A quorum was achieved by way of email after the March 12th membership meeting and concluded on March 16th with unanimous YES votes received for our newly elected Officers & Directors:

Mary Martine-Scheiner – Officer, Vice President

Rochelle Quinn – Officer, Treasurer *re-elected*

Dawn Scarborough – Officer, Secretary

Brenda Davis – Director, Membership Chair

Doug Peterson – Director, Publicity Chair

Congratulations to All!

They join our Directors continuing in term:
Diane Jorio – Director, Hospitality Chair
Patty Whittle – Director, Outreach Chair

Many thanks to our outgoing Directors:
Dorothy Schwartz, Director, Publicity Chair
Val Williams, Director, Ways & Means Chair

The search for candidates for President and Ways & Means Chair continues, and subsequent elections will be scheduled when qualified individuals are identified.

Prospective candidates for these leadership positions are encouraged to reach out to me or any Board member to express your interest.

Brian Fillette
Out Going President, Solivita Democratic Club
president@solivitademocrats.org
Visit our Website https://solivitademocrats.org/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/solivitademocraticclub 
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WHAT: VIRTUAL MEETING WITH CONGRESSMAN DARREN SOTO
WHEN: MONDAY, MARCH 17TH, AT 6:30 PM
WHERE: VIA ZOOM – CLICK HERE TO REGISTER 
Upon registration, you will receive the Zoom meeting link and dial-in information via email.

My Dear Friends,

First and foremost, please know that I am working hard to push back against illegal executive orders and dangerous rhetoric. Presidents are not kings; they are public servants bound by our Constitution. President Trump does not have the power to eliminate agencies or the power to choose which agencies receive funding. Only Congress has these powers. 

During his first week in office, President Trump directed a freeze on funding for federal grants and other programs. This unlawful freeze hurts millions of Americans. From jobs to housing, veterans to food, and more, these funds are critical to helping families in Central Florida. The budget is a law, and Congress must enforce it under the Impoundment Act. 

I was proud to join other House Democrats … opposing his planned 25% tariff on imported building materials from Canada and Mexico. We will do everything we can to counter President Trump’s attacks against our key allies and prevent him from starting a trade war. 

President Trump has undermined our nation by laying off thousands of federal workers. At the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs alone, we’ve seen 2,400 layoffs so far. Representative Maxwell Frost and I held a town hall to address the concerns of our veterans, and the termination of an additional 1,000 staff. In addition to cuts at USAID and the US Department of Veterans Affairs, Musk, and DOGE have continuously attacked federal workers across the nation and have threatened to cut anyone who does not align with President Trump’s extremist agenda. I will continue to fight for our federal workers, who work tirelessly to ensure our nation’s security and prosperity.

Like you, I am also extremely concerned with the unprecedented access that has been given to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). That’s why House Democrats introduced the Taxpayer Data Protection Act – legislation to prevent unelected billionaires from gaining unlawful access to the U.S. Department of Treasury payment system and from illegally cutting programs to help pay for their tax cuts. I’m proud to support this monumental piece of legislation and will continue to speak out.

President Trump has relentlessly attacked the immigrant community through hateful speech and various executive orders. He attempted to revoke birthright citizenship; he ended the parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans; he carried out one of the most violent deportation plans against undocumented immigrants and more. As deputy chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, I stand with the thousands of Central Floridians whose families may be impacted and will continue fighting for the rights of immigrants in our country. 

President Trump also has his sights set on abolishing the U.S. Department of Education and has already shut down the Institute of Education Sciences. The US Department of Education funds hiring teachers, closing student achievement gaps, and helping students in need in Central Florida. With Florida test scores at a 20-year low, now is NOT the time to be talking about defunding education. I cosponsored a resolution in support of the nation’s local public K–12 schools and condemned any actions that would defund public education or weaken or dismantle the Department of Education. I also signed a letter requesting an urgent meeting with the Acting Secretary of Education regarding the Trump Administration’s reported effort to dismantle the Department of Education.

As a vice chair of the Equality Caucus, I am concerned with attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, particularly transgenders. I’m proudly working to pass the Equality Act into law to protect the rights of EVERY American, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or sex characteristics.

