Maybe you've seen them on Wednesday nights at 45th and Wallingford waving their anti-Iraq war signs from 8 to 8:45 p.m.
They started out three months ago in the August gloaming. Now they are braving the November wind and rain.
They have been as few as three but sometimes they're more than 20. Maybe you've honked in support or heard the ambulance driver who let go with his siren in a show of solidarity.
Or maybe you've saluted with your middle digit or yelled out, "Go home!" That's happened too, though far less frequently.
Either way, people passing by in their cars are seeing an exercise in democracy and community building. These Wallingford residents, officially unaffiliated with any organization, though some happen to be members of Wallingford Neighbors for Peace and Justice, are not out to change the world. In that sense, the Sixties, with their push to tear down the wall between dream and reality, are long past. Armed with a new realism, these protesters are just trying to make a locally focused statement.
"It's hard not to be cynical," said Wednesday night protester Carol Hall, referring to the lack of anti-war protests around the country. "You want to wake people up and say: Come on guys, there's more to life than getting up, paying taxes."
Hall, at 46, is old enough to have been aware of the Vietnam generation's anti-war protests. Neighbor and Wednesday-night-vigil stalwart Jonas Buck is not. Buck, the son of professionals, is 14 and a freshman at Ingraham High School. Some of Buck's neighbors, like Hall, have taken inspiration from his commitment. Despite his youth, though, Buck's expectations are grounded
"Some say there's no point," Buck said. "They say it (the protests) won't do any good. We know the President won't listen. But we're communicating with the people."
The whole world isn't watching - but that's OK with this group. The mere activity of protest has forged new links among numerous Wallingford neighbors.
In fact, every Friday night, 7 to 9:30 p.m., the Wallingford Neighbors for Peace and Justice group puts on what they call "Friday Night at the Meaningful Movies" at Keystone Church, where they screen socially conscious documentaries.
Rick Turner, 57 is the driving force behind the movies which, before the invasion of Iraq, drew about two dozen people. In the past year they've had up to 200 people show up. Turner recalls when the 14-year-old Buck turned up at the movies last month.
"Would you mind if I handed out flyers?" he remembers Buck asking. Buck was canvassing for more people for the Wednesday night vigils.
Turner said he had a better idea.
"Why don't you make an announcement to the group?" he told the young man.
That's what Buck did. "It was very inspiring," Turner, a Vietnam-era vet, said.
A history of activism
Hall rememberss her mother running for public office in Syracuse, N.Y. As a little girl she went door to door as her mother canvassed for support for her city council run.
She remembers people shouting, "Go home!" and "Go back to the kitchen!"
Hall graduated in art from Wells College in 1981. She still paints and does mixed media work. A social worker in the mental health field, Hall is the mother of two children, 11 and 7, who accompany her, along with her partner David, to the Wednesday night vigils.
Buck was born in 1990.
"I like Jonas," Hall laughed. "I've watched him grow."
Buck, who plays soccer, baseball and saxophone, says his friends at school are supportive of his anti-war efforts. He took part in last week's student rally downtown against the war and military recruiting efforts on campus. An estimated 1,000 people took part, many of whom were parents, college students and other adults besides the truant high schoolers.
Hall said she is appreciative of the freedom to protest.
"At our best," she said, "We are a pretty generous, open people who work hard and do the best we can. There is a sense of trying to live beyond the day and do the right thing."
Buck feels the same way.
"In other countries you can get killed for this," he said of their protests.
And yet, as far as doing the right thing goes, Hall is pretty specific: "Look at Jonas. He's in the ninth grade. People are going to see him. People might think: Maybe we should get off our butts."
Hall said, in the neighborhood spirit, the Wednesday night vigil group welcomes those with differing opinions.
""We're just a bunch of people. It's peaceful, respectful. We welcome dialogue."
Turner, an architect and the Friday night movie guy, echoes the neighborhood theme.
"Our goal was to connect the people in the neighborhood," he said of "Meaningful Movies." "To bring people together in the promotion of democracy."
Turner noted that too many neighbors merely glimpse each other when they are backing their cars out onto the street.
Turner has joined the vigil with the Wednesday night group, where Hall and Buck and the others brave the late-autumn elements.
Hall said one night someone brought by tea and scones. Neighborly, yes, but not quite to the point, she said: "It would have meant more if she had joined us."[[In-content Ad]]
