It is a movement that many thought could never last past the first few months. But as it turned out, the dissatisfaction with government has taken a grassroots movement national and, more than a year later, it is only growing. Enter the newest local group of citizens determined to become better informed and participative, the Senoia Tea Party Patriots.
Group organizer/coordinator and Senoia resident Joe Cannin has been involved with the Tea Party movement in Coweta and Fayette counties since they began in early 2009. His involvement included helping to develop small neighborhood groups.
The Senoia effort began earlier in the summer when Cannin put a Tea Party sign in his yard in Senoia’s Willow Dell subdivision.
“Neighbors would stop by and ask if a Tea Party group was forming,” Cannin said. “I put together an introductory letter and had a meeting at my home.”
The first meeting was held July 9 with one person attending, followed by another on July 19 with three attending. Despite the meager showing, interest was continuing to mount. And what began weeks earlier as the Willow Dell Tea Party Patriots quickly became the Senoia Tea Party Patriots at the kick-off meeting Aug. 17 at Maguire’s restaurant with 16 in attendance.
Cannin said that while the Senoia group does not endorse candidates, the aim is to educate members of the community. And that includes educating the electorate for the November election, he said.
“We’re interested in local, state and national issues. We want to educate our members on what is included in the candidates’ platforms so that they can be better informed when they go to vote,” Cannin explained.
The next meeting of the Senoia Tea Party Patriots will be held Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. at Maguire’s. Guest speakers at the meeting will include Coweta County Board of Education District 1 candidate Andrew Krause. The other candidate for the BoE seat, Amy Dees, spoke at the organization’s Aug. 17 meeting.
”We’re all tea party patriots,” Cannin said of the growing movement that continues to defy the expectations, locally and nationally, that it simply would not last. And Cannin was quick to thank the local groups in Coweta and Fayette counties for their support. “The most important thing is that we are working together and we want our members to go to the other group’s meetings.”
For more information on the Senoia Tea Party Patriots contact Joe Cannin at senoiateapartypatriots@gmail.com