In his efforts to undermine our nation’s leadership on the international stage, President Trump issued an executive order to freeze foreign assistance worldwide for 90 days and pulled almost all of the employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) off the job and out of the field worldwide. That’s why I joined my colleagues in sending a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio regarding the Trump Administration’s destructive actions at USAID, including trying to shut down the agency unilaterally, without Congressional approval. 

I look forward to meeting with all of you on March 17th via Zoom. If you have not already done so, I encourage you to sign up for my newsletter at soto.house.gov to receive email updates on the work I am doing in Congress and how it will affect you and your community. You can also find more about my work in Congress via my website; on my X, Facebook, and Instagram, @RepDarrenSoto; and Bluesky, @RepDarrenSoto.bsky.social.

Sincerely,
Congressman Darren Soto

SDC Member and past Director of the St. Rose of Lima Food Pantry

April 1, 1949 – February 13, 2025

Bob Doktor was a gifted carpenter.  A friend asked him to help renovate the St. Rose of Lima Food Pantry, and he said yes.  Asked to collect food from community drives in his big GM truck, Bob said yes.  He became a pantry volunteer because he saw the need and said yes, eventually becoming the second director of the St. Rose Pantry, leading an amazing team of highly organized volunteers.  During that time, he served on the Second Harvest of Central Florida agency advisory board and received their Hunger Hero Award for Osceola County, which recognized  the work of St. Rose of Lima pantry in Poinciana and Kissimmee.   He made room for many during his life, serving those in need whom he met along the way. 

He loved the ethnic diversity of Buffalo, NY, his home town, where his family spoke Polish at home and he inherited their deep faith and work ethic.   The Doktor and Duchnik families emigrated from Poland after his grandfather’s town was wiped out during World War II, but kept their culture and traditions alive and well.  Bob loved food: shopping for it at the Buffalo Polish Market, cooking it, and enjoying it.  His mother and Aunt Molly made pierogis, golabki, kielbasa, sweet and sour cabbage, and all sorts of amazing baked goods.  He and Barb became excellent cooks for their family and friends.

He fell in love with Barbara Petruolo, of Yonkers, New York, the child of Italian immigrants and grandchild of Irish immigrants, and they married 55 years ago at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Tonawanda, New York.   Almost immediately, the newlyweds moved to Frankfort, Germany, where Bob served as a communication specialist with the 5^th US Army Corp, as part of the American NATO presence.  After returning to the Buffalo area, he earned a BS in Accounting from Canisius College, made General Motors products for 33 years, enjoyed Buffalo wings, Beef-on-Weck, Sahlens hot dogs, and shoveled a lot of snow.  An avid Buffalo Bills fan, he and Barbara enjoyed, dancing, camping, playing cards, travel and their family.  They retired to Solivita 20 years ago, became members of St. Rose of Lima parish, the Western & Upstate New York Club, the Social Dance Club, Do Unto Others Club, Veterans Club of Solivita,  Solivita Democrats, and Oldies But Goodies,  among others.

Bob died of a heart attack while enjoying a cruise with Barb.  He is survived by his beloved wife Barbara Petruolo Doktor, Poinciana, FL; son Shawn Edward Doktor, Poinciana, FL; grandson Brendan Doktor, Buffalo, NYl; daughter Bridget Marie Doktor Lukomski, son-in-law Daniel Lukomski and grandson Noah Lukomski, Williamsville, NY; sister Deborah Bowen, Buffalo, NY; brothers Kenneth Doktor, Jamestown, NY and Donald Doktor, Rochester, NY.

A funeral mass will be held at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, Thursday, March 20, 11 am.  A mass of Christian burial and interment will be at St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church and Cemetery Buffalo, NY. 

Donations: Lima Center: www.saintroseoflimacc.org      
Choose online donations and then “building fund.”

This is from Cheilie Doyel, the widow of Judge Bob Doyel. Bob was a lifetime leader in the Polk County Democratic Party. He ran for numerous state and county offices after a long and successful career as a Family Court Judge.

 “I wanted to let you know that Bob’s celebration of life will be held at the American Legion in Winter Haven on Saturday, March 15, at 11:00 a.m.  The Legion building overlooks Lake Silver.

