July 8, 2012, 3 PM
Dear Members and Friends,
The Declaration of Independence, whose birthday we celebrated 4 days ago, was read aloud, for the first time, 236 years ago, today, in the courtyard of Independence Hall.
On this special anniversary day, we thank you for making our 2012 Celebrate American Exceptionalism Independence Day a big success!
As many of you might have suspected, we moved the event from our usual outside mall location to the Ballroom inside the Independence Visitors Center because of leftists threats to Pamela Geller and previous attempts by Occupy to disrupt our April 16th event with Governor Mitt Romney. (While the weather was a consideration, it was not the main consideration--but we did not wish to unnecessarily alarm you.)
Law enforcement officials from the National Park Service and Civil Affairs, among others, seemed to have matters under control--and the Ballroom was an ideal secure location in which to hold our celebration.
Indeed, we estimate that over 20 Occupiers tried to infiltrate the event but were rebuffed at the door and forced to leave.
As a result, it was impossible to replicate the attendance of previous years (last year's 2011 Energy Independence Day drew well over 2,000),
However, we had a capacity crowd of nearly 300 and had to turn away countless others who had not purchased tickets in advance.
Pam Geller Brandon Posner (Photos courtesy of Skye) Cort Rosholt, Bill Miller
The event, itself, was inspiring! The main speakers, headliner Dom Girodano; Sher Valenzuela; Brandon Posner--and our incredible keynoter (and recipient of the 2012 Liberty Award), Pamela Geller--delivered stirring remarks.
The 286 Band, a Tea Party staple since 2009, was better than ever!
The panel discussion, Defeating ObamaCare, was far too short as we were fortunate to have a number of 'exceptional' panelist and not enough time. Thanks to moderator Gary R'nel, WPHT; and panelist Dr. Ed Truzanski; Arvin Cabali, MD; Matt Rooney, Esquire; Mark A. Young, MD; Sgt. Robert Mansfield (Ret); and Rick Jensen, WDEL.
To view the entire program, visit: www.youtube.com/embed/VnsxxgJBrGM?rel=0"
Once again, we wish congratulate those who were acknowledged during our Awards Ceremony:
2012 Patriot of the Year, Ryan Manion Borek, Travis Manion Foundation
2012 George Washington Leadership Award, Rich Davis, American Sheepdogs
2012 Betsy Ross Activist of the Year, Delaware, John Radell, Faith and Freedom Coalition
2012 Betsy Ross Activist of the Year, New Jersey, Cort Rosholt, Association Board Member
2012 Betsy Ross Activist of the Year, Pennsylvania, Lisa Esler, Delaware County Patriots
2012 Betsy Ross Activist of the Year, Pennsylvania, Lin DeCesare, Association Board Member, Saturday Morning in America
Thank you to 2011 winners Carol Klein, Kristen Sherman, Phil Schieber, and Bill Miller for presenting this year's Awards--as well as Dom Giordano for presenting the 2012 Patriot of the Year Award on behalf of last year's winner, our dear friend, the late Joey Vento.
We could not have pulled off this event without Co-sponsors, Gene Shusman and Rick Eckert; and program producer, Bill Green.
On behalf of the Association Board,
Teri Adams
