Atlanta Tea Party in Gwinnett forced to cancel
The Atlanta Tea Party was forced to cancel it's Independence Day celebration in Gwinnett, after losing it's location due to the objection of Gwinnett Place Mall (a Simon company.) The Tea Party had been scheduled to take place in the parking lot of the old Macy's building at Gwinnett Place since March.
"It is unfortunate the event had to be canceled," said Julianne Thompson, event co-organizer. She continued, "The old Macy's building is on private property, and not owned by Simon Malls, however the mall manager asked the property owner and I to come in the office on Thursday of this week, and told us Simon does not want political events on it's property. They were also concerned about the fact we were using the term "protest." Although the event was on private property, the mall was able to assert authority on the matter due to recipricol property easement agreements."
Event Co-Chair Debbie Dooley stated, "Our Atlanta Tea Party team tried for the next day and a half to find an alternative location large enough for the event, and with the proper layout for our vendors, children's activities, and fireworks show, but we could not find anything suitable that would have been available on July 4th."
Thompson said, The Atlanta Tea Party organizers want to thank everyone in Gwinnett who worked hard to try to make this event a success: Judi Quigley, Bill Simon, Mark Williams (Printing Trade Company,) Kathy Hildebrand, Theresa Kenerly, Brett Harrell, and George Thorndyke (who was graciously allowing us to use his property free of charge, and sponsoring fireworks.) I also want to thank the Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District for welcoming us to the area, and the Gwinnett and 7th District GOP for promising volunteers for the event."
Dooley stated, "The most important thing to do at this point is to stay on message, so we are joining forces with the Cobb for a large metro-area Tea Party on Friday, July 3rd, at 6 PM. The event is at Jim Miller Park at 2245 Callaway Road in Marietta. For information on the event, contact Cobb organizer Ben Mihalski at 770-726-7188, or visit http://www.facebook.com/l/;www.cobbteaparty.com."
If you are not in the Metro Atlanta area, then please attend a Tea party near you. For more information, please visit http://www.facebook.com/l/;www.teapartypatriots.org.
Thompson added, "The Atlanta Tea Party has a great team and is already planning for the July 17th Tea Party Patriots Protests at Congressional offices all across Georgia over nationalized healthcare. We will work hard to make sure our voices are heard and our message is clear."