On April 1, 2025, special elections will take place to fill two vacant seats in Florida’s delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives. The vacancies are in Congressional District 1 (CD-1) in the state’s western Panhandle, and Congressional District 6 (CD-6) extending from Jacksonville to Daytona along the Eastern Florida Coast. While Republicans hold a significant advantage in voter registration in these districts, a Democratic victory in these elections could potentially shift the US House majority from Republican to Democrat this year.

Below are some ways you can help the Democratic candidates in these special elections. 

Support Gay Valimont in the CD-1 Special Election.  
You can get involved with her campaign by following the links below:

Mobilize Events https://www.mobilize.us/gayforcongress/

Campaign website https://gayforcongress.com/

Support Josh Weil in the CD-6 Special Election.  
You can get involved with his campaign by following the links below:

Mobilize Events https://www.mobilize.us/joshweilforcongressionaldistrict6/

Campaign website https://www.joshweil.us/

The Florida Democratic party CD-1 and CD-6 Volunteer Hub has more virtual and in-person events from the campaigns, the FDP, DECs, and external partners:

CD-1 & CD-6 Volunteer Hub  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1go96YVXxq5_pr8Ux1yzZjdPAEm08huDeJgydi4l9byQ/edit?gid=18227111#gid=18227111

Click here or on the image below to view the presentation

Click here or on the image below to view the FAQ

Click here or on the image below to view the presentation.

There are three board seats open in the upcoming election.

President Larry Anson and Director Jim Edge are completing their terms and their seats are up along with the seat previously vacated by former Vice President Marie Sepe.

Five residents have stepped up to the plate and have submitted their resumes for review: Larry Anson, Jim Edge, Carl Warren, Faye Davis and Gene Foster. There are community wide meet and greets scheduled for all residents to attend and ask questions of the prospective candidates: Wednesday, January 8th from 10-1 in the Ballroom.
Thursday January 23rd from 4-7 in the Palms and
Tuesday February 4th from 10-1 in the Palms.

All candidates have been invited. Please free your calendar to attend one of these important meetings. This is your opportunity to get all the information you need to make an informed decision on who will represent us. Voting will take place between February 10-21. The top candidates will be announced in the February 25th annual meeting in the Ballroom at 10:00. Watch for upcoming emails with important information on the details of when and how to vote.

The deadline to register for electronic voting is January 10th. Voting electronically is the easiest, most efficient and cost effective way to make your voices heard. If you haven’t already registered for electronic voting, please consider signing up now.

Click the link for the electronic voting, registration, and election process:
https://mailchi.mp/evergreen-lm/important-election-information-12-20-24?e=1e11891229

Serving on an HOA is a thankless job. These are residents that have stepped up to the plate to VOLUNTEER their time to work for the community in order to help make it the best place to live. They have a huge task of making decisions that impact all of us and in a community of this size, it’s impossible to make every single person happy. Are they perfect? Of course not, but they strive to do what’s best and correct any mistakes along the way. I commend all of those who have chosen to run, but I am saddened by the fact that in a community of over 5400 homes, we are only able to get 5 people willing to put themselves out there. There are many vocal residents who complain about the BOD members on a regular basis and claim they know the right way to do things but when the time comes to actually show what they can do to help us, they seem to be silent. We need people actually willing to do the work, not just complain about those who do. Our BOD members represent us and work for us. We need to support them in their efforts. Be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem.

Please join us at our next membership meeting on Wednesday, January 8 starting at 6:30pm in the Ballroom or Zoom. The topics of discussion will be leadership opportunities with the Club, most urgently the Officer and Director positions scheduled for vote at our March 12 membership meeting.

The following positions are scheduled for election to 2-year terms: President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Membership Chair, Ways & Means Chair, and Publicity Chair. Which position is best for YOU?

See our current board here. It’s time for new leaders. The Club needs YOU.

Note: only current paid members will be eligible to run for positions or vote in our March Club elections.

If you haven’t yet renewed your annual membership for 2025 you can print and mail the form from our website https://solivitademocrats.org/club-membership/ with your check, or submit your payment online from there (click Donate), or come to the January 8 meeting, or see us at the Solivita Market on Monday mornings, or at the Solivita Club Expo on Saturday, January 18 from 10am to 1pm.

Brian Fillette
President, Solivita Democratic Club
president@solivitademocrats.org
Visit our Website https://solivitademocrats.org/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/solivitademocraticclub
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