Opening Comments – October 17, 2009
Chris Christie Fundraising Event

Good afternoon. I’m Mike Gulotta, one of the owners of Deo Volente Farms, this small slice of heaven created by God and entrusted to our care.

We welcome you here today to celebrate agriculture in New Jersey and, in particular, to celebrate the equine segment of an industry that has been part of New Jersey’s fabric for generations.

This is an industry that employs 13,000 people in this great state,

An industry that helps make 176,000 acres productive while contributing to the operating budget of this, our nation’s Garden State.

And this is an industry that calls New Jersey home to 12,500 beautiful horses.

We are here today to honor a man who is a friend of the horse industry, and while that is important to us, it is far more critical that he is a man of integrity, experience, vision and intelligence.

He is a man I have had the opportunity to sit across the table from – fortunately not in his role as a prosecutor. 

He is a man who I am confident will help New Jersey regain its position of greatness as a place to live and a place to do business.

Before I turn it over to Senator Kyrillos, the campaign chairman for Chris Christie and to Governor Tom Kean, I’d like to thank several fine people who worked so well together in creating this event.

Thank you Tom Luchento, President of the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey for your tireless and very productive fundraising efforts,

Thank you Anthony Perretti of Perretti Farms, the third largest standardbred horse breeding farm in North America, for your very supportive work among horsemen and for your generous personal support,

To Sue Agopian and Otis Ray, two of my partners here at Deo Volente and to Antje Doyle, former Clinton Township committee member,  for your fundraising achievements,

To Andrea Cervantez who lives and breathes this farm on a daily basis, thank you for managing the logistics here today,

To Jamie Montgomery of the Christie campaign for helping to coordinate our efforts, and

To Barbara De Marco of New Jersey’s Thoroughbred Owners Association for inspiring us to hold this event and for her advice and counsel in general and for integrating our efforts with the thoroughbred community.

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not recognize Tito Robles and his group of Democratic supporters for Chris Christie who are here today from Hudson County, New Jersey. Thank you for recognizing a very fine candidate.

And thank you Madeline my wife for being the foundation of all my own efforts for the nearly 40 years of our marriage.

Thank you all for being here, for being such supportive friends of Chris Christie and now I’ll turn it over to Joe Kyrillos for his comments and introductions.