The vice president of Villagers for Trump got quite a thrill Wednesday when he paid a visit to Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.
Villager Jim Volpe, who is quite active in the growing group and is rarely seen without his “Make America Great Again” hat, took the program from the club’s Oct. 29 Trump Day Dinner with him when he went to South Florida. Volpe was visiting a friend who has known the president for 20 years and is a member of both the Trump International Golf Club and Mar-a-Lago, which Trump often refers to as his “Winter White House.”
Before lunch started, Volpe said, an employee of the club took the Trump Day Dinner program and put it on the seat where the president was going to sit at the completion of his round of golf. Trump is in South Florida for the Thanksgiving weekend.
“Jack Nicklaus passed my table and patted me on the back and said, ‘Nice hat,’” Volpe said of the legendary golfer who was playing a round with Trump on Wednesday. “Five minutes later, President Trump passed my table and commented, ‘Nice hat.’”
Volpe said Trump then sat down at his table and immediately started reviewing the Trump Day Dinner program. And when his friend saw what was happening, he took Volpe over to the president’s table and introduced him.
“President Trump immediately thanked me and Villagers For Trump for their support,” Volpe said. “He loved the program.”
To his surprise, Volpe added, the president asked him his opinion regarding the rally he held in Tampa with Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis on July 31. That event, which was heavily attended by area residents, took place on the night after DeSantis held a rally at a Villagers for Trump meeting in The Villages at the Laurel Manor Recreation Center.
“I immediately answered, “You won the election for Ron DeSantis,’” Volpe said of the former congressman, who carried an endorsement from Trump throughout his tight race against Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, who was endorsed by former President Obama, notorious trial attorney John Morgan of Morgan & Morgan and “Blacklist” actress Megan Boone, who is the granddaughter of late Villages Developer Gary Morse and the daughter of Villages Vice President of Sales Jennifer Parr.
Volpe said he also told Trump about all the thumbs up he gets while wearing his Make America Great Again hat in Florida and Washington, D.C.
“He enjoyed hearing that,” Volpe said. “And he again thanked Villagers for Trump for their support.”
Throughout the recent midterm elections, Villagers for Trump, which started a year ago with about 300 members and now boasts more than 1,000, supported every candidate the president endorsed. They did so through a variety of ways, which included:
- Playing a big part in having DeSantis make a late October campaign stop at the La Hacienda Recreation Center.
- A late October “Red Wave” rally with 383 golf carts and close to 800 people in both Lake Sumter Landing and Spanish Springs Town Square.
- An August golf cart parade to both town squares to show support for the president and his slate of GOP candidates running for offices in the Sunshine State.
- A July candidate forum that was headlined by DeSantis and attended by a standing-room-only crowd at the Laurel Manor Recreation Center. Following that rally, DeSantis carried every precinct in Sumter County during the Aug. 28 primary election, easily beating out Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, who was backed by The Villages Developer.
- Planning a bus trip to Tampa to hear Trump and DeSantis speak at the July 31 rally.
- Traveling to Orlando in July to hear Donald Trump Jr. speak at a DeSantis rally.
- Holding monthly meetings where candidates running in a variety of different races shared views and platforms with members.
- Gathering at the corner of County Road 466 and Morse Boulevard or attending meet-and-greets and other gatherings to show support for the president and his candidates of choice.
