I can give you guys a rundown on Crownsville if you like. Back around 2008-2009 we tore down the entire assembly had as well as the caretaker home, and we rebuilt an entirely new Hall and home. I worked on that project from the very beginning until all the way through the dedication by Sam Herd.
I'm guessing the person who knows me worked on this project with me? I worked with people from all over and in several departments. I was a site photographer and aerial photographer, and shot nearly all the aerial photos from start to finish. I flew around 8 flights throughout the building project. I also had the construction department erect a tower build of several levels of scaffolding, upon which they placed a small building in the air so that I could permanently mount a camera, which I used to shoot a time-lapse of the entire project.
When I wasn't shooting, I managed the installation of the sound system under the low voltage overseer. That was a major undertaking that took up a great deal of my time. Nearing the end of the project I was on site every day of the week without break. I have the entire Crownsville archive of photos (over 50,000) and I shot over 50,000 photos for the time-lapse end of the project, which I distilled down to 13,000 images- then turned them into a time lapse.
Anyway, Crownsville is still around, and boy did they milk the JWs for cash to pay for it. Millions.
Lots of Crownsville stories if anyone cares to hear :-) For the most part I had a great time, despite all the ridiculous drama that happened down there. I was in the very early stages of waking up back then, although I was not conscious of waking up. Subconsciously I think I buried myself in that project to avoid so much of the nonsense that plagued our congregation and the project itself.
John Redwood
JoinedPosts by John Redwood
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Memories of Maryland Conventions!
by Atlantis inposting for brother x. petra!.
if you were a child during the years of 1960 to 1970, the question isn't; do you remember these conventions?
the question is; how could you forget?
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John Redwood
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A Stroll Down Memory Lane!
by Atlantis inhow many of you remember these?
(since these are old i don't think the tower will get a hernia.).
a stroll down memory lane!https://docdro.id/ylyfur6peace among men of good will.
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John Redwood
@TD I don't recall circuit assemblies at Laurel but I will take your word for it. I recall many District assemblies at the racetrack, and it was an absolutely awful, burning hot hellfire of a place to be, especially for a child.
We even camped there on the parking lot of Laurel racetrack in our pop-up camper, on the sweltering hot asphalt.
There was an indoor section, but I don't recall being behind that large glass wall which faced the platform. I think most people were stuck outside in the heat, and used lawn chairs with umbrellas which clamped to the arms of those chairs. Outside, vendors hawked portable battery-powered fans, which JWs purchased readily.
I imagine they scheduled these assemblies around those summertime racing events
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A Stroll Down Memory Lane!
by Atlantis inhow many of you remember these?
(since these are old i don't think the tower will get a hernia.).
a stroll down memory lane!https://docdro.id/ylyfur6peace among men of good will.
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John Redwood
Very interesting Petra,
You've found materials from my neck of the woods. I can try to track down that address for you. I believe this would likely be the home or location of the District Convention overseer or the Rooming overseer.
Back then we had our District assemblies at Laurel Race Course (Laurel Maryland) so this would explain why the rooming address would be in Laurel. There were only a few rare exceptions to Laurel back in the late 60s, when the org held a few assemblies in Baltimore at Memorial Stadium. One of them was quite famous as it's the one where Fred Franz gave his infamous speech about 1975.
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US Letter Read Sunday 4/26 at Meeting - No KH Use and No Field Service Indefinitely
by JWTom inthere was a letter read sunday at our meeting that mentioned some parts of us are starting to open back up.
however, regardless of things opening up that no kingdom halls should be used for any meetings of any kind.
also, no door-to-door ministry or any form of in-person ministry is allowed.
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John Redwood
If you folks would like to hear the reading of this letter in a North Carolina congregation- here is the link:
https://soundcloud.com/john-redwood-1/april-26th-2020-jw-announcement-to-all-congregations
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Looking for Carl and Julie Bruce
by John Redwood into everyone:i am trying to locate anyone who might know carl bruce or his wife julie.
carl was a bethelite as far back as the mid-1980s in brooklyn new york.
it appears that he was married to julie during that time period, and he may still be a bethelite serving in wallkill.
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John Redwood
Thank you both for your comments, very helpful. I have received additional confirmation that Carl was in the circuit work as suggested, so we are on the right track.
Petra if you have any additional Bethel telephone directories they would be helpful. Thank you again!
JR
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Looking for Carl and Julie Bruce
by John Redwood into everyone:i am trying to locate anyone who might know carl bruce or his wife julie.
carl was a bethelite as far back as the mid-1980s in brooklyn new york.
it appears that he was married to julie during that time period, and he may still be a bethelite serving in wallkill.
