Republican involvement since youth:
When she was 14 years old, George H. W. Bush gave his first speech in his first winning campaign on the back of Susan’s dad’s truck. From her days at Steven F. Austin State University in Texas, where she was a member of the Young Republicans and served as a delegate to the Young Republicans State Convention in Dallas, Susan has been passionate about Republican politics. When she moved to Newton in 1988 she was unable to find a community of Republicans to join. It was only eleven years ago that Susan met some Republican activists, and, as they say, the rest is history.
A record of recognized achievement:
Before finding these Republicans, Susan devoted her efforts to the Boston Beanstalks Tall Club (BBTC) and Tall Clubs International (TCI). In the BBTC she has held every elected office. She served as chairman of the committee organizing the prestigious Miss Tall International pageant when the local club sponsored the international convention in Boston. She has also served as corporate secretary for the international organization. She has been awarded lifetime achievement awards (colloquially Woman of the Year) by both the local and international organizations. She continues to serve as the BBTC Treasurer and as a member of the Robert Austin Memorial Scholarship Committee where they select a deserving (tall) high school senior for an annual BBTC college scholarship and for a nomination to TCI for one of their annual scholarships.
Recent Republican achievement:
When she finally discovered that there are Republicans in Newton, she jumped into active participation. She has gained the confidence of Newton Republicans, who elected her to serve as chairman for the Ward 5 Republican Committee and as vice-chairman for the Newton Republican City Committee.
Susan wants to make sure that everybody knows that there are Republican activists in Newton, and has worked to raise their visibility in the community and help “bring them out of the closet.”
She currently runs the Newton Republican Committee’s Facebook page, promoting positions and events to recruit new members. Since taking control of the page, she has more than doubled the following of the Committee's page.
The ward Under her chairmanship, Ward 5 developed the first ward committee web site in Newton. The ward committee sponsored a city-wide Candidates’ Night during the 2011 and 2021 non-partisan municipal elections. Since Susan has been participating in the City Committee, the committee has “shown the flag” with tents at the Newton July 4th fireworks and the Newton Harvest Fair. On New Year’s Eve, the Republican City Committee sponsored the packing of “care packages” for our troops in Afghanistan.
Neighborhood and city activism:
Susan was elected as a charter member of the Newton Upper Falls Area Council in the fall 2011 municipal elections, and served as the Council’s treasurer from 2012 until 2021. She was a member of the Friends of Hemlock Gorge, where she participated in clean-ups of the gorge. She worked with the Newton Bicycle-Pedestrian Task Force to win community support to convert an abandoned rail line in Newton Upper Falls into the Upper Falls Greenway which is now a beautiful mile long linear park. Susan is on the Executive Board of the Newton 9-11 Memorial Committee, which donated a unique and attractive memorial to the City of Newton in 2013.