Local Tea Party activists to meet up Saturday in Emblem

Hundreds of local Tea Party supporters are expected to gather in Emblem on Saturday to hear conservative speakers that include the father of U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Ted Cruz.

“We’ve got great speakers — and it’s costing us an arm and a leg, but it’s worth it,” says Big Horn Basin TEA Party organizer Robert DiLorenzo.

DiLorenzo is hosting the Fifth Annual Big Horn Basin TEA Party Picnic at his Emblem home, 3357 Big Horn County Road 14. The gates will open at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.

Robert DiLorenzo addresses attendees at last year's Big Horn Basin TEA Party Picnic. Cody News Co. file photo by Tom Lawrence

Attendees can expect to hear from:

• Rev. Rafael Cruz, the father of U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who’s been delivering conservative speeches across the country.

DiLorenzo said the elder Cruz has a fascinating story to tell of growing up in and then fleeing oppression in Cuba. He laughingly added that, “I have a sneaking suspicion he’s supporting Ted Cruz.”

• FOX News terrorism analyst Wayne Simmons, who served 27 years with the Central Intelligence Agency.

 “He knows what’s going on — and he knows what’s going on months before it hits the headlines,” DiLorenzo said.

• H. Leighton Steward, a geologist, author and retired energy industry executive. While many scientists say higher levels of carbon dioxide appears to be prompting damaging global warming, Steward says increased CO2 can actually benefit the planet.


DiLorenzo said the point of the annual picnic is education, in-line with the Tea Party group’s acronym of “Take Educated Action.”

“If you’re going to vote, know exactly what you’re voting for and what you’re voting against and know exactly what’s going on in the country,” DiLorenzo said.

Donations are welcomed, but admission is free.

“The main thing is, I’ve got to get people there,” DiLorenzo explained. “I can’t have money standing in the way of everything that’s going on in Washington, D.C., from the horse’s mouth — directly from the people that make the headlines.”

DiLorenzo had been in discussions to get retired neurosurgeon/Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson and political commentator Liz Cheney to speak at the picnic, but those appearances didn’t work out. However, DiLorenzo said he’s been told to expect Carson, Cheney and Cheney’s father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, at later TEA Party events.

~By CJ Baker

by CJ Baker, events, politics, Tea Party