Spirits were high at the Valparaiso No Kings protest Saturday morning. By the 11 a.m. start time, about three dozen people had gathered on each of the north corners of the courthouse square.
It was part of a nationwide effort to put the spotlight on getting out the vote during the general election season, which began Oct. 6 with early voting in Porter County and the rest of Indiana. Lots of cars honked in support on the crisp, sunny downtown.
“I’m high on democracy!” said Mike Lowe, who created 203 signs for the event that read “Vote” in blue letters on a white background. “But 2,000 prior to that were No Kings signs,” said his friend Paul Schreiner, of Valparaiso. The two men are with Valpo Resistance, which sponsored the event.
“This has been a very grassroots organization. We got together in my garage,” Schreiner said of the first sign-making session. “The signs end up costing us about $2 apiece and they’re all paid for by donations.”
Others brought their own signs, which carried such slogans as “Make America Trumpless Again!” “Don’t tread on me, but by all means tread on everybody else!” and “End Corruption, Cruelty, and Chaos! Vote.”
Mother and son Barb and Nick Smith, of South Haven and Valparaiso, respectively, held a sign that read “No sign is big enough to list all the reasons I’m here.” “My daughter made this for the last rally,” said Barb before a grandma approached them and asked if she could take a picture with them and their signs to send to her grandchildren.
The Smiths said they have been to several No Kings protests and attended Saturday out of a need to speak out and support their fellow man. “Just the general rise in fascism and rise in authoritarianism,” added Nick. “I think it’s important the people seeing this rise don’t feel like it’s them against the world.”
Barb said it was important to “protest against the lies of this administration” and is concerned the United States doesn’t cause a world war. “What’s wrong with loving?” she asked. “You don’t have to like everything, but you can be kind and caring.”
Though there is a limit to the lovefest in her mind. “I don’t like that Trump and Putin are so friendly,” she said.
In front of her Jen, who didn’t want to give her last name, was taking song requests to play on her portable speaker. The Chesterton resident played “This Land is Your Land” and “People Have the Power” as the crowd began to swell.
The vast majority of the crowd were seniors, but seven-year-old Oliver Lembcke, of Valparaiso, was probably the youngest in attendance. Already an old pro with his handmade sign that read “Veterans Don’t Vote for Trump,” he’s probably been to eight protests so far.
“We’ve gone to all of the No Kings protests and some of the Saturday protests,” said his mom Brittany Lembcke. Her mom Kathleen Gallion, of Burns Harbor, typically joins them.
“I think a lot of the old people are out because of Social Security that is pushed,” Gallion said, “and the young people don’t realize the changes that are coming for them just because it hasn’t affected them yet.”
Behind her, Patricia Grey, of Valparaiso, had set up a small table with early voting information. “I’m doing this as a private citizen because the focus of the protest was voting rights,” she said. “This type of event, most of the people have already voted.”
But, she said, they were still taking information home for friends and relatives.
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Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.