UPDATE: This petition was from 2009. Our Loudoun County Board of Supervisors has started the war on Christmas early in 2010 - July 20 will be the opening battle. Please find more information and sign petition here.
[[[Dear Friends: Though the Board of Supervisors voted December 1 to overturn the ban on holiday displays, the private citizens who've spoonsored these displays for decades have still not been allowed to put them up. No explanation has been forthcoming. The Board of Supervisors is holding ANOTHER public hearing December 10 at the Loudoun County Public Schools building, 21000 Education Court in Ashburn. Please plan to attend, spread the word and keep this petition going. Apparently the fight is not over, and we just lost a week.]]] Our Constitution grants us freedom OF religion, not freedom FROM religion. The Facilities and Grounds Committee of the Loudoun County Courthouse announced 11/24/09 that it will no longer allow Christmas trees, nativity scenes or any other holiday displays on the Courthouse grounds. For 50 years, the Rotary Club of Leesburg has placed a Christmas tree on the grounds of the courthouse. For 20 years, Leesburg attorney Debbie Welch and her husband Dennis had placed a creche on the grounds. Rotary members say they were blindsided by the committee's decision, which was withheld for weeks until the night of 11/24 - two days before Thanksgiving. Full story at Leesburg Today http://www.leesburg2day.com/articles/2009/11/25/news/9974courthouse112509.txt Private citizens DO have the right to sponsor a nativity scene on public property. The Facilities and Grounds Committee of the Loudoun County Courthouse has no authority to take away this right of the people. (please see link below to Alliance Defense Fund) If as a Loudoun County taxpayer you disagree with the Grounds Committee's decision - and the timing it used to pre-empt citizen protest, please sign this petition. Update: Also, please come to the Board of Supervisors public input session on Monday November 30 at 6:30 pm - One Harrison Street, SE Leesburg. Bring the family and wear red! Some residents are bringing lumps of coal.