Published: April 09, 2008 11:40 am      

Lincoln Day dinner on Saturday

Cumberland County Republicans will join together for the annual Lincoln Day Dinner on Saturday, April 12. The event will be held at the Martin Elementary School cafeteria and Little Theater. Radio talk show host Steve Gill will provide this year’s keynote address. Named in honor of President Abraham Lincoln, American’s first Republican president, this year’s Lincoln Day barbecue dinner will be prepared by the Shadden Family Cookers. Tickets are $10. Tickets for children under age 12 are only $5.

Keynote speaker Steve Gill is an attorney and host of the most influential radio talk show in Tennessee. "The Steve Gill Show" airs statewide on nearly a dozen stations across Tennessee, including Crossville’s WAEW 1330 AM. He is also the chief political analyst for WKRN News 2 (ABC) in Nashville, and makes frequent appearances as a political commentator on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC and other media outlets in the U.S and abroad.

Talkers Magazine has repeatedly recognized Gill among the "100 Most Important Talk Radio Hosts in America" and Business Tennessee has named him among the "100 Most Powerful People in Tennessee" for four straight years. He has received numerous AIR (Achievement in Radio) Awards, including Best Talk Host in Nashville, and has twice received recognition as a Hero of the

Taxpayers from Americans for Tax Reform for his leadership in opposing a state income tax in Tennessee.

As a lawyer, businessman and government official, he has traveled

extensively around the world. Gill has negotiated business transactions in countries such as Japan, Canada, Mexico, Russia, England, Chile and Argentina. His business and media related travels have also taken him to Peru, Venezuela, Kuwait, Bahrain, Dubai, Iraq, Israel, Brazil, Germany and Ireland. Gill served on the adjunct faculty of Belmont University from 1991- 2004, teaching international business and negotiations at the graduate and undergraduate levels.

In 1992, he was appointed to a White House Fellowship by President George H.W. Bush and served as director of Intergovernmental Affairs for the U.S. Trade Representative in the Executive Office of the President. During his Fellowship year, Gill served in both the Bush and Clinton administrations, working with governors and state officials as their primary liaison with the

U.S. government on international trade policy.

He has been a contributing editor for Tennessee Business magazine; a legal columnist for Advantage magazine; and a columnist for several newspapers, including an ongoing weekly column that is published in a dozen papers throughout Tennessee. He co-authored Tennessee Environmental Law (Federal Publications, 1992) and wrote The Fred Factor: How Fred Thompson May Change the '08 Election (MCN Publishing, 2008).

Gill received both his undergraduate degree (honors history) and his law degree from the University of Tennessee, where he played varsity basketball on the 1977 Southeastern Conference Champion team, was president of the student body, president of Omicron Delta Kappa, and student member of the board of trustees.

In addition to Steve Gill, there will be remarks from Republican candidate for assessor of property David Simcox, state Representative Eric Swafford, Fourth Congressional District candidates Monty Lankford and Don Strong, and other candidates for state and federal offices.

Dress is casual. This year’s Lincoln Day begins at 6 p.m. Tickets are available from Cumberland County Executive Committee members or call 267-7046.