January, 2012 

Dear Members and Friends, 

As 2011 was our busiest year yet, compiling this recap took longer than expected.   

We began 2011 the same way we ended it -- with a Commemorative Christmas Tea Party re-creating the original Philadelphia Tea Party of December 27, 1773.

Some of you may recall that we had to postpone the 2010 Christmas Tea Party due to a major snow storm (15 inches) of snow that closed Independence National Historical Park. 

So on January 8, 2011, during a lighter storm (two inches of snow), we held our 2nd Annual Christmas Tea Party.  Among our special guests:  Emmy award-winning journalist, Rita Cosby (author, Quiet Hero: Secrets From My Father's Past) and the Honorable Anna Little.

On December 27, 2011, despite heavy rains, we closed the year with our 3rd annual Christmas Tea Party.

We have been fortunate to have had WPHT talk show host Dom Giordano play the role of Dr. Benjamin Rush for all 3 Christmas Tea Party reenactments --and this December, Dom was joined by WPHT talk show host Gary R'nel who served as narrator.  We are grateful to both for their outstanding performances.

We would also like to commend Association Board Member, John Peteraf, for reprising the role of the adversarial Captain Ayres.  

At the event, the Association honored its 2011 Federal Legislator of the Year, Pat Toomey and its 2011 State legislator of the Year, Curt Schroder. 

We thank everyone who attended--especially US Senate Candidates

Tim Burns (PA), Sam Rohrer (PA), Association Board Member Robert Mansfield (PA), and Kevin Wade (DE).  We also thank those board members, and others, who volunteered their time and services.

Special thanks to our sponsor, Delor Cornell of Cornell & Company Inc., as well as our co-sponsors, Marshall Perlman of Claimstar, and Rick Eckert of ECBM.

2011 Association Happenings:

January

*The Association sends a bus to DC so that members and friends can witness the Congressional swearing in of eight Independence Hall Party Tea PAC endorsed candidates:  Pat Toomey, Jon Runyan, Lou Barletta, Charlie Dent, Mike Fitzpatrick, Jim Gerlach, Pat Meehan and Joe Pitts.  All became members of the 112th Congress.

*At the urging of the Association and the Tea Party movement, the US House, in its first major test, votes to repeal ObamaCare.

*On a sad note, the Association says goodbye to member Trish Cody who died of cancer after a long and courageous battle.  Trish, the wife of Association 

benefactor Craigg Cody, and mother of Quentin and Shannon Cody, will always be remembered for her devotion as a wife, mother, patriot, and friend.

February

*The Association, UNITEPA, the Delco Patriots, and twenty other groups form the Grassroots Coalition for Real School Choice at the behest of UNITEPA Executive Director, Sharon Cherubin.  

*The Association joins the Susan B. Anthony List in honoring Mike Fitzpatrick and Pat Meehan for voting to defund Planned Parenthood.  (Lou Barletta, Jim Gerlach,  Frank Lobiondo, Joe Pitts, Jon Runyan, and Chris Smith are also lauded by the Association for their courageous vote on this issue.)

March 

*The Association and UNITEPA sponsor a debate on school choice at the Independence Visitors Center.  Panelists include Rev. Joe Watkins, Dom Giordano, Columnist Chris Freind, and Rep. Curt Schroder. 

*In Trenton, the Association, in cooperation with American Majority, holds a

Taxpayer Relief Press Conference in response to the out of control demands of public sector unions.  State Senator Mike Doherty, the Honorable Anna Little, Representatives from American Majority, Bayshore Tea Party, Cherry Hill Area Tea Party, Somerset County Tea Party, and the Association speak to the issue and praise Governor Chris Christie for his tough stand. 

Over 25 news outlets cover the conference. 

*At a Harrisburg Press Conference arranged by Americans For Prosperity, Association President Teri Adams joins the Honorable Sam Rohrer in voicing

support for HB 42, legislation allowing PA to opt out of ObamaCare.  HB 42 is voted out of committee and passes the House.  (On two different occasions in 2010, the Association sent buses to Harrisburg to lobby on behalf of HB 42.)

*Again in Harrisburg, Association Co-Founder Don Adams provides testimony in support of HB 934 (Voter ID).    

April

*With the support of the Association, Congressman Paul Ryan and Senator Pat Toomey introduce their own (separate) bills to balance the federal budget.  All regional Republican Congressmen vote in favor of Ryan's Path to Prosperity budget.   The Ryan budget passes the House and fails in the Senate -- a voting pattern that repeats itself (for other legislation) throughout the entire year.   Pat Toomey's equally compelling budget also fails in the Senate.

