Issue Date: Thursday April 16,2009
Tea bags hung from the umbrellas and eyeglasses of protestors at the Morgantown Tea Party that brought out more than 300 people Wednesday, April 15.
The group, which met downtown in courthouse square, were part of a national trend protesting the stimulus package and bailouts.
"We are loosely fitted, grassroot folks," said Cindy Frich, an organizer of the protest.
This was the first Morgantown Tea Party, and Frich said she believes this was only the first of the town's tea parties.
The organizers put the tea party together in just a few weeks, she said. There were tea parties in other towns in February and March, but Frich said that Wednesday, tax day, more than 800 cities nationwide protested.
A petition and declaration of grievances were available for protestors to sign.
"We have a petition to sign to send to our politicians in Washington, D.C., to tell them that we are tired of the stimulus packages and the bailouts and that we vow to vote and to not vote for the lesser of the two evils," Frich said.
The petition filled quickly, leaving people to sign the backs of already signed papers. The protestors gathered, hoping to draw a line on outrageous spending.
"Listen to us, and stop. We are going to hold you accountable," Frich said to politicians. There was a diverse group of people who listened to the speakers.
"You are looking at two people who are in their 70s ... We have worked, we are still working, trying to provide for our retirement and our family," said Don Poluszek, a former teacher and West Virginia University football coach, who was there with his wife.
He was upset over the ups and downs of the stock market, making him lose six figures worth of investments.
"But when the government makes decisions, it makes the stock market do what it's doing," he said.
The dreary weather did not damper the spirits of protestors.
"We are like the little tea party that could," Frich said. "We have had so many road blocks, and we've kept moving."
Social networking sites were used to advertise for the Morgantown Tea Party as well as hand-made signs posted around town, letters to the editor in newspapers and radio advertisements.
"We must return to the founding principles of our country," said Christopher Coyne, a professor at WVU's College of Business and Economics. "I ask my students how many have read the Constitution. Out of 100, one or two raise their hands."
He believes going back to the basics will bring about prosperity.
"That is ultimately what makes us the great nation that we are," Coyne said.
Frich said it was a chance for protestors to raise their voices "against arrogance and ruinous policies" in Washington.
"We are freedom-loving Americans who cherish individual liberty. Our Constitution and all this nation has stood for for over 233 years. We love our country, and we are here to take it back," Frich said.
marli.riegs(2taail. wvu.edu
Copyright © 2006 The Daily Athenaeum, West Virginia University. All rights reserved.