Hal Shurtleff

Director and Co-Founder of Camp Constitution.

50 Years Ago Today: Ted Kennedy Leaves Mary Jo Kopecne to Die on Chappaquiddick

Published July 18, 2019 | By Hal Shurtleff

Fifty years ago today, U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy drove his car off a bridge on Chappaquiddick  Island, and left his young passenger Mary Jo Kopecchne to die. We have uploaded an interview of the man who found her body, John Farrar.   This interview took place during a speaking tour  several years after the incident on the Mayor Yorty Show on WCOP  Los Angeles.    A link to the interview on our Podomatic page https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/shurtleffhal/episodes/2017-10-04T06_07_43-07_00

Mr, Farrar was promoting one of the first books written on the subject Teddy Bare.  We have copies available from our camp bookstore:  https://campconstitution.net/product/teddy-bare-the-last-of-the-kennedy-clan-the-real-story-of-chappaquiddick/

 

 

City of Boston: Stop Censorship of Christian Flag

Published July 13, 2019 | By Hal Shurtleff

 

Thanks to the efforts of Liberty Counsel, our Christian flag lawsuit against the City of Boston has made the news around the country.  It began back in the September of 2017 when Liberty Counsel sent the City of Boston a demand letter.  We are optimistic that we will win the case.  Here is the latest news release from Liberty Counsel:

  Stop Censorship of Christian Flag Jul 9, 2019

BOSTON, MA – Liberty Counsel has asked a federal district court to forgo a trial and order the city of Boston to allow its resident Hal Shurtleff and his Christian civic organization, Camp Constitution, to fly the Christian flag on a city flagpole that Boston has opened to hundreds of other organizations. The city censored the religious viewpoint of the flag that would have been raised only during a one-hour event held to commemorate the civic contributions of Boston’s Christian community on Constitution Day (September 17).

The city has allowed other civic and cultural organizations the freedom to raise their flags on the city hall flagpoles to commemorate whatever events are important to the organizations more than 300 times since 2005, and nearly 40 times just in the year preceding Camp Constitution’s request. The city’s application policy refers to the flagpoles as a “public forum” open to “all applicants.” City officials have never denied the “messages” communicated by Boston Pride and the pink and blue “transgender” flag, and even the flags of Communist China and Cuba, but will not allow the civic and historical Christian message of Camp Constitution.

When Camp Constitution asked the city in 2017, and again in 2018, for permission to raise the Christian flag on the City Hall flagpoles to commemorate Constitution Day and the civic and cultural contributions of the Christian community to the city of Boston, the Commonwealth, religious tolerance, the Rule of Law, and the U.S. Constitution, city officials denied the permit based on a secret, unwritten and unconstitutional “policy” of refusing religious flags.

“Censoring religious viewpoints in a public forum where secular viewpoints are permitted violates the First Amendment,” said Liberty Counsel’s Founder and Chairman Mat Staver. “Boston city officials may not ban the Christian flag as part of a privately-sponsored event when they allow any other flag by numerous private organizations. It’s time for the court to stop the city’s unconstitutional censorship,” said Staver.

Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics. Liberty Counsel provides broadcast quality TV interviews via Hi-Def Skype and LTN at no cost.

  Camp Constitution’s 11th Annual Camp

We are still taking applications for our 11th Annual Family Camp which starts Sunday July 28 and runs until Saturday August 3.  It tales place at the Lakeside Christian Camp and Retreat Center in Pittsfield, MA,, To register or learn more, please visit our website http://www.campconstitution.net or call me at (857) 498-1309,

In Liberty,

Hal Shurtleff, Director
Camp Constitution
Boston, MA

Constitution America: An Interview with Janine Turner

Published July 10, 2019 | By Hal Shurtleff

A few months ago, Jeanette Kraynak, Director of Operations of Constituting America  contacted Camp Constitution after hearing about us at a homeschool convention.   Constituting America was founded by Janine Turner, an actress who starred in the popular TV series Northern Exposure,  and played a powerful role in Gosnell America’s Biggest Serial Killer.  Jeanette asked if Janine could teach a few classes at our 2019 family camp. We happily agreed.  Janine will be teaching two classes most likely via Google Hangouts.

