The Costco Connection - February 2017

MEMBERCONNECTION

110 The Costco Connection FEBRUARY 2017

CONNECT WITH US If you have a note, photo or story to share about Costco or Costco members, email it to connection@costco.com with “The Member Connection” in the subject line or send it to The Member Connection, The Costco Connection, P.O. Box 34088, Seattle, WA 98124-1088. Submissions cannot be acknowledged or returned.

Welcome to Molossia

SOME PEOPLE BUILD model airplanes or furniture as a hobby. Kevin Baugh built a country. Not as a political statement or social protest, but simply for fun. But the Nevada Costco member, officially known as His Excellency President Kevin Baugh of the Republic of Molossia (molossia. org), thinks it is more like a vocation since it takes up a lot of his, and the first lady’s, time.

A micronation—sometimes referred to as a model country—Molossia is located inside the state of Nevada near Reno. It was originally founded on May ;;, ;;;;, as the Grand Republic of Vuldstein, after Baugh and his high school friend, James, saw the ;;;; Peter Sellers movie The Mouse That Roared, a political satire.

“James was the king. I was the prime
minister,” explains Baugh. “After a while
he went to a different school, but I stayed
with it. Once I obtained property here in
northern Nevada in ;;;;, I changed the
name to Molossia, put up the flagpole,
raised the flag, and we’ve been going
strong here ever since.”
Wikipedia says there are thousands
of micronations across the globe. “There
are a wide variety of agendas, if you
wanna use the word ‘agenda’—reasons for
starting your own micronation,” explains
Baugh, “and some can be political state-
ments. We’re not.”
Denizens of Molossia pay U.S. taxes
and vote in local and national elec-
tions. Everything Baugh says has tongue
planted firmly in cheek.

“We have ;; citizens,” His Excellency
claims. “Here in the Molossian home
territory we have a total of seven human
and five dog citizens. Yes, sir, dogs are
citizens. The rest ... are expatriates living
in the U.S., mostly nearby in Nevada and
then over in California. All Molossians
are family members.”
Molossia comprises ;;.; acres, “but
our home territory is only ;.; acres in
this portion of Nevada,” Baugh says. “The
other two provinces are ; acres in North-
ern California and ; acres in Southern
California. But they are uninhabited.” It’s
small in size, but large in spirit.

A number of small buildings, including the president’s office, a post office, a bank and a trading post, dot the main street. “We have the Tiki Hut Bar and Grill, and then we also have our customs shack,” he says. Passports are not needed to visit, but Baugh will happily stamp yours if you bring it. Day visitors are welcome but prior arrangements must be made. A guest house is on his wish list.