 "Photo: Nathaniel LaRue")
 "Photo: Nathaniel LaRue")
An event planned on a whim brought big results for one K-State student Wednesday.
One night in March, Matt Pennell, freshman in secondary education, decided to set up a Tax Day Tea Party protesting excessive government spending, and a month later, several hundred protesters gathered at the Riley County Courthouse with him.
"I just decided one night to do it and posted it on taxdayteaparty.com, and it just went from there," Pennell said. "The night I decided to do this, I thought that 40 people would be a success."
Instead, between 300 and 400 people arrived Wednesday afternoon to listen to speeches, hold protest signs and throw tea bags into a stock tank labeled "Boston Harbor." Kansas Rep. Richard Carlson, R-St. Marys, and Dick Miller, the 2008 Republican candidate for District 67, which includes Riley County, spoke to the crowd.
"We had people from western Kansas, all the way from Hays, to people from the far northeast corner of Kansas," Miller said.
Each of the organizers emphasized the grassroots nature of the event. There was no sponsoring organization, the planning was low-key and information was spread mostly over the Internet and word of mouth.
"I know Dick [Miller] and worked with him on the election; he saw the announcement on the Web site and called me about it," Pennell said.
Local residents protested a myriad of recent actions by the federal government, bringing signs, flags and props to make their point.
"I want to send a message to Washington: No more, stop the pork," said Ron Stupfer, a Manhattan resident who had a large stuffed pig strapped on his shoulder.
Pennell said he is planning more events for the future, as well as setting up a Wordpress blog. Though there is no set schedule, he said he hopes to have another event in June and another on Independence Day.
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11 comments
A democratic congress is what got us into this mess, not Bush.