Frederick Republicans gather for annual Reagan-Lincoln Dinner
February 27, 2017
By ONOFRIO CASTIGLIA
The Winchester Star
WINCHESTER — About 80 people attended the annual Reagan/ Lincoln dinner on Saturday night at the George Washington Hotel to benefit the Frederick County Republican Committee.
Mike Lindsay, a longtime member and former committee leader, said the dinner was a signal the group is “growing positively” after some contention in the past.
Tickets were $35, with sponsorships up to $500.
“They’ve sorted out some of their internal infighting,” he said, adding the committee is a training ground for those just getting into political activism. “The local levels are key.”
Jon Monett, an Air Force veteran and retired CIA operations officer, was guest speaker. He was in the CIA for 26 years.
His speech primarily focused on his work as founder and chairman of Quality of Life Plus Laboratory (QL+), a McLean-based company devoted to developing and applying technology for wounded and disabled veterans.
Monett founded the company with a $ 500,000 investment to the California Polytechnic San Luis Obispo College of Engineering in California in 2009.
The college is where QL+ hosts veterans to test the prosthetics and other products it develops.
“They have their whole life to live,” Monett said of the veterans, many of whom are younger than 30. “It’s a labor of love.”
The QL+ Laboratory takes on a maximum of 10 “ challenges” in a school year, according to the company’s website. The school uses teams of students to develop solutions to the challenges of injured service men and women. Over the course of six- to- nine months, the multidisciplinary team develops an innovative solution with input from the “ challenger” ( a service man or woman with a problem relating to quality of life as an amputee or otherwise disabled person) and a faculty adviser.
An example challenge is a cooling system for a prosthetic socket — a system that will dissipate the heat created inside the socket of a leg prosthetic.
“Losing a limb reduces the body’s ability to prevent overheating and will cause increased perspiration, especially during activity,” the website states. “[ The cooling system] will allow amputees to perform physical activity without creating excessive sweat inside their sockets.”
Monett said the program relates to his CIA career, as studentshave a limited amount of time to find a solution to a problem and implement that solution. “ We’re problem solvers ... that’s what I did in the agency.”
Jo Thoburn, chairwoman of the 10th Congressional District Republican Committee, said “ everything is quiet and fun” for local GOP politics at the moment. The party is gearing up to try to win back the Virginia governor’s seat in the November election.
At a time when so much attention is paid to national politics, local committees will “keep plugging away” to win local and state offices, Thoburn said. “That’s our focus, and it always has been.”
Committee member Lynnette Embree organized the dinner and said she feels “extremely positive” about the local GOP moving forward.
She added that she learned a lot about the lives of veterans after speaking with Monett, who told her a story about a man who lost all his limbs, but said he would “do it all over again.”
Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-10th, and Del. Chris Collins, R-Frederick County, attended the dinner, though not as speakers.
Anyone who wants to learn more about QL+ Laboratories can visitwww.qlplus. org.
— Contact Onofrio Castiglia at ocastiglia@winchesterstar.com
By ONOFRIO CASTIGLIA
The Winchester Star
WINCHESTER — About 80 people attended the annual Reagan/ Lincoln dinner on Saturday night at the George Washington Hotel to benefit the Frederick County Republican Committee.
Mike Lindsay, a longtime member and former committee leader, said the dinner was a signal the group is “growing positively” after some contention in the past.
Tickets were $35, with sponsorships up to $500.
“They’ve sorted out some of their internal infighting,” he said, adding the committee is a training ground for those just getting into political activism. “The local levels are key.”
Jon Monett, an Air Force veteran and retired CIA operations officer, was guest speaker. He was in the CIA for 26 years.
His speech primarily focused on his work as founder and chairman of Quality of Life Plus Laboratory (QL+), a McLean-based company devoted to developing and applying technology for wounded and disabled veterans.
Monett founded the company with a $ 500,000 investment to the California Polytechnic San Luis Obispo College of Engineering in California in 2009.
The college is where QL+ hosts veterans to test the prosthetics and other products it develops.
“They have their whole life to live,” Monett said of the veterans, many of whom are younger than 30. “It’s a labor of love.”
The QL+ Laboratory takes on a maximum of 10 “ challenges” in a school year, according to the company’s website. The school uses teams of students to develop solutions to the challenges of injured service men and women. Over the course of six- to- nine months, the multidisciplinary team develops an innovative solution with input from the “ challenger” ( a service man or woman with a problem relating to quality of life as an amputee or otherwise disabled person) and a faculty adviser.
An example challenge is a cooling system for a prosthetic socket — a system that will dissipate the heat created inside the socket of a leg prosthetic.
“Losing a limb reduces the body’s ability to prevent overheating and will cause increased perspiration, especially during activity,” the website states. “[ The cooling system] will allow amputees to perform physical activity without creating excessive sweat inside their sockets.”
Monett said the program relates to his CIA career, as studentshave a limited amount of time to find a solution to a problem and implement that solution. “ We’re problem solvers ... that’s what I did in the agency.”
Jo Thoburn, chairwoman of the 10th Congressional District Republican Committee, said “ everything is quiet and fun” for local GOP politics at the moment. The party is gearing up to try to win back the Virginia governor’s seat in the November election.
At a time when so much attention is paid to national politics, local committees will “keep plugging away” to win local and state offices, Thoburn said. “That’s our focus, and it always has been.”
Committee member Lynnette Embree organized the dinner and said she feels “extremely positive” about the local GOP moving forward.
She added that she learned a lot about the lives of veterans after speaking with Monett, who told her a story about a man who lost all his limbs, but said he would “do it all over again.”
Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-10th, and Del. Chris Collins, R-Frederick County, attended the dinner, though not as speakers.
Anyone who wants to learn more about QL+ Laboratories can visitwww.qlplus. org.
— Contact Onofrio Castiglia at ocastiglia@winchesterstar.com
