Sarah Palin motivates Beaumont, departs for Midland

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Sarah Palin delivered a 20-minute speech to the Get Motivated! event at the Beaumont Civic Center Thursday morning. According to Beaumont Enterprise reporter Mike Smith, she mostly avoided politics while at the podium, except for a tangential reference to the ObamaCare bill vote, which drew a chorus of boos from the audience:

Palin drew on her experiences as a mother, governor and 2008 vice presidential candidate. She said she’s been successful with family support and by toughening up during the challenging times.

“Like my dad said, ‘You don’t retreat, you just reload,’” she said.

With her husband Todd at her side, the 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate quickly left the Civic Center on her way to make a 1:45 event she has scheduled in Midland.

KFDM-TV's Ashley Rodrigue was also in the audience and posted a number of photos from the event here.

- JP

Shuttles for Sarah

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According to the Beaumont Enterprise, Sarah Palin fans attending Thursday's Get Motivated seminar at the Beaumont Civic Center can avoid traffic/parking hassles by taking one of the shuttles which will be running to the Civic Center from Beaumont ISD's Jaguar Stadium between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Thursday:

The bus service was arranged by Get Motivated with Beaumont Independent School District, said Mark Arrington, division manager for the Civic Center. The city has coordinated five designated parking areas for attendees who choose not to use the shuttle service:

Julie Rogers Theater, 765 Pearl St.; Postal Encoding Center, 750 Pearl St.; First United Methodist Church, 701 Calder St.; First Baptist Church, 900 Calder St.; Ebenezer Baptist Church, 675 College St.

The East Texas event, which features Gov. Palin and "America's Mayor" Rudy Giuliani as two of the featured speakers, starts at 8 a.m. and continues until 4:45 p.m. (CDST) tomorrow. Tickets for as low as $5 for individuals and $19 for groups are still available by phone at 1-800-880-7058. They will cost considerably more at the door Thursday ($225 apiece).

- JP

Another Get Motivated! Event in Texas for Sarah Palin

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Peter and Tamara Lowe, the couple behind the The Get Motivated! seminars, must have been pleased with Sarah Palin's performance at their event in Houston earlier this month, because they've apparently booked her for an encore appearance in Beaumont in March.

The seminar comes to the Beaumont Civic Center Thursday, March 25, where the Get Motivated! organization says Gov. Palin will be part of a lineup of speakers that includes "America's Mayor" Rudy Giuliani. Those who will be content with watching the governor's speech on a big screen can do so in the Julie Rogers Theater, which is part of the Civic Center complex.  Those who will settle for nothing less than being in the same room with Gov. Palin will want to get the higher-priced tickets for the Civic Center Arena. 

The event will likely draw a crowd from the Golden Triangle area, which also includes Port Arthur and Orange, as well as from the Southwest Louisiana area around Lake Charles.

- JP

Sarah stops traffic in downtown Houston

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Television station KHOU reported this morning that traffic in downtown Houston ground to a halt around the Toyota Center as crowds of people made their way inside to attend the "Get Motivated" seminar where Sarah Palin was speaking.

Well, you don't think that Colin Powell or Rudy Giuliani, who were also on the program along with some others, were who the throng rushed in to see, do you?

- JP

Get Motivated By Sarah Palin

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Sarah Palin is scheduled to join the Get Motivated! Business Seminar series for the event in Houston, Monday, February 8.  She will be among friends, as Rudy Giuliani and Terry Bradshaw are also scheduled to speak, and a foe, as Colin Powell will be there too.

Gov. Palin will address the following topics:

• How to Successfully Manage and Balance Your Personal and Professional Priorities

• How to Overcome Obstacles with Creative Solutions

• The Secrets to Effective Decision-Making

• How to Have Grace Under Fire

• How to Become a Person of Influence

We contacted Get Motivated! and were assured that Sarah Palin was booked through her agents, the Washington Speakers Bureau.  For "security reasons" the event people would not tell us what time of day the governor is scheduled to speak. We figure it will have to be fairly close to the 8:00 AM (Texas Time) start of the seminar, since Gov. Palin is also scheduled for afternoon and evening (California Time) speeches the same day at a logging conference in Redding, CA.

It will be a busy day for the first woman to be the vice presidential candidate of the Republican Party.

- JP