The Invitations are out and we appreciate the sponsors.

The Juniper Hill Inn is proud to host the first Bi- Annual Windsor Freedom Award Celebration. The inaugural honorees are Dr. Irving & Elvira Williams. Their tireless efforts in founding and funding their nonprofit organization AHEAD, has affected thousands of citizens of Tanzania by helping thousands of people develop self sustaining agriculture, clean drinking water, hospitals and schools.

The award designed by the legendary glass artisans of the Simon Pearce Glassworks in Windsor, Vermont will be presented to the Williams’ on Saturday, May 30, 2009 at the famed Juniper Hill Inn also in Windsor, Vermont. The sponsors of the Windsor Freedom Award Celebration are Juniper Hill Inn, Seldon Technologies, Simon Pearce, TourWindsorVT.com, Artisanal Cellars of Vermont, Vermont Wine Merchants Company, Harpoon Brewery, and two anonymous donors. The honorary chairs of the event are His Excellency Ambassador Ombeni Y. & Mrs. Sefue of the United Republic of Tanzania and Co-chairs Robert Lewis Dean, II & Ari T. Nikki.

The Windsor Freedom Award was founded by a distinguished committee of Vermonter’s to highlight the many firsts that the State of Vermont, and the town of Windsor, have forged in its history, including: the first state to abolish slavery, the first state to allow non-land owners to vote, the first state to allow equal opportunity for education to women and more recently the first state to allow marriage to all its citizens by popular vote. These deeply forged principles are what form the basis and spirit of the Windsor Freedom Award. Each recipient must have, in some significant way, contributed to the quality of life of others and offered them opportunities to pursue their lives and God given freedoms. The Williams have enabled an entire generation to have opportunities that did not exist before they came to the regions in which they work. They have offered thousands of individuals the opportunity to be free from disease, hunger and the opportunity for quality education and; in turn, the ability to realize their purpose in life. It is appropriate that this award would be born in a region known for its independence, its willing to help a neighbor in need and its independent and enlightened spirit.