*In addition to proposing his cutting-edge budget, Senator Toomey succeeds in uniting all Republican Senators behind one Balanced Budget Amendment -- an amazing achievement and one backed by the Association.

*On Apirl 15, the Association partners with Joey Vento and WPHT for its 3rd Annual Tax Day Tea Party.  Unlike previous years, the Tea Party is held at

Geno's Steaks and broadcast live on the Dom Giordano Show.

During the broadcast, Association President Teri Adams announces the selection of Joey Vento as the Association's 2011 Patriot of the Year.

*In response to President Obama's visit to the Gemesa Wind Turbine Plant in Bucks County, the Association holds its Drill More, Spend Less Press Conference.  Among the speakers are the Honorable Anna Little; Tea Party Leader, Michael Johns; Energy Expert, Anthony Perella, Sr.; Dan Simmons, American Energy Alliance; and Leo Knepper, Heritage Action. 

The Conference is covered by the Inquirer and the Bucks County Courier Times, among others.

*In partnership with Heritage Action, the Association presents an event

featuring US Senator Pat Toomey in Ft. Washington (Montgomery County).

May

*The PAC endorses John Featherman for Mayor of Philadelphia.  He loses the Republican primary by less than 50 votes. 

*After successfully blocking passage of the phoney School Choice Bill, SB1, the Association, along with the Grassroots Coalition for Real School Choice, backs passage of HB 1330--expansion of the EITC Scholarship Program, a school choice bill involving support from the private sector. The bill passes the House overwhelmingly, but is "dead on arrival" in the Senate as Education Committee Chairman, Senator Jeff Piccola, holds it hostage to SB1.

*At the request of PA State Representative Daryl Metcalfe, the Association testifies at a House hearing on Congressional redistricting.  

*Association members attend a Stand with Israel meeting and rally (sponsored by the Zionists of America) to protest President Obama's dangerous shifting of decades long US policy regarding Israeli/Palestinian borders. 

*Association members welcome Sarah Palin and her family as they visit our hangout, Independence National Historical Park.  Mrs. Palin, upon hearing of our upcoming Energy Independence Day Tea Party, gives a high five and a big thumbs up.

June

*Don Adams speaks at a press conference in support of school choice legislation, HB1678 and HB1679, drafted by Rep. Curt Schroder (at the behest of the Grassroots Coalition for Real School Choice, the Association and UNITEPA).   Both bills offer real non-discriminatory school choice options not found in SB1!

*The Association backed Voter ID Bill, HB 934, contentiously passes the PA House just before that chamber adjourns for summer recess. 

July

*On the 235th Anniversary of the Adoption of the Declaration of Independence, several thousand attend the Association's 3rd Annual July 4th Celebration, entitled "Energy Independence Day Tea Party."   UNITEPA,

Cherry Hill Area Tea Party, and Diamond State Tea Party co-sponsor the event.  

Guests include Presidential Candidate Herman Cain and Ambassador John Bolton.

Joey Vento receives the Patriot of the Year Award.   Sharon Cherubin, UNITEPA is named the Association's 2011 George Washington Tea Party Leader of the Year.

Carol Klein (PA), Phil Schieber (PA), Bill Miller (NJ), and Kristin Sherman (DE) are named Betsy Ross Activists of the Year.

Michelle Bachmann and Herman Cain finish atop the Republican field in the

Presidential Straw Poll conducted at the event.

AP photos (like the ones above) appear in Newspapers across the country --from the Washington Post to the LA Times and on numerous websites --including yahoo.com and others.

*With the support of the Association, Cut, Cap, and Balance passes the US House of Representatives.  All nine area Republican Congressman vote in favor of the bill (Barletta, Dent, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, Lobiondo, Meehan, Pitts, Runyan, and Smith). 

*In a Press Release, the Association calls out President Obama on the Debt

 Ceiling issue after he incredulously blames the crisis on the Tea Party. 

August  

*The Association mourns the death of its Patriot of the Year, Joey Vento, calling him "an inspiration to cause of freedom and liberty."

Twenty Association Members attend his funeral Mass at the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul. 

*In response to Moveon.org, the Association, along with the Cherry Hill Area Tea Party and the West Jersey Tea Party, rally on behalf of Congressman Runyan.

The Delco Patriots and the Association rally in support of Congressman Meehan.  The Association rallies in support of Senator Toomey.

*Association members attend Townhall sponsored by Congressman Fitzpatrick.  

*At the urging of the Association Executive Committee, Board Member Cort Rosholt recruits State Senator Chris Connors, Assemblyman Brian Rumpf,

and Assemblywoman Dianne Gove to introduce a New Jersey Voter ID Bill.

September

*The Association Commemorates the 10th Anniversary of the 911 attacks at a New York event sponsored by NJ Smart Girl Politics. 

*Association members join the American Sheepdogs in a celebration of its 4th Anniversary. 

Led by Rich Davis, the Sheepdogs have honored our US troops every Saturday for 208 consecutive weeks (and counting) -- no matter the weather! 

*The Association holds its We the People 2011 Celebration, a 2nd annual commemoration of the signing of the United States Constitution.

During the event, in tribute to President Ronald Reagan on the centennial year of his birth, his 1987 speech, delivered at Independence Hall on the Bicentennial of the signing of the United States of America, is read aloud by Reagan Administration Alum, Larry Cirignano.

Dom Giordano eulogizes Joey Vento.  WPHT talk show host Chris Stigall plays the part of Ben Franklin in the premiere reading of a scene from the original the screenplay Kingbird and Franklin.

   
 Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Award nominee, Janine Turner, a Co-Founder of Constituting America, delivers a Keynote Address.  Several award-winning students from Constituting America perform.  The Honorable Anna Little speaks on We the People 2011.

*The Association hosts Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich and his wife, Callista, for the premiere showing of their film A City Upon A Hill.  

*As a co-sponsor of the Tea Party Express/CNN Republican Presidential Debate, the Association conducts a poll immediately following the event.  By a slim margin, the more than 300 respondents declare Mitt Romney the winner,

but predict Rick Perry will be the eventual Republican nominee.

October

*In response to the Occupy Wall Street/Occupy Philly, the Association, along with Cherry Hill Area Tea Party, UNITE PA, Diamond State Tea Party, and American Sheepdogs, form a coalition called Liberate Philadelphia/Liberate America and set up a facebook page.

*The Independence Hall Tea Party PAC, in its first endorsement of the 2012 election season, picks conservative Brian Kelly over Bob Casey in the Democratic primary for US Senate.

*In cooperation with the Delco Patriots and Chesco Patriots, Association members picket PA State Senator Dominic Pileggi's office.  The three groups seek Senator Pileggi's leadership in passing legislation to opt out of ObamaCare and implement Voter ID.

November

*PA Senate passes SBI.  At the urging of the Coalition for Real School Choice, the House refuses to vote on bill.

*In the 2011 General Election, the PAC recommends nearly 100 candidates for offices in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.  More than half the candidates are successful.

*The Association supports the Homeless Veterans Outreach fundraiser, an event organized by Veteran Advocates Joe Eastman and Chris Hill.

*With the help of the PAC, Anna Little is declared winner of the Save NJ Poll measuring support of potential Republican candidates for the US Senate. 

*While Occupy says "boycott" Black Friday, Liberate says "BUYcott."

The Liberate Philadelphia/Liberate America BUYcott gets top billing on Drudge website.

Liberate organizers John Sullivan, Teri Adams, and Don Adams appear on Fox News and other national and regional news programs to discuss the BUYcott.

Result:  Spending on Black Friday 2011 increases 7% over 2010.  

December

*Liberate Philadelphia/Liberate America holds a press conference at Dilworth Plaza, home of Occupy, to insist that Mayor Michael Nutter keep his word and finally disband the illegal tent city Occupiers had erected.  Occupiers drown out speakers and force members of the Association Board and Cherry Hill Area Tea Party to disband (so much for freedom of speech and association).

In fearless reporting, Dom Giordano is swallowed up by Occupy, and then, after a dust up, resurfaces with ruffled hair and disheveled clothing.  

*The Association's final Presidential poll of the year, conducted after the first December Iowa Debate, shows 400 respondents split almost evenly between  Romeny and Gingrich.    

In 2011, the Association cooperated with numerous groups not mentioned above, including Campaign for Liberty, Founders Values, PA Conservative Council, Repatriot Radio, Saturday Morning In America, Valley Forge Patriots. 

Our activities  generated international (Europe, Japan, Russia, Middle East), national, regional, and local press coverage.  

We anticipate that 2012 will be even more eventful and look forward to working with all of you in this critical year.

If you would be willing to make a small donation towards our 2012 efforts, we would be most appreciative.  We could not exist without your genorosity.

God Bless all of you, and our nation, in the upcoming year! 

On behalf of the Association Board of Directors,

Teri Adams