The people of Orange County are obviously concerned. The MSM and County commissioners were no shows. Suppose they had more important places to be.
Here are some(not so good) pictures to at least prove it happened. Cars were lined up getting into Hillsborough and people streamed in throughout the hour.
Plenty of signs and US Flags.
Some really good speakers.
More signs.
And early on walking in there were lots of folks lining the street. Cars were constantly honking their horns in support.
Here is a report from Free Republic:
15 April 2009 | TQC
Posted on Wednesday, April 15, 2009 10:53:29 PM by Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus
The Tea Party in Hillsborough was awesome tonight!
The weather cooperated. It initially looked like we might get some rain, but it held off until after the Party was over.
The estimation of crowd size is at least 500. Pretty good for a county which went for Obama 72%-27%, and for having only really planned for about two weeks (some TPs were nearly two months in planning). There was a lot of excitement, and standing room only on the grounds of the old Courthouse there in Hillsborough. We have originally thought we’d only have 200-250, but those numbers were quite obviously blown away.
People started showing up around 4:00 PM due to a mix up with the information that the national Tax Day Tea Party had posted. I had sent in the correct information (5:30-6:30), but it took them over a week to update it, which resulted in some confusion. Nevertheless, folks who showed up started mingling and carrying signs and were working the through traffic (courthouse is located right in downtown Hillsborough – prime traffic time, too). LOTS of people driving by were honking, many of them quite vigourously. I was surprised by the number of blacks and young people who honked and gave thumbs up, etc. – two demographics who supposedly have completely drank the Obama koolaid….maybe the magic’s starting to wear off, even for them?
Only had a couple of lefties driving by who shouted or challenged us. I heard (but didn’t see) that somebody flipped off some of our protestors, but all in all, the lefties (and we know they were there and driving by) seemed pretty cowed and subdued by our presence.
Had several speakers who addressed the crowd. Ben Lloyd (registered Democrat, but conservative), a former Orange Co. commissioner, spoke first, followed by yours truly, then Karen Pollock, a local businesswoman spoke. Bill Knight, the Orange Co. GOP chairman, gave a folksy yet rousing speech, and then the keynote speaker, Tom Fetzer (conservative former mayor of Raleigh) gave an EXCELLENT, bang up speech about how we need to be willing to sacrifice and work if we want to get our freedom’s back (something the whiny, third-party loving ego-tripping runaways here on Free Republic could stand to have heard).
The event culminated with nearly all 500+ people in attendance dumping out bottles of tea onto the grounds of the courthouse (good thing it rained after the Party).
Overall, lots of excitement, and a general sense that this Tea Party can’t be where it ends, but that we have to keep fighting, keep networking, and keep putting pressure on the politicians every chance and every way we get.
TQC out.
Folks are genuinely concerned about the burden being passed on to the next generations of Americans. The speakers placed blame and shame on Democrats and Republicans. At National, State, County and local levels.
At orange county level there is a real concerned about how much tax burden is placed on property owners and the lack of diversity in the tax base. There is concern about the cost of projects and spending by the Orange County commissioners. One of the speeches addressed the human services costs of unauthorized immigrants in the county. Why does the government keep spending when the rest of us are having to cut back?
The Party ended with a reminder that everyone needs to get involved. Not to leave the event and forget. It is up to “we the people” to tell our elected officials how to spend our money — not the other way around.
Why is the County going to hire someone for $40,000 plus benefits to answer a technology helpdesk phone?
There is 15 people in that department, why cannot they take turns answering the phone? The library does this.
Good question. Best way to find out is call or email the county manager. Here is a link for orange county contact info http://www.co.orange.nc.us/contact.htm#depthead .
Here is specific info for county manager Blackmon, Laura County Manager 245-2300 lblackmon@co.orange.nc.us . Let us know what you hear. Sounds like a great idea. May the county should set up a website page for other great ideas!