BUCKHANNON – The ladies of the Central West Virginia Republican Women gathered Monday night for the installations of new officers and a featured speaker.

The women said goodbye to longtime president Patty Adams and welcomed LeVera Gillum as the group’s new president.

Adams will now serve as the group’s first vice president with Charlotte Lewis as second vice president. Heather Queen was selected as secretary, and Linda Debarr will be the treasurer.

“I would like to thank my officers. They’ve done a great job,” Adams said. “And I was so thrilled that LeVera accepted the president’s job.”

Gillum thanked Adams for working with her throughout the years.

“Thank you for trusting me with this awesome responsibility,” said Gillum. “I went home from the last meeting and thought ‘oh my gosh, what have I gotten myself into.’”

Gillum continued, saying she had traveled to Charleston for the Republican Women’s Day at the West Virginia State Capitol.

“I came back very inspired and prepared to work to make America great again,” she said.

Also, during Monday’s meeting, the president of West Virginia Federation of Republican Women Anne Hildebrand spoke about the importance of community involvement and being informed on local, state and national politics.

“That’s the best offense you can have, and the best defense because you’re going to be informed,” she said.

Hildebrand also suggested that while the ladies are contributing to community projects, they should wear red.

“We got to do it, ladies,” she said. “We’ve got to not just be seen having our dinners and our lunches … We’ve got to go out and be seen. We’ve got to do projects, and when I say projects, I’m not talking crazy things, but with recycling we’re going to do that in Morgantown with our small group of ladies. You can do that. You can take cupcakes to the firemen, to the police, the veterans. It doesn’t take much, but when you go, wear your red and make sure they know who you are.”

Hildebrand also recommended the group support the local college’s on-campus Republican club. One member noted that West Virginia Wesleyan College’s Republican group is quite small.

“How could you support them? I bet if they had a meeting, they wouldn’t turn down a pizza, cupcakes and cookies,” she said. “That’s one small way you could (support them) and they’ll say ‘oh, we’ve got some fairy godmothers up there helping us.’”

Support local GOP representatives was another tip Hildebrand recommended to the group.

“We’ve got to go out. We’ve got to support. We’ve got to show up, and we’ve got to be present to show folks and to help them,” she said.

Following her remarks, Hildebrand swore in the newly selected officers and presented Adams with a special certificate for her dedication to the group.