FREEDOM GROW NEWS FEED
Southern Atlantic Hemp and Arts Expo 2021 – attended by Freedom Grow Forever!
June 25-27 2021 Freedom Grow attended the inaugural SAHAE event in Asheville, North Carolina! The event was a success! FGF Board members met from all over the nation! Kristin Flor came from Washington State, Randy Lanier (and his family) came from Ft Lauderdale, Florida, and Stacey Theis, Jake Shepherd and friends traveled in on the Cannabus! Other Freedom Grow family, and friends came also, like Beth Curtis (founder of Life For Pot), Paul Free (served 25 years of a life sentence), Dickey Lynn (served 31 years of a LIFE sentence) and Richard Delisi (served 32 years of a life sentence)! The purpose of coming together was to educate the community of Ashville about our cannabis prisoners and to gather signatures on letters to present to the President in the future, hand delivered by Tommy Chong.
We had lots of things at the booth to help educate the public, such as images that Adella Falk made showing our cannabis prisoners’ faces and their lengthy sentences. Each image had a chair to sit on in order to help represent their missing bodies. We had pens, t-shirts, banners and jury nullification flyers, and images to help educate the public about their right to vote ‘not guilty’ when called to jury duty. The best education came from x-cannabis prisoners themselves, as they helped get letters signed for others still in prison! Telling their stories about their LIFE sentences brought a sense of Reality to the masses, who had no idea so many are locked up for Cannabis. Kristin Flor’s experience with running a booth showed!
Stacey Theis pulled in late Friday as the Cannabus struggled to get there, but Stacey’s dedication made it happen! The Cannabus was parked just across from the booth, and was the center of the good times! Letters were signed on the bus and everyone who came on the bus left with an education about prohibition. Stacey Theis’s warm welcoming smile made each person stepping on the Bus feel at home. Off and on throughout the day we went back and forth from the bus to the booth sharing good times all over the place! After the event, the kind people associated with Dr Bronners helped get the bus back on the road to smokeout in DC!
Green Touch Awareness had T-shirts and pens made for us! The shirts said ‘Bringing Light To A Dark Cell’. The shirts were a major success, and brought a lot of attention to our cause. The attendees of the event were more than willing to sign our letters, and enjoyed meeting our cannabis POW’s and learning their stories and what they can do to help! Freedom Grow President ’Stephanie Landa’ had fresh cupcakes ordered daily with pot leaves on them! Everyone loved them!
Randy Lanier, Steven DeAngelo, Chris Conrad and John Gettman spoke on a panel together and discussed the drug war. It was an amazing talk! Afterward, Steve DeAngelo (founder of Last Prisoner Project) stopped by our booth and hung out for a while! LPP has helped us in a lot of ways, so it felt good for everyone to get to spend some time with him and prison outreach!
On the last day of the event Mike and Amanda made sure we all had fun in the FOMIE HOMIES Bubble Machine! The fun from all the bubbles will last us all a lifetime! They gave us the kindest hospitality! They soaped us up and down with their products and it felt good for all of us to let go and have some fun!
The music was wonderful, and Don Pickett, who put on the event, was a perfect host! He gave us the BEST spot in front of the stages where a lot of people walk by, everyone at the event made us feel like we were home. The bands played till midnight with laser light shows and Puppeteers. We are thankful to all of our sponsors such as Green Touch Awareness, SAHEA, Cannabis Sativa Magazine, Family Hemp Brands, Cannabus, OOBERLIFE.Com, and we are excited to attend the event next year!
We at Freedom grow wish to Thank our sponsors for making it possible for FreedomGrow Forever to attend the Southern Atlantic Hemp, and Art Expo. Green Touch Awareness, Cannabis Sativa Magazine, Family Hemp Brands, Cannabus, OOBERLIFE.com You all Rock. Thank You for helping to spread the message “No One should be locked up for a Plant”. In so doing, you give Hope, and Faith to the Cannabis Prisoners that their Lives Matter. For that we have an Abundance of Gratitude, and Appreciation for YOU. Thank you Don Pickett, the event Organizer and Producer of SAHAE for being such a Great Host. We also like to mention Michael Gosney and Stephanie Grande for helping with tickets for our guests. The music was fantastic as were all of the Dragons, Butterfly Puppeteers, and fire Jugglers. Freedom Grow Forever made new friends,expanded our horizons, and created more awareness. It takes a village to coordinate an event, and to help spread the message. We are always looking for people and companies interested in being a sponsor, or volunteer. Please contact freedomgrowforever.org to donate, our WISH Program needs your Help!