Yesterday, Monday July 8, I was a guest host for the Dianna Ploss Show which airs on WSMN AM 1590 Nashua, NH and had the opportunity to interview Janine.

The link to the show on our Podomatic Page:  https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/shurtleffhal/episodes/2019-07-09T15_33_20-07_00

And on our YouTube Channel

 

The Declaration of Independence: A Presentation by Richard Howell

Published July 5, 2019 | By Hal Shurtleff

Most Americans celebrate Independence Day or the Fourth of July, but thanks in part to our nation’s government schools, many of them know little if anything about our Declaration of Independence and would have trouble naming more than a one or two, if any of its signers. We often hear” Have a Happy 4th” from folks bedecked in red white and blue outfits as if we are celebrating a summer day set aside to have barbecues, go to the beach, and set off fireworks. While there is nothing wrong with a day at the beach, a good barbecue and a fireworks display, it is tragic that to some Americans that’s what the “4th of July” is about. However, Camp Constitution attendees, young and old, come away with a keen appreciation of the Declaration of Independence and the signers of the Declaration who risked their lives, fortunes and sacred honor.

Our 2017 family camp was held during Independence Day. We celebrated the birth of our great nation with a parade by our Junior Campers, fireworks down by the Lake, special entertainment by Mr. Belanger who dressed up as Uncle Sam, a class entitled “The Lives of Some of the Signers” by Mrs. Catherine White, the reading of the Declaration of Independence by Mr. Richard Howell and this excellent class which we hope readers of this blog will share far and wide:

 

Camp Constitution Celebrates Independence Day at the Pittsfield, MA Independence Day Parade

Published July 5, 2019 | By Hal Shurtleff

 

For the second year in a row, Camp Constitution had a float in the annual Independence Day Parade in Pittsfield, MA-which is also the location of our annual family camp.

As we were last year, we were well received by the hundreds of  parade spectators as well as those manning other floats.  Numerous people took pictures of our float.  We distributed 400 copies of the U.S. Constitution. Declaration of Independence along with 400 Camp Constitution promotional brochures.  A special thanks to Steve and Sarah Wanager and Darren and Raiden Lovely for driving down from Lebanon, ME with the cannons, and to Roberta Stewart and Kathy Mickle for their logistical support and their efforts before the parade.

 

 

 

 

        Camp Constitution’s Six-Month Report of 2019

Published July 2, 2019 | By Hal Shurtleff

 

The first six months have been a busy and productive time for Camp Constitution. Here are some of the results:

YouTube Channel:  We have close to 1.1 million views and were averaging over 1.200 views per day with close to 4,900 subscribers. Our views have decreased over the past several weeks but that should change with the videos we will upload from our annual family camp.   Debbie Bacigalupi’ s class from last year’s camp has received close to 55,000 views.   We are converting many of Sam Blumenfeld’s audios from the archive and uploading them on our channel.

The Sam Blumenfeld Archive:  Over one million visits.  61,000 Alpha-Phonics downloaded, 9,000 Alpha-Phonics Instructions Workbook downloaded and over 9,000 copies of Sam’s other books.  Donations made by folks downloading has been modest but steady.

Podomatic:   We are staying in the Top 10 most days and got as far as “7” for the “conservative right” category which has about 160 shows.  We had 673 downloads of our radio show, and 3,269 visits.

Facebook Page:   We have close to 2,000 people who like our page and reach an average of 400 per week.

Speaker’s Bureau:   We had 17 speaking engagements where we conducted power point presentation on the Sam Blumenfeld Archives, Agenda 21, the plastic bag ban, the U.S. Constitution, and the Dangers of an Article V Convention.  These presentations were conducted in Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, and Virginia.  We also sponsored five showing of Gosnell The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer.

 Information Tables and Outreach   We had information tables at numerous events including homeschool conventions in Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, the Red Pill Expo in Hartford, CT, and a float in the Dedham, MA Flag Day Parade

Camp Constitution Press:  Thanks to one of our supporters, we reprinted Elementary Catechism on the U.S. Constitution with a foreword by Ruth Harper.  We are working on the final touches of Sam Blumenfeld’s School-Induced Dyslexia and How It Deforms a Child’s Brain and plan to put it in print over the next few months.

