TEA Party packs Bomber Stadium
In spite of the humidity and overcast sky, Saturday's TEA Party - Taxed Enough Already - drew hundreds of people, far more than the first TEA Party did on the Mountain Home square on April 15. While most of the bleachers were filled, many people sat in chairs they'd brought in front of the stands and others stood throughout the program. Organizers Richard Caster and Chris Tuthill seemed pleased and excited by the high turnout.
There was lots of red, white and blue, from flags to T-shirts and signs that expressed an array of feelings, largely anti-tax, anti-Obama and
pro-American. Beside the stage on the track in front of the bleachers sat an empty table which had been reserved for members of Arkansas' Washington
delegation who had been invited to the event.
Baxter County's own state Sen. Johnny Key and state Rep. Karen Hopper were on hand, although they didn't speak as part of the two-hour program.
Audience members cheered and applauded speakers as they voiced patriotic sentiments. Caster, taking the stage to the strains of Neil Diamond's
"Coming to America," said it's great that Americans, whether Democrat or Republican, can come together in such events to voice their feelings
and concerns.
"America's still that shining city on the hill that Ronald Reagan said she was," Caster told the audience.
In honor of Independence Day, Caster read from the Declaration of Independence as "Battle Hymn of the Republic" played in the background and
received a loud round of applause and cheers.
I will post an actual account when I get one. But it was larger than Memorial and we had 1,500 for that one. . It was great. I will upload the pictures
I took.
