More than 320 people from surrounding communities took part in the Hands Off protest march in Mount Vernon and Lisbon Saturday, April 5.
Walkers took off from Lincoln Square Park in Lisbon and from the First Street Community Center in Mount Vernon and met at a spot towards the middle of both communities to voice frustration with decisions made by the Trump organization. Roughly 60 attended the march in Lisbon, while more than 260 people walked from the First Street Community Center to the gazebo in rural Lisbon, utilizing the sidewalks and walking paths for pedestrians.
Arlie Willems, with Voices United of Rural Linn County, helped to organize the event, and was extremely happy with the turnout for the event. Voices United of rural Linn County will have their next meeting at Whitey’s on Wednesday, April 30. More information can be found on the group’s Facebook page.
Communities represented in the walk included Anamosa, Mount Vernon, Lisbon, Martelle, Bertram, Ely, Mechanicsville, West Branch, Monticello, Cascade, Morley, Cedar Rapids, Solon and Cedar Bluff. Organizers as well thanked the Cornell College students who showed up for the event.
All ages of people participated in the event, holding signs for areas of cuts that they are not happy with. Mount Vernon mayor Tom Wieseler commended the turnout for this event.
“This is what Democracy looks like in action,” Wieseler said.
Wieseler said one of the areas he was frustrated with himself were tariffs, which were already impacting his retirement earnings with the stock market dip.
Another speaker reminded citizens this wasn’t a liberal or conservative issue, that many of the decisions made in Washington impact all citizens in the communities.
While many motorists did honk horns in favor of those walking in protest along the route, there were a few other voices who disagreed with the protest march that voiced opinions as they drove by.