By Brent Addleman

Editor

 On Saturday morning, there will be a tea party at the Elk County Courthouse gazebo. But it is not an ordinary tea party.
Replacing cups and saucers will be local residents and political officials gathering to educate people and voice their concerns over what they feel is out-of-control spending by government officials at the federal and state levels.
“Pretty much what we are trying to do is educate people on what is going on with the spending at the federal level,” said Blaise Dornisch, one of the event’s organizers, “as well as the state, which is having great difficulty with the budget.
“The primary focus from the local tea party group, as well as national, is the out-of-control spending in Washington. There is $1.8 trillion of red ink in the budget. $1.8 trillion is four times higher than what the federal government has shown. It is an extreme amount of spending that is being sent down to our children and grandchildren. We hope to get people to speak out and effect the 2010 mid-term election.
“What we are trying to do is hold elected officials to upholding the constitution, which was their oath when they took office,” Dornisch said. They were sworn to do it. We feel, in many cases, today the government officials have strayed from the restraints and constraints that are in place in the Constitution.”
The event is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. and may run a little more than an hour.
According to Dornisch, there will be a few local public officials on hand to address the crowd. District Judge Tony King, Ken Haupricht, Elk County commissioner Daniel R. Freeburg and either Ridgway Police chief Ralph Tettis or Elk County sheriff Jeff Krieg are the tentatively scheduled speakers.
The event is political in nature, but the Tea Party is not affiliated with any one party.
“We are a non-partisan group,” Dornisch said. “We do not associate ourselves with any political party. We are non-partisan and our group believes in individual rights described in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. We are pushing to hold legislators to uphold the Constitution and the oath they took when they took office.”
There will also be people from various organizations in the region at the event. Patty Brock, who is a Right to Life representative from St. Marys and has been involved with the organization for a long period of time, will be in attendance, according to Dornisch. There are also individuals from Brookville, Curwensville and Treasure Lake that will be among the speakers. Fritz Lecker will be attending the event. She is representing State Rep. Matt Gabler’s (R-Elk/Clearfield) office. Rep. Gabler is currently in Harrisburg as the state budget talks continue.
The public will also have an opportunity to speak their mind. Voter registration forms will also be made available.
“We are going to have an open mic format where any folks from the crowd that wish to say a few words will have an opportunity,” Dornisch said. “We are trying to create an opportunity for them to speak as well. We are going to try and provide them with five to 10 minutes for open mic time if they desire.”
Dornisch wasn’t in attendance of the first tea party, but he plans to be in the forefront of the event Saturday and one scheduled later this year.
“Well, I would have actually been involved with the rally on April 15, the first tea party that was held on a national level, but I was out of the country at the time,” Dornisch said. “So I wasn’t able to get anything going. Upon returning and recognizing the agenda of the tea party in the area, we formed a small committee preparing this agenda and staying in touch with folks on a national level. There are 1,300 other cities hosting events.
“This is not a one-and-done event. There is a follow-up event scheduled on the national level. There is a bus tour starting on the coast in California and it will stop in key battleground areas of the mid-term election. There are scheduled stops in Pittsburgh, Johnstown and Scranton. The event will culminate on the weekend of Sept. 11-12 in Washington, D.C., coinciding with the anniversary of 9-11. The tour is going to the mall of Washington to further push their agenda. Some of the local folks on the committee on the Elk County chapter are signed up and have hotel rooms reserved in Washington for the event. We will have a list available for anyone interested in wanting to travel down to Washington. We investigated the cost and will take a bus down for the event in early September.”
Dornisch is hoping for a solid turnout at the event.
“We consider the event a success if we have 50,” Dornisch said. “I would be surprised if we don’t have numbers over 100 or 200, going on speculation. We have received e-mails [from people] as far away as Port Allegany, Marienville and Brookville, who is not hosting an event. I expect that some of the people that participated in the event in Brookville may come up. We had a guy in DuBois trying to get one going and he has joined up with us and directed the energy gathered in DuBois as well. I am hoping we have a couple hundred [people.]”