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John Redwood
To Everyone:
I am trying to locate anyone who might know Carl Bruce or his wife Julie.Carl was a Bethelite as far back as the mid-1980s in Brooklyn New York. It appears that he was married to Julie during that time period, and he may still be a Bethelite serving in Wallkill.
He may have worked in the factory in Brooklyn in the 1980s, and lived in the Bossert.
If you knew Carl or have any information about him, please post or message me.
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Reddit Post: Watchtower Appeals to Supreme Court
by APieceOfShitNamedTate infrom john redwood.... a preview of upcoming news:.
jehovah's witnesses are appealing to the supreme court of the united states, but this time it has nothing to do with preaching or saluting the flag.. it's all about child abuse.. specifically, the protection (or cover-up) of information, documents, and testimony of persons involved in cases of child abuse.. i will be covering this story in the coming weeks and months, but i thought i would share some of this news and try to distill it down as simply as i can.. i'd like to point out first that watchower has appealed to the supreme court in connection with their loss of yet another california child abuse case.
the chance that watchtower's appeal being will be heard by the supreme court is slim, but anything is possible.. what brought this about?.
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John Redwood
As for big news, this is not related to some of the other things I may have mentioned. At the moment I can't say anything further since there are a few things which involve criminal investigation and related matters. But trust me - there is no shortage of news and court cases to discuss, we have a lot to talk about. I think much of what is going on will have a very damaging effect on the organization for years and decades to come.
Once JWs figure out that their organization has not been transparent with them - many will lose trust in the men they once thought were being guided by God. -
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Reddit Post: Watchtower Appeals to Supreme Court
by APieceOfShitNamedTate infrom john redwood.... a preview of upcoming news:.
jehovah's witnesses are appealing to the supreme court of the united states, but this time it has nothing to do with preaching or saluting the flag.. it's all about child abuse.. specifically, the protection (or cover-up) of information, documents, and testimony of persons involved in cases of child abuse.. i will be covering this story in the coming weeks and months, but i thought i would share some of this news and try to distill it down as simply as i can.. i'd like to point out first that watchower has appealed to the supreme court in connection with their loss of yet another california child abuse case.
the chance that watchtower's appeal being will be heard by the supreme court is slim, but anything is possible.. what brought this about?.
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John Redwood
Hey guys, thanks for opening this topic up for discussion here. I will be happy to answer any questions, time permitting. I have been working on this for quite some time- this is something we have been expecting ever since Watchtower lost the JW v Watchtower case in California in the trial court and in the appellate courts of California.
Watchtower was held responsible for failing to produce the child abuse documents demanded by the plaintiff, and as a result a default judgment was issued in her favor of more than 4 million dollars.
Watchtower has been paying a 6 million dollar bond on this case during the appeal process.
Because they have lost all appeals in California- they are now taking this to the US Supreme Court, but the chances of it being heard are slim.
Basically they are claiming that they are being abused by California and denied their constitutional right to keep their judicial hearings private, even when they involve child abuse allegations which by law must be reported to the authorities.
They demand that the clergy-penitent exemption be applied to their elders notes and documents, and feel they are being unfairly discriminated against because their policies differ from those of the Catholic Church.I should have a JW Survey article up on Tuesday with more information
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WATCHTOWER has posted a $40,000,000 bond !
by ZindagiNaMilegiDobaara inwatctower has posted a $40,000,000 bond following montana's upholding of the nunez v watchtower verdict of 2018. punitive damages have been upheld, and wt has purchased the bond from travelers insurance (35m+ interest)-montana sc will rule later this year on the appeal.. .
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John Redwood
This was taken from my Tweet a few days ago. I will be writing an article on the subject of this case and related updates.
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Past 12 months, #watchtower has obtained more than 36 unique subpoenas
by Not_Culty inhttps://twitter.com/mark_j_odonnell/status/1095514606657851392.
"in the past 12 months, #watchtower has obtained more than 36 unique subpoenas to identify the people who have posted their documents, leaked videos, & images from their publications.
this #watchhunt is a coordinated effort to locate & punish the leak sources.".
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John Redwood
I would add that the image posted above was a partial image of all the cases and did not include the page 2 search results. The #watchhunt began in 2017 and seems to be escalating.
And yes, those posting the information are generally not the leakers. Watchtower is losing control of their own trusted members- and there's not much they can do about it.