A Brief History of Volunteers in Politics - VIPS (formerly known as Women VIPS)
VIPs began in 1973 to elect Conservative Republicans to all offices. All our founders were members of Republican Women Federated: RWF. One of our founders was Dorothy Dotson. She had been the San Diego County President of RWF. She wrote our bylaws based on the bylaws of RWF at that time.
In 1972, a year before VIPs began, a young woman had started a campaign to Stop the ERA: Equal Rights Amendment. Her name was Phyllis Schlafly. A short biography of her life is on the Internet. Phyllis was a friend of one of our founding members, Grace Thackery. Whenever Phyllis came to San Diego, she stayed in Grace's home. Phyllis' chauffeur was another one of our founders: Dorothy Dotson. Dorothy drove Phyllis all over Southern California as she gained support to stop the ERA.
From Day One, VIPs contacted and educated members via The Bulletin. One of our founders and longtime President, Anna Dewey, would type every letter of each article and type every letter in every source. There were no home computers and Al Gore had not invented the Internet yet. Every month Anna phoned every person who received the bulletin to remind them about the meeting and ask them to invite their friends.
The bulletin was sent out in envelopes. We called it Snail Mail. A few of us got together on Bulletin Day to fold the printed papers, write notes on top of some, address them by hand, stamp them, and put them in the mailbox. That was the way women learned about our meetings. People who attended would invite their friends and gradually the group grew. VIP meetings were listed in the San Diego Union-Tribune in the events of the week column. That also brought new people to our meeting.
Anna Dewey wrote the bulletin by herself for 3 decades. She subscribed to conservative magazines and summarized pertinent articles. She also wrote about local news in San Diego County. She always typed in a link to the article that was not an Internet link but the old-fashioned kind we wrote when we used to write term papers. We now work to check facts behind internet articles before we include them in The Bulletin. We add links to show the source. We hesitate to include opinion pieces because they are only one point of view.
The bulletin is what makes VIPs unique from other conservative organizations. Instead of reports from officers, it is made up of summaries of articles that are relevant to Conservatives. Each month the group grew a little. In 1990 there were around 20 people at the meetings that met at the Marine Corps Depot in Point Loma (Loma Portal). When it was discovered that we were a political group we were no longer allowed to meet on a Military Facility. We were called the Gill Party because one of our members was the wife of a Military officer. Before the VIPs met at the Marine Corps Depot, meetings moved from place to place. We had summer meetings in one of our member's yards, a garden on a hillside. Her name was Dorthea Benner.
The Benner's favorite restaurant was the Bali Hai located on Shelter Island. Dorthea asked the owner if we could meet in his establishment once a month. He said YES! That was in 1990 we met Larry Bauman's and conducted our meetings at the Bali Hai until COVID in 2020 ended that.
Maril Adrian started writing our newsletter about 2017 instead of a bulletin. Lynette Williams who was President for approximately 10 years fell sick in 2017. Dran Reese became President and restarted WVIPS with a new name Volunteers in Politics to include men. A new website was developed. A new email marketing program was established. All lists were consolidated and a plan for updating was streamlined.
Locations for lunch had to be changed due to unaffordable lunch prices at Bali Hai. We tried Encore and then moved to Lomas Santa Fe Country Club for two years. We enjoyed that location and it met our costs.
Dran Reese has an entirely new board. All the previous members retired, and a new group has offered their services. Dran Reese is ready to retire and is actively pursuing someone who can take over completely.
Dran has offered a co-Presidency to Kim Yeater in January 2024. And because she is involved requested the luncheons be moved closer to her. We have researched and found the Handlery Hotel. The costs are still higher, but not prohibitive. Dran Reese will be bringing all the audio | video equipment since it is not provided by the hotel.
VIPS is a non-partisan group of volunteers who are enthusiastic about the direction of American and want to see righteousness restored through standing up for our Judeo-Christian Heritage, our religious freedoms and electing candidates that share these values.
We pray this move, new co-Presidency will help Volunteers in Politics grow and continue to be a resource for candidates, elected officials, citizens and Republicans to make a difference in California and in our country for good. It is in Jesus name, we pray.