By, Michelle Hazekamp
December 16, 2022
Glory to God
As 2022 comes to a close, patriots came together Saturday evening for one last celebration to honor the birth of our Lord & Savior, Jesus. Our events are always in celebration of liberty, freedom and to edify one another as we take a moments retreat from the battle we behold outside the 4 walls that contain us. On this night, we gave glory & honor to God for the victories He has so graciously given to us, yet more importantly honoring the greatest of all victories; the gift of Jesus.
Pat Camp Volunteer of the Year Award Recipients
As we gather each year to celebrate the birth of Christ at the Muskegon County GOP's Annual Christmas Party, we also give special recognition to those who best glorify Him by way of service in the GOP throughout the year. The "Pat Camp Volunteer of the Year Award" is presented each year to an individual who has served the GOP with relentless dedication, selfless devotion & integrity. And this year we had the privilege to award not one, but two honorees; Mitch & Ann Derouin .
A Power Duo
Mitch & Ann have been an incredible power duo this past year, taking on multiple tasks with compassionate dedication. Mitch & Ann are in charge of all printed GOP informational literature that is provided at all events, meetings, venues, etc., and making sure the office is sufficiently supplied. They help prepare and set up all GOP events, meetings, etc., along with setting up the literature table, and then help tear everything down once an event is over. A lot of work goes into the preparations for such events, and you really have to see Mitch & Ann in action in order to appreciate how hard they work to ensure every detail is in perfect order.
Most Admirable Servitude
Mitch & Ann have many duties at the GOP, but the most admirable servitude they have provided was when campaign season began. Going above and beyond the call of duty, Ann & Mitch picked up the slack when our GOP secretary and outreach committee member, Sandy Kempf, lost her husband Mike to cancer this year. Sandy spent most of the year caring for Mike until the end, while suffering herself emotionally. Both Mike and Sandy are greatly loved and respected by all who have known them, and Mike will always be remembered for his faithful servitude and loving brother in Christ. Sandy has recently made her way back to the GOP family and we are all very happy and grateful for her return. Mitch & Ann mercifully took on Sandy's responsibilities and made certain the office was operating efficiently while spending their days & nights filling campaign literature bags for all our local Republican candidates to ensure every candidate and volunteer was prepared for door knocking.
Educating Voters per Districts
Unlike other counties, Muskegon County did things a little different with our campaign literature, making it more challenging to prepare each candidates literature bags. Each literature bag contained Congressional, Senate, State County, Local candidates literature along with our Governor, Attorney General & SOS candidate literature, rather than just door knocking for one or two candidates as a lot of other counties. This allowed our constituents to have viable information on all Republican candidates appearing on their ballot with the intent to prevent uneducated voters. However, this was a bigger job to handle than was originally thought to be.
Campaign Literature Madness
Because of redistricting in late fall of 2021, Muskegon was split into two Congressional Districts, two Senate Districts and four State Representative Districts, thus giving us two Congressional and State Senate candidates, and 4 State Representative candidates. We also went down from nine to seven county commission districts. Once again, we were able to run Republican candidates in every commission seat, as we did in 2020 for the second consecutive election cycle. Literature bags are sorted and matched by county commission districts with the correct candidates/representatives for their district as well as our conservative school board candidates. This is a huge time-consuming and thoughtful task, where Ann & Mitch spent countless hours preparing hundreds of bags for each candidate. It is because of them we were able to have an efficient door knocking campaign and fully informed constituents (if they looked at the literature). We could not have done it without Mitch & Ann and we owe them much gratitude & respect. I do not want to discount the other volunteers who also prepared lit bags; you are also greatly appreciated! We have an amazing team at our Muskegon GOP.
Our Beloved GOP Matriarch
As the Christmas Spirit continued to flow throughout the evening, the party came to a finale with a special "silent auction" that consisted of a precious "Patriotic Bell" collection owned by our very own matriarch, Pat Camp. Pat is our longest standing active Republican member in the county, thus the reason the volunteer award is named after her, She has provided selfless devotion to the Muskegon GOP for decades and she is greatly loved and respected by all who know her and is a blessing to all.
Jesus Reigns Over All
It is hard to believe 2022 is almost over, and once again we are celebrating Christmas. This year we have worked hard and accomplished much for the GOP, yet experienced great disappointments in the elections. But in all of this, we give glory and thanks to God because He has given us hope through the birth of His son, Jesus. This Christmas, may your heart be in constant reflection of the true "Reason for the Season" and give you peace and comfort knowing Jesus is the one who sits on the throne of all creation and through Him, we are victorious! God bless to you & your families.
The angel said to [Mary], "Do not be afraid, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever."
—Luke 1:30-33
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