkable event, maintaining a democracy for the longest of any country on earth. Unfortunately, this celebration is clearly dampened by the current occupant of the White House (what is left of it). tRump and his cronies are working as hard as they can to create an authoritarian oligarchy, or perhaps kleptocracy. Billions of dollars are flowing out of the government through inflated government contracts to build massive detention centers, illegal insider trading, meaningless wars and ridiculous building projects. The key event in the Washington DC celebration will a MAGA rally featuring the president himself. I would expect that attendance at the DC celebration will be low as it was at tRump’s inauguration and his “birthday” military parade. He is certainly raining on the country’s ability to celebrate its achievements.
The 250th will not be the first event that tRump has “rained” on. He ruined the experience of New Yorkers as their Knicks play in the National Basketball Association finals for the first time in 27 years. tRump invited himself to the third game in New York City, causing the city to have to go into a security lockdown. Fans in Manhattan were limited to booing while the president slept through the game.
tRump also took over Flag Day, traditionally a nice day to display your American Flag. This year it is a birthday bash highlighted by a UFC fight in an ugly cage which obstructs the view of our beautiful and stately White House. We could wish for rain on that day.
With all the raining on events and celebrations, it is fitting that tRump got rained on in his Meet the Press interview on Sunday. The interview clearly went off the rails and he threw a fit, exposing himself as a spoiled child, not competent enough to hold the most important office in the world. To watch the fiasco go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EusZcKt5fs.
This is a daunting time in America as we go through the Anniversary of our country. The trend toward authoritarianism and oligarchy is palpable. As we avoid the events in DC, we need to focus on the elections ongoing across the nation and being engaged in the political process. Volunteer wherever you can, donate money, talk to people about the candidates and the elections, and do whatever else you can think of. As Benjamin Franklin said, you have “A Republic, if you can keep it.”