Stand Up For Farmland, Stop the Peotone Airport Parade and Rally

The group STAND--Shut This Airport Nightmare Down--is planing a "Stand Up For Farmland, Stop the Peotone Airport" Rally and Parade on Saturday, April 21, 2012.  This is the same day Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. has stated he will hold People's Groundbreaking for the South Suburban Airport.

Here is the information on the STAND Rally and Parade from a STAND flyer:

"Rural Celebration Near Peotone

Please attend our STAND UP FOR FARMLAND, STOP THE AIRPORT rally and parade, starting at 8:30 am, Saturday, April 21. We will celebrate rural life, agriculture, and Mother Earth.

Invasion by the Jacksons

We will be firm, but civil. Reverend Jesse Jackson and his son Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. will bring clergy and other airport boosters from Chicago and the south suburbs to "occupy" Peotone, have a fake "groundbreaking," and pray for the destruction of our homes, communities, and farmland to make way for an unneeded airport. This publicity stunt is designed to pressure Governor Quinn into giving Jesse Jr.'s airport group (ALNAC), the authority to build the airport. Jackson's developer (SNC Lavalin),a scandal ridden, foreign-based giant corporation, wants Illinois taxpayers to give them land and pay for infrastructure. If built, it would be another white elephant, like MidAmerica Airport at Mascoutah, Il., which has not created permanent jobs.

Help Us Send a Message

Let’s show Governor Quinn that Illinois citizens want to protect farmland and rural communities, and are opposed to wasting precious taxpayer dollars on this boondoggle when the State of Illinois is $131 billion in debt!  

Parade  and Rally

Meet at Eagle Ridge Farms located at 6104 W Eagle Lake Rd, Peotone, IL 60468 at 8am for check-in; procession begins at 8:30, traveling east to the South Suburban Airport project office, 5710 W. Eagle Lake Road, where the Jacksons will be having their "groundbreaking" at 9 am. We will stop for a press conference as local ministers bless the crops and pray for the preservation of the earth. We will then proceed 3 miles to the Will Township building at Will Center and Beecher/Peotone Road for coffee and snacks.

Please contact Lydia to join us by registering yourself, bike, car, horse, truck, hay rack, tractor at (708) 946-2275.

Contact Governor Pat Quinn and tell him: no eminent domain at Peotone & kill the proposed airport: Phone (312) 814-2121  Fax(312)814-6775

Write:  Thompson Center, FL 16 Ste 100, Chicago, IL. 60601

Email at web site: http://www2.illinois.gov/gov/Pages/ContacttheGovernor.aspx"


UPDATE:  Video of Groundbreaking: http://willcountynewspeotoneairportnews.blogspot.com/2012/04/peotone-airport-peoples-groundbreaking.html

Anthony Rudis to State of Illinois: Demonstrate a Need for the Peotone Airport

In early October of this year, members of the group STAND--Shut This Airport Nightmare Down--held a 'Harvest Fest".  STAND officers state the purpose of the Harvest Fest was to reach out to individuals, groups, and elected officials to "help prevent this politically-driven project from becoming a reality."

STAND--Shut This Airport Nightmare Down--held a harvest fest in October 2011

Midway through the Harvest Fest, Anthony Rudis arrived and neighbors gathered in the garage to hear his remarks on the proposed Peotone Airport.  Rudis is 100 years old and owns one of the largest pieces of land in the inaugural footprint of the proposed airport, which is visible on the map below, from the Will County GIS Department:

Rudis stated: "To this day, not a single governmental body has come up with a study that says this is why we need it.  So that what does it mean?  It means the legislature and other governmental bodies are looking for a soft touch.  They'll appropriate money, not for the widows, but for the airport...what they are going to do here is destroy the economy of many families..."  Watch the full video: