By Ruth Ann Ruiz
The Post Newspaper Features Editor
As the free state of Galveston era was winding down in May 1955, Pattin Swann invited friends to her home for what would end up being the first meeting of the Galveston Republican Women (GRW). The group charged just one dollar for dues and there were 28 original members. Swann served as the first president of the GRW.
Since that first meeting, the group has continued to flourish as a political action committee. They meet once a month and work to support Republican candidates and values. They also support the role of female effectiveness in good government.
Once a year, the ladies honor their history with an anniversary meeting and invite an outstanding speaker to commemorate the occasion. This year the ladies selected T.J. Aulds as the guest speaker. Aulds is the founder and owner of Aulds Now, better known as I-45 Now, an online regional news source.
Aulds is a seasoned journalist whose work has permeated Galveston County through his introduction of his online news platform, I-45 Now, which is also available as a mobile phone app.
His family ties in Galveston, Aulds explained, go back to the great storm era and a grocery store at the corner of 19th and Church Street. Though his parents were Galvestonians at the time of Aulds’ birth, he was not born on the island.
He told the story of his parents driving back to Galveston from Baytown with his mother ready to give birth. They just couldn’t make it back to the island, so he is not considered a B.O.I. He calls himself a B.I.T.C. because he was born in Texas City.
His mother gave birth to her son at what was then known as Galveston Memorial Hospital in Texas City. Beyond being born off the island, T.J. Aulds had the distinct honor of being born into a family of journalists and thus journalism became his life.
As the guest speaker, he had been tasked with addressing growing concerns about artificial intelligence corrupting the information people receive.
Aulds tackled this subject with a trip into history.
“We all survived the printing press!” exclaimed Aulds. He continued with examples of radio, TV, CNN, the internet, and social media — all technological changes that have impacted how information is distributed in society — and noted that we all survived.
“We figure it out and AI is going to get figured out as well,” said Aulds.
He tackled fears about the press being too far left or too far right by again going down the historical road. He reminded the audience that there were loyalist-leaning and patriot-leaning press outlets in pre-revolutionary America.
Aulds said, “We have figured it out for 250 years, we will continue to figure it out.”
His evening address encouraged everyone in the room to see themselves as members of the media with each piece of information they share via the many means of communication currently available.
The anniversary dinner was concluded with Galveston Police Officer Hines leading the audience in singing “God Bless America.”
