Updated 8/6/22:
Jim announced on 3/2/2020 - It is with much sadness that due to my worsening health and now living on a fixed income, Allan & I have discussed it and we will have to suspend the 4th of July BBQ until further notice. I will keep this page open https://www.facebook.com/groups/xjwbbq in case others want to have BBQs of their own and announce them here.
From the Facebook Event:
I was baptized as one of Jehovah's Witnesses on July 4th, 1975. Each year, as my way of celebrating my independence from the JWs, I hold a backyard barbecue at my house in rural eastern Pennsylvania (about 70 miles NW of Philadelphia). I've been doing this for several years and each year it keeps getting larger and larger. Last year, we had close to 100 people. That's OK -- we have a big house and an acre in the back yard. We have parking enough for quite a few cars. We almost ran out of places to park last year, but there's plenty of on-street parking about a block away, and getting a volunteer to shuttle them to our house won't be a problem.
A few weeks before the event, once you've indicated you want to come, I'll send you directions to the house, or how to program your GPS. If you need directions sooner than that, PM me and I'll send them to you right away. A lot of you have been here before and already know the way.
You're most welcome to bring something to the BBQ, but it's not necessary. If you do plan to bring something, I'd suggest posting what you're going to bring below so we don't have too many people bringing the same thing. Please keep in mind that your hosts (and a few of the guests) are in recovery, so please don't get carried away with the alcoholic beverages, and -- sorry -- this area of Pennsylvania is intolerant of illegal substances, so please keep those at home. We'd like the BBQ to go on for years to come and don't want it getting so rowdy clips of it show up on "Worlds Dumbest."
The day after the BBQ, we traditionally take a caravan of people to Shady Maple Smorgasbord in East Earl, PA (Google it -- it's incredible!) We have room in the attic for a few overnight guests. Bring a sleeping bag. We've also had people pitch a tent in our back yard. Plenty of room for that, too.
Come celebrate my freedom from the Witnesses since 1980, and bring your friends! Who knows? Maybe some day the BBQ will get so big we'll have to rent out Yankee Stadium!