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COPY MAIN B•1240 oWER WATC OFFICE CABL~ D OF THE P WATCHTOWER TRACT SOCIETY ESIOENT 124 COLUMBIA HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK 11201, U.S.A. May 25 , 1967 Mr . Sidney Scarborough Atlanta Stadium Atlanta , Georgia 30312 Dear Mr. Scarborough : The Watchtower Bible and Tract Socie ty of New York, I nc. , (Jehovah 1 s Witnesses) are interested in arrangin g f or a con- · vention in Atlanta , Georgi a, July 6 through J uly 13, 1969 . We wou l d need at least two da ys of ingress a nd one da y f or e gress. So the dates that we would require are Jul y 4 through J uly 14, 1969, if we were to have our co nvention in Atlanta. I fully appreciate t hat in orde r to make arrangements to use the Atlanta Stadium things must be worked out wi th the baseball schedule first, but very likely if you speak with the officials i n the Nat i onal league t o clear these da t es they may do s o. However, before this would be done there are a few questions that you may be able to answer . If yo u think it is better for me to see you personal l y then I could fly to Atlanta to discuss the whole matter with you and at the same time see the sta dium and the fac ilities . What the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, (Jehovah 's Witnesses), would like to do in 1969 is have another international assembly in the United States . There is no place in the United States that is large enough to hold all of Jehovah' s witnesses in one place . So we have to have the convention in sections and we hope to have an eastern section convention July 6 through July 13, from Sunday to Sunday inclu sive, in the summer of 1969. We wou ld like to have a convention at Yankee Stadium in New York and in At l anta, Georgia on the same dates . This would handle the eastern part of the United States. The following week we would like to arrange for conventions in Chicago and St . Louis, to be held simultaneously, and this would involve July 13 throu gh July 20. From there we would go to the West Coast to Anaheim, July 20 to July 27. It is our plan to use five different ball parks during this three-week period. I am currently working with the American league and wi t h Mr. Joseph Cronin, its president, so as to try and clear the A NONPROF I T CORPORATION �Mr . Sidney Scarborou gh Atla nta Stadium At la nta, Georg ia 30312 May 2 5 , 1967, Pa g e Two dates f o r Yankee Stadium, Comiskey Park a nd Anahe i m Stadium. Of course, I can do the same, if neces s ary, with t he Natio nal Lea gue , with its pres ident Mr . Warre n C. Giles . At the time I know whether the Atlanta Stadium wi l l be ava i l able and y ou would want us to use y our stadium durin g the above - mention ed dates, I could f ollow throu gh wi th contacting Mr . Gile s . I ha v e spoke n to Mr . Glennon J. Walsh, Di r ec t or of Operations f o r the Civic Ce nter Bu sch Memo rial Stadium, and he is quite a g reeable to r e nting the stad ium to us i f we can clear it wi t h the Nati o nal Lea g ue . Are you willing to rent the Atlanta Stadium to the Watchtowe r Bible and Tract Soc iet y of New York , I nc . , f or these e i g ht day s with at least two d a y s f or ing ress and one da y f o r e g ress , so t ha t we ca n g et t h i ngs s et up and then d i sman tled? What wo u l d y ou r renta l f e e be? Would you a l so l e t u s kn ow wh o handle s t he c oncess io ns a t t he s tadium, be c a u s e t h e Watchtower Bi b le and Tract Soci ety usua lly ope ra te s i t s own c afeteria and refre shme n t s t ands , as wel l as ha n d li ng all o f the parking . ble want agre eme nt for all of the facilities a vailable . To gi v e you an example , a t Yankee Sta di um i n Ne w Yo rk city we arrange wi th the concess io na i re through t h e management of the stadium t o take ove r a l l of their fac i l i t ie s and t o opera te them with our volunte er help, a ll of whom are very expe r i enced . We have handled large c o nventions f or many years , but it may be that you are not acquain t ed with us . That is why I would be very happy to fly to Atlanta sometime early in June , if you would gi ve me the choice of a few dates as to when you would be available , and then we wou l d speak about this matter . Maybe we cou l d c ome to some a greemen t a nd you cou l d g et a better picture of what the Wa t chtower Bib l e and Tract Society is and what we would like to do . Now that you know the dates we would like to have I am sure something could be done to arrange the 1969 baseball schedule . We anticipate that we would bring between 40,000 and 45,000 people to Atlanta and that very likely we would have that many in attendance at our closing session, the eighth day of the convention. That will give you some estimate of the crowd that we expect . Whatever price you would gi ve us for the stadium we would want to include parking faci lities that you have, and stadium concessions. We have worked out these matters satisfactorily with all other stadiums, and I am �Mr. Sidney Scarboroug h At'lanta Stadium Atlan t a, Geor g ia 30312 May 25, 1967, Pa g e Three confident that it can be work ed out with the Atlanta Stadium . We would very much like to include Atlanta, Georg ia in our s etup for the i nternational assembly of Jehovah ' s witnesses in the United States in July of 1969 and would be very happy to hear from you . I f you would li ke to discuss th i s more thorou g hly , which I feel is advisable, please let me know an¢ I will b e happy to come to Atlanta to s peak with y o u . I think that is a much better way to hand l e the matter . I would be pleased if you could let me know soon just what mi ght be done . Sincerely yours, 1v/Jftv~ N. H. Knorr President NHK/AG/ AE �