Thank you to the Plattsburgh & Clinton County Community for helping to discourage members of
the Westboro Baptist Church
from picketing at the
2005 Mayor's Cup Festival & Regatta
and several of our beloved local churches.
| WHO DOES PHELPS & THE WBC HATE***? |
| Click on each link for exact quotes from Phelps & the WBC. |
| PLATTSBURGH, NY |
| AMERICA |
| CHRISTIAN |
| JUDAISM |
| LGBTQ |
| AFRICAN-AMERICANS |
| CANADA |
| SWEDEN |
| FDNY (FIRE DEPT OF NY FROM 9/11 ATTACK) |
| INDIAN OCEAN EARTHQUAKE/TSUNAMI VICTIMS |
| ***The SPLC has officially declared the WBC to be a Hate Group. Plattsburgh For Peace does not condone the use of the word "hate" to describe any person or group. |
Plattsburgh For Peace (PFP) is a non-profit, non-political, nondenominational committee of volunteer members in the Plattsburgh, NY community. Its mission
was to respond in a constructive way when Fred Phelps and other WBC (Westboro Baptist Church)
followers picket and broadcast hateful messages at the 2005
Mayor's Cup and our local churches in July 2005. We did not counter-protest their pickets. We are proud of our
community and of its diversity. We intend to do everything in our power to
maintain the spirit of family and richness of our diverse community.
Fred Phelps News Releases To Plattsburgh
On December 20, 2004 Fred Phelps wrote a letter (content may not be suitable for children) to Mayor Dan Stewart announcing his plan to purchase a booth at Plattsburgh's 2005 Mayor's Cup. On December 30, 2004 a news release (content may not be suitable for children) regarding Phelps feelings toward the Plattsburgh community and churches was issued.
November 2 - A letter from Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center was
received, thanking us for supporting their charity via our pledge drive. Plattsburgh For
Peace will have our name listed on the Wall of Tolerance when it is dedicated in
the Fall of 2005 :-)
September 22 - Judy Shepard of The Matthew Shepard Foundation wrote a very kind
thank you letter for the monetary donation made by our successful pledge drive :-)
September 18 - Larry Allen of The Interfaith Council of Plattsburgh and Clinton County
wrote a very nice thank you letter to PFP for our donation to their charity and a congratulations
to us for completing our mission :-)
September 6, 2005 - Maureen Bradish of the Greater Plattsburgh Interfaith Hospitality Network
program telephoned in a heartwarming thank you to PFP for the monetary donation made
by our pledge drive :-)
September 1, 2005 - Michele McClave of the Aids Council of Northeastern New York
mailed a grateful letter to PFP for the monetary donation made by our pledge drive and a kudos
to us for promoting our "Hate-Free Community" and for our peaceful response to the pickets :-)
July 4, 2005 - The annual 4th of July parade was a hit! Thank you to all the volunteers who
marched on behalf of Plattsburgh For Peace. We were cheered along the entire parade
route and
we'd like to thank the community for its support and encouragement.
July 3, 2005 - SUCCESS! The last of todays very mild and uneventful pickets went well.
The Westboro Baptist Church picketers left Plattsburgh early and our Stop Hate campaign
was overwhelmingly embraced by the entire community and visitors! Thanks to all!
July 2, 2005 - PFP would like to thank all the community members and our visiting neighbors
from Vermont and Canada for their support during the Westboro Baptist Church pickets.
We're proud of all the people who are supporting the Stop Hate campaign with no counter
protesting. Our campaign is successfully distributing 10,000 wristbands, almost 5,000
buttons and 10,000 window and bumper decals!
June 30, 2005 - Plattsburgh For Peace has been inundated with requests for
interviews with the news media. Here is the press release and statement we are
issuing to them for use in their news broadcasts. We appreciate their support in
helping us spread the word of our mission
to everyone in the community.
June 24, 2005 - Rachel Maddow of The Rachel Maddow Show on Air America
Radio spoke of Plattsburgh For Peace on her morning show. At the end of her
"Rachel's Front Page" segment she strongly supports our pledge drive and our
mission.
You can listen to this program and read
about her program and her
show
by clicking here.
June 24 & 25, 2005 -
Aubrey Bresett, Producer of Mountain Lake Journal PBS
show
did a program on the different/possibly conflicting strategies of the
media coverage anticipated at the Mayor's Cup. She interviewed the Co-Chairs
of Plattsburgh For Peace and we are grateful to her and to Mountain Lake PBS
for the opportunity they gave us...to talk about our mission.
June 10, 2005 - Pat Bradley of WAMC Northeast Public Radio interviewed
Plattsburgh For Peace Secretary, Scott Sayward. We'd like to thank Pat for the
opportunity to speak to the community about our ongoing mission of spreading
the word of our Hate-Free Zone community to everyone.
June 9, 2005 - Plattsburgh's Press Republican newspaper placed a photograph
of 3 members of Plattsburgh For Peace painting over the hate-filled message on
the billboard sign (on Route 9 near Scomotion Creek in
Plattsburgh) on page A5 of
their newspaper.