Camp Constitution Book Sales:    We raised approximately $2,500 from our sale of donated books on Amazon, Facebook, and information tables.   We had numerous books donated to us over the past six months.  We updated our on-line bookstore or shop and have added new items to the shop

Camp Constitution Media:  We attended and videotaped  the annual Lobby Day at the Massachusetts State House hosted by the Massachusetts Family Institute, a Pro-Life press conference at the State House, a  presentation on the life of Joseph Warren by historian Christian Di Spina sponsored by the Sons of the Revolution,  a press conference we sponsored with Professor Willie Soon, and Joe D’Aleo, co-founder of the Weather Channel, and co-hosted  “Save the Persecuted Christians” Banner Display and Presentation at the Massachusetts State House

Article V Convention:    With Norman Tregenza’s help, we organized a group of people to testify in favor of a New Hampshire resolution to rescind its states Article V application.  While the resolution was tabled, we got word that we have a good change of passing it next year.  We distributed literature on the problems of an Article V Convention at the Pennsylvania State House and gave a presentation on the subject to a well -attended group in Virginia.  We send out E-mail alerts to our supporters around the country, and both on Camp Constitution Radio and the radio shows we guest host, we interview experts on Article V including Robert Brown and Joe Wolverton.  Not one state where we had “boots on the ground” had any new Article V resolutions pass.

Camp Constitution in the News:    Our Christian Flag lawsuit against the City of Boston continues to generate media coverage and we discovered that 15 left-wing groups have filed an amicus brief against us.  Thanks to Professor Soon’s influence in the “climate realism” community, a letter to the editor I wrote on Boston’s plastic bag ban, was turned into an article and published on approximately 15 on-line sources including the Heartland Institute, CFACT and Canada Free Press.  Our Agenda 21 Cable TV interview in Rutland, Vermont was covered by several media outlets.

Radio and Cable TV: In addition to our weekly radio show, we guest hosted six radio shows, and appear as regular guests every other week on a radio station in Nashua, NH.  We appeared as guest on several radio shows for the first time in Albany, NY and Fall River, MA. We were interviewed on six cable TV and on-line shows.  Last week, we had a guest appearance on the David Knight Show which has a nation-wide audience

Special Projects:  Several week ago, we launched Library Reading Hour Camp Constitution Reading at public libraries and have received several bookings already.  We will be creating a page for this project on our website.  The documentary Unsustainable is under production and we will have several our instructors participating in the program including Debbie Bacigalupi, Professor Willie Soon, Lord Christopher Monckton, John McManus, Dave Kopacz and me.  Since we will be at our annual family camp, the documentary’s director, James Jaeger will film the interviews at camp.

And, we have completed our camp schedule for our 2019 Annual Family and working on making this year’s camp the most successful ever.

 How can you help? Here are a few suggestions:

1, Pray that God will continue to bless our efforts.

2, Become a donor.  Donations can be made via our PayPal account accessed     from our website https://www.campconstitution.net

3, Attend our annual family camp or, if you can’t attend, help sponsor a worthy young person or family.

4, Sponsor a camp speaker and/or host a “What is Camp Constitution Presentation

5, Subscribe, view and share our videos on YouTube  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN7ME18Q1xiqcrPEn5h5FbA

Thanks to all of you who make our camp program possible.

Hal Shurtleff, Director

Camp Constitution

 

 

 

 

Is the Rainbow flag the Official Flag of Left-Wing Christendom

Published June 29, 2019 | By Hal Shurtleff

Camp Constitution has a pending lawsuit against the City of Boston for denying us a permit to fly the Christian flag on a public access flagpole at City Hall Plaza.  The City gladly raises the Rainbow flag on City Hall Plaza and pastes its main library with Rainbow flags.  Last year, I visited a number of left-wing churches  to make the case that the Rainbow flag is the official flag of left-wing Christendom.

 

Designed by Eric Conover.