Live Free or Die Celebration August 26th 11am-4pm in Jaffrey

[Lloyd Danforth]

Working on a large sign... 24" x 78"

If the paint will dry (weather permitting) I'll have a more substantial long use billboard.

I have also invited Lt. Wilco of the POLITE to come out for the day. Complete with the Less Police State Please back sign. He has a spare uniform to share if anyone gets the urge to have fun... just bring some sunglasses and black footwear to complete the look. Makes a great photo-op for folks.

Try a hairdryer on the paint

[Tom Sawyer]

Working on a large sign... 24" x 78"

If the paint will dry (weather permitting) I'll have a more substantial long use billboard.

I have also invited Lt. Wilco of the POLITE to come out for the day. Complete with the Less Police State Please back sign. He has a spare uniform to share if anyone gets the urge to have fun... just bring some sunglasses and black footwear to complete the look. Makes a great photo-op for folks.

Try a hairdryer on the paint

Great minds think a like Lloyd. I used the hair dryer... the stuff is not tacky anymore, but it still is not cured all the way. Oh well it will work out for future use.

[Tom Sawyer]

A good group of folks with Lauren and Jim's cool machine.
Photo credit Kira Jane.


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[Dave Ridley]

looked like total turnout was about 100, maybe 12 free staters

[John]

I'd say at least 13 if we count the kids (and you to Dave): 14 if we count the dog.

[Tom Sawyer]

 
Photo credit Kira Jane

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[KBCraig]

Hey, Roger? I really want that "Free Radical" design on a black or dark-coffee-brown t-shirt.

How can we make that happen? It's a beautiful logo.

Kevin

[Kat Kanning]

Neal made beautiful Free Russell t-shirts.  We never got billed for them though.

[Tom Sawyer]

Hey, Roger? I really want that "Free Radical" design on a black or dark-coffee-brown t-shirt.

How can we make that happen? It's a beautiful logo.

Kevin

Could I contact Neal and see what it would entail? Contact info?

[Kat Kanning]

libgear.com

[earthhaven]

just curious?

did the Free Staters cheer about the preservation of state land at Mt. Monadnock or the immigration portion of the event?

or just the eminent domain portion?

I know I didn't. This just means taking more tax dollars and/or charging people more to climb the mountain.

[Kat Kanning]

Some photos from John.

http://www.soulawakenings.com/underground/tikiwiki/tiki-browse_gallery.php?galleryId=78

[Kat Kanning]

 Jaffrey

Celebrating freedom - with spirit to spare
Event had been labeled 'extremist'

By MELANIE ASMAR
Monitor staff
August 27. 2006 10:00AM

Picture
PRESTON GANNAWAY / Monitor staff
Armand Comtois of Marlborough chants his support of the state motto during yesterday?s Live Free or Die Celebration.
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A
bout 50 liberty-loving folks gathered yesterday in downtown Jaffrey to celebrate the state motto, nearby Mount Monadnock and the right to free speech. Despite earlier fears, no white supremacists showed up.

The first-ever "Live Free or Die Celebration" attracted attention last week when it was promoted by a national white supremacy group called the Council of Conservative Citizens. The event was subsequently listed on the Anti-Defamation League's internet watch list of "extremist events."

Rally organizer Jean "Mike"Coutu of Jaffrey said he had asked the group's advice on holding outdoor events. But he and fellow organizer Richard Olson, also of Jaffrey, said they were surprised when the council's website incorrectly said the white supremacy group was hosting the rally.

Furthermore, Coutu said he was upset that the Anti-Defamation League listed the Jaffrey event as extremist without checking with the organizers first. He denounced the group, calling them racist because they discriminate against people whose views differ from theirs.

"What right does the ADL have to tell me, 'Here's the list of people you can't have at your party,'"Coutu said.
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Coutu and Olson eventually persuaded both groups to remove references to the rally from their websites. In the meantime, three of the five speakers, including state Sen. Robert Letourneau, cancelled their scheduled appearances because of the negative publicity, organizers said.

Olson filled in, beginning with a reference to what he called the recent "battle of websites and news articles."

"As you can see, Mike and I are not white supremacists or racial bigots, but true patriots and advocates of freedom of expression and free speech," he said.

Olson went on to talk about a hodgepodge of issues, including eminent domain, saving Mount Monadnock from development and the history of the state's motto, "Live Free or Die." He explained that when Revolutionary War Gen. John Stark coined the fiery phrase, he meant that death was better than living under total government control.

Many rally-goers, including members of the Free State Project, agreed. When asked why they attended the event, several people had the same answer as Dave Ridley of Keene.

"Freedom," he said, citing New Hampshire's gun-friendly culture and tax policy.

James Rizoli, the host of a Framingham, Mass., cable-access show called Illegal Immigration Chat, also spoke at the rally. He called for tougher border patrols and cast blame on both large companies who hire illegal immigrants and complacent citizens who do nothing about it.

"You don't seem to have an immigration problem here (in Jaffrey)," Rizoli said. "But you will."

He said that illegal immigrants are everywhere in Framingham. He complained that loudspeaker announcements at local stores are also given in Spanish and that illegal immigrants work behind the counters of several coffee shops.

"You have to listen carefully (when you order) because they're speaking Spanish or Portuguese,"he said.

During Rizoli's speech, Olson donned a flashy sombrero and approached Rizoli at the microphone.

"Senor Rizoli, I have a green card," Olson said in a Mexican accent. "Can I have a job?"

Rizoli laughed. "You'd probably get a job with that sombrero," he said.

Not everyone at the rally was on board with all of the views expressed. Charles Trimble, of Jaffrey, said he struggled to find a common theme. Steve Lindsey, of Keene, said that besides illegal immigration, most of the issues being discussed were non-starters.

"I think this is much ado about nothing," Lindsey said.

Regardless of whether everyone in the crowd agreed politically, they all cheered whenever the state motto was mentioned. They cheered the loudest when Boston-based band Jimmy Mack and the House Rockers performed a song written especially for the event. Complete with a keyboard solo, the festive New Hampshire song went like this:

"It's a state with a love for freedom,

When we first heard the cry,

Death is not the worst of evils,

Live free or die!"
http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060827/REPOSITORY/608270393

[Tom Sawyer]

Pretty good article.

[Russell Kanning]

Obviously we will accept any of your thoughts on the event for our paper.... including Coutu himself.