The billboard
has the "Stop Hate" logo on it along with the words
:
"Welcome To Our Hate-Free
Community". PFP would like to reiterate that the billboard
sign was paid for and
anonymously donated to the
community by a local business.
It is not the property
of PFP but PFP is very grateful
to the business for its generous donation.
June 8, 2005 - News Channel 5 WPTZ, featuring Kelley Morris, aired a report of
the attempted defacement of a billboard sign on Route 9 near Scomotion Creek in
Plattsburgh
by an unknown person or persons. A report of this vandalism was filed
with the State Police. PFP painted over the hate-filled message in a matter of
minutes. The billboard has the "Stop Hate" logo on it along with the words:
"Welcome To Our Hate-Free Community". The billboard sign was paid for and
anonymously donated to the community by a local business. It is not the property
of PFP but PFP is very grateful to the business for its generous donation.
May 30, 2005 - PFP would like to thank Kevin Duniho, Democratic Chairman, and
Clayton Morris, GOP Chairman, City of Plattsburgh, for their joint Letter to the Editor
of the Press Republican, May 30, 2005 in support of Plattsburgh For Peace.
May 19, 2005 - We are very grateful to the Press Republican for their "Hate-free idea
embraced, group says" news report. The response to the report has been very
positive and we've received lots of community support.
May 18, 2005 - Thanks to Jessica Sudol ("Dear Lauren") of the Lake Champlain Weekly
for printing a letter written by a member of the Plattsburgh For Peace committee. We
appreciate the opportunity to explain our group's mission and function.
May 4, 2005 - The North Country Democracy For America
generously invited the PFP
Co-Chairs
to
their meeting to distribute PFP material, and they voted unanimously to
dedicate their "Event For May" community volunteer day to make
"STOP
HATE" buttons
for Plattsburgh For Peace.
April 29, 2005 - News Channel 5 WPTZ, featuring Kelley Morris, ran a two-day report on Fred Phelps and the
Westboro Baptist Church. At the end of the second day's segment, Ms. Morris informed viewers of
Plattsburgh For Peace. We'd like to thank WPTZ for mentioning our committee. We'd also like to thank
WPTZ for putting a link to our web site from their web site, it is greatly appreciated.
April 28, 2005 - The local news at WIRY Hometown Radio Station, featuring Ducky Drake, ran a news report on
Plattsburgh For Peace during their eight local newscasts throughout the day at 5:45, 6:45, 7:45 & 8:45am, 12:30,
4:00, 5:00 and 11:05pm. We'd like to thank WIRY for their accurate reporting of Plattsburgh For Peace's mission
statement and events.
April 12, 2005 - Committee Organization:
Amy MacLeod Co-Chair
Becky Leonard Co-Chair
Scott Sayward Secretary
Joe Brush Treasurer
April 4, 2005 - It has come to the attention of the Chairs of PFP that
someone may have sent out emails to
several members of Plattsburgh
For
Peace for the purpose of spreading their own message, one not
associated
with the very specific mission of PFP; these messages may
have been unsigned or signed as a representative
or officer of
Plattsburgh For Peace. Please remember, the ONLY official
Plattsburgh
For Peace email notices
will come from our Yahoo Group, or the
following email addresses: plattsburgh_peace@yahoo.com or
plattsburghpeace@aol.com. While we hope the work of PFP will inspire
individual people to communicate with
each other about many
connected issues and current events, the individual opinions of our
many members do not
necessarily reflect the mission and objectives of Plattsburgh For
Peace.
March 23, 2005 - WPTZ-TV received a statement from the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC). The statement
sarcastically taunts our committee's pledge drive efforts. Click here to read this statement (content may not be
suitable
for children). Amy MacLeod and Becky Leonard, Co-Chairs of PFP, were interviewed by WPTZ and
responded to the statement which aired on WPTZ's local news broadcasts on March 24 & 25, 2005. PFP's
response to the statement, which attacks one of our pledge drive charities, is as follows: "Plattsburgh For
Peace
will continue to support and collect pledges for the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). We are aware
that the SPLC has declared the WBC to be a hate group and will not be distracted by WBC's inflamatory
accusations and actions. We are committed to making sure
Plattsburgh and Clinton
County become and
remain
a hate-free zone."
Pledge To Stop Phelps - Here's What Was Pledged!
Plattsburgh For Peace (PFP) had a positive and constructive fundraising scheme to discourage Phelps
from picketing in Plattsburgh. People were asked to pledge money to a charity FOR EVERY MINUTE
PHELPS AND
ANY OTHER WBC MEMBERS PICKETED IN PLATTSBURGH. In this way, the
longer Phelps
and
other WBC members stayed to spew
hate, the more money was raised for the exact causes they picket
against!
Our pledge drive, based on each minute of the 404 minutes of picketing by the Phelps group,
has raised the following pledges for local and regional charities:
Home - Phelps' Letter to Mayor - Phelps' Plattsburgh News Release - Mayor's Cup 2005 -Charities -
How to Help - Contact Us - Every Minute Counts
Matthew Shepard Foundation - Aids Council of NENY - SPLC - About Us - Fred Phelps
© Rebecca Leonard, 2005
Last updated on
November 9, 2005
