Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard is turning 114, and here’s the date of his party!

A big thank-you to Alex Barnes-Ross, who sent us an invite to this year’s L. Ron Hubbard birthday bash in Clearwater, Florida.

What’s that? You say we’re not invited? Well, OK, it is true that this is a private Church of Scientology event, one of the biggest events on the church calendar every year, but we’re happy, at least, to receive a copy of the announcement that it will be taking place on Saturday, March 15, and as ever at Ruth Eckerd Hall.

Ron is turning 114 years old this year. He was born on March 13, 1911 in Tilden, Nebraska.

What do you get someone who is turning 114? And how do you get it to him, since Ron voluntarily left his body on January 24, 1986 in order, it was said, to pursue his “researches” into even higher level Scientology secrets without the encumbrance of a physical body, and somewhere else in the galaxy.

Hey, Ron, you still out there?

Each year, Scientologists hold a few big international events that all wealthy church members are expected to attend if they can get there.

For an organization that claims to have millions of members, though, Ruth Eckerd Hall has managed to be big enough for this celebration year after year, even though it only has a capacity of 2,180. (In other words, the fact that the LRH Birthday Event never needs a bigger venue is one of the pieces of evidence that Scientology really only has about 20,000 active members around the world.)

Last year’s LRH Birthday was especially interesting to us because of who showed up. In a photo from Scientology’s own press release about the event, we spotted a very pregnant Elisabeth Moss in the front row next to John Travolta (wearing a funny puffy pirate shirt), with both of them giving church leader David Miscavige a standing ovation.

We thought it was pretty big news that Moss was there with Travolta, and a sign that after the loss of so many other big celebrities in recent years (Leah Remini, Laura Prepon, and Beck, who all left, and Kirstie Alley, Kelly Preston, and Chick Corea, who all succumbed to cancer), Moss might be stepping into a bigger role in the church.

Mike Rinder told us he thought Travolta might have been there to help groom her for such a role.

But when we asked Moss’s representatives for a statement about it, they declined. And she also has said nothing publicly about having a child. Isn’t that funny?

That 2024 celebration which featured Moss was the first Birthday Event that was held at Ruth Eckerd Hall after the pandemic. No birthday events were held in 2020 and 2021, and the events held in 2022 and 2023 were held at the Fort Harrison Hotel auditorium.

In 2023, one of the people we spotted was another celebrity who we hadn’t seen at birthday events before, actor Michael Peña. He is seen here in the crowd behind wealthy donor Tom Cummins.

So, who’s going to make the scene this year? Should we start a betting pool?

And what wishes would you send to the birthday boy this year if you could?

We can hardly wait for the party.

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Another Ideal Mission, this time in the Czech Republic

Scientology is crowing again, this time about opening an “Ideal Mission” in the city of Pilsen, the first in the Czech Republic.

These grand openings are less interesting to us because they don’t feature church leader David Miscavige (he can’t be bothered). But they did manage to get a couple of local shills.

“Over the years, I have witnessed the moral fabric of our society deteriorating. It seems that kindness and compassion are fading, while we face rising violence, drug abuse, and social problems. Organizations like yours are crucial – they educate young people and show them that running away from challenges is not the solution,” gushed one local mayor, for example.

Hip, hip, hooray.

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For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:

Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history

Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea

Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time

Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology

Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain

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