Hollis Taxpayers Banned from Old Home Day Celebration

John-

The committee discussed your application, along with a few others that were in question. It was decided that your booth proposal would not really be in character with the spirit of Old Home Days. So, unfortunately your application was denied.
Thank you for your interest in our event!

Dear Barbara,

On behalf of Informed Citizens United (ICU), I would like to thank The Hollis Old Homes Day Committee for their consideration of our ICU booth proposal at the upcoming community celebration. Every year this event provides a great opportunity to learn more about our town and the many happenings across a broad spectrum from our history to the present.

Many of our members have attended Old Homes Day for years with their families and were excited about the potential opportunity to showcase our group’s accomplishments and to attract new members to our local taxpayer organization.

Unfortunately, this Saturday at our regularly scheduled monthly ICU meeting, I will have to inform our membership that our application for a booth has been denied by The Hollis Old Homes Day Committee because they believed “that our booth was not appropriate for the event” and “would not be in character with the spirit of Old Home Days”. After reviewing the August 2011 minutes from your committee, I have learned that we were the only vendor whose application was rejected.

While I respect your Committee’s decision to invite organizations they deem appropriate. I am greatly concerned that a nonpartisan taxpayer organization whose members volunteer their time and talents to ensure that the residents of Hollis tax dollars are being spent wisely and within the guidelines of the law would be excluded from your invitation.

In closing, this past year as the Chairman of Informed Citizens United, I have learned a great deal about the character and courage of our community. While I am disappointed in your decision to deny us an opportunity to participate in Old Homes Day, I would like to extend an invitation to your committee members to attend an upcoming ICU meeting which is held on the second Saturday of every month from 10-noon in the Hollis Town Hall. I believe this will help your members to truly understand and appreciate the mission of our local taxpayer group and why we are so proud to provide this wonderful service for our community.