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| PA DeMolay News - Elizabethtown Chapter Observes My Government Day |
| Author: "Dad" Dave Berry |
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Senator Michael J. Folmer, 48th senatorial district, explains to visiting Elizabethtown DeMolays how the senate caucuses are organized and how they work during a visit to the state capitol and special meeting with the state senator. |
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Members of Elizabethtown Chapter, Order of DeMolay traveled to Harrisburg on Monday, July 12, 2010 to tour the state capitol, meet with State Senator Michael J. Folmer and visit the National Civil War Museum in observance of the DeMolay International “My Government Day” Obligatory Observance. |
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Following the guided tour of the state capitol in Harrisburg, the DeMolay members and their advisors met with Senator Folmer, whose 48th senatorial district includes the boroughs of Elizabethtown and Mount Joy and the townships of Conoy, East Donegal, Mount Joy, and West Donegal for forty-five minutes in his senate office. Senator Folmer offered a brief history of the founding of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the capitol; the inner workings of the state senate and how laws are discussed in caucus and then debated and either passed or rejected on the floor of the senate; the importance of the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and the Pennsylvania Constitution and how it is the responsibility of each citizen to understand and uphold these documents so that freedom and liberty will continue to grow and thrive in the United States of America. In presenting each visitor with a pocket copy of these three documents, he shared that he always carries this booklet with him as a reminder of the importance of the freedom enjoyed and his own responsibility to ensure that it is protected for upcoming generations of citizens. He suggested that they pay special attention to the portion of the constitutions that detail the manner in which these documents can be changed through the amendment process, and he explained how important that opportunity is in a representative democracy. |
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Sounding the themes that make “My Government Day” and important part of the DeMolay program, Senator Folmer also encouraged the DeMolays to take an active role in their local, county and state government as voters in the future and also in service to their communities on volunteer boards; as elected school board members, borough councilpersons and township supervisors; and to understand how important the local governing bodies are to the citizenry. He explained that any one of them could someday grow up to hold his |
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seat in the state senate, noting that just five years ago he was a tire salesman in Lebanon who became a candidate in order to battle the seemingly invincible and out-of-control entitlement attitude that incumbents in the state house and senate had developed.
Following the educational and enlightening meeting with the senator, the members then toured the National Civil War Museum, where the battle for the freedoms enjoyed by citizens of the United State of America is so vividly on display. |
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