Defend Democracy Rally/ Supporting Military Families

Come Join us for our 12th consecutive rally to Defend Democracy in beautiful downtown Bethel. While our overall theme is Defending Democracy, each week we pick a specific focus. On Saturday May 24th, 11am -12:30pm, our focus will be on Supporting Military Families’ Service and Sacrifice. 

We will be honoring the service and sacrifice of the members of our active duty Armed Forces and their families.  As it is Memorial Day Weekend we will also be paying tribute to those who paid the ultimate price in service to this country.  

We will highlight some of the issues military families face including food insecurity, obtaining mental health services for the service member and their spouse, and cuts in experienced high ranking officers leaving troops without appropriate leadership.

Vietnam veteran Jean-Paul Trudel  , who experienced firsthand, the loss of friends and brothers in arms, will be our guest speaker.

Several live musical selections will be performed by Barry Saroff.   Lorraine Behrens McGuire  will lead a sing-a-long of God Bless America.

The rally is non-partisian. All are welcome.

There will be something for everyone. We'll have speakers, we'll rally with our signs, we'll take a short march and we'll have live music. We also like to end each week with a sing-a-long.

A sign-making table will also be available, complete with all the necessary supplies, for young and old to make signs for the rally.

We also collect a non-perishable food item for our local food pantry each week.  Some special requests from the food pantry:

-  Spices, Coffee and Baking supplies are always needed.

-   Individually packaged items. so if you bought a variety pack of something like granola bars or instant oatmeal and discovered there's a flavor you won't eat, please give us the individual packs out of box.

-  Empty egg cartons- Any style, so long as they're clean.

-  SMALL empty detergent bottles

Note: Rally is rain or shine.

There are 2 small benches at the square and we will have a limited number of camping chairs. Please bring your own lawn or camping chair if you'd like.

We also ask that you park at one of the four public parking lots. The lot that is very close to the rally location, PT Barnum Square, is behind the municipal center (number 1 on the attached map). PT Barnum Square is the triangle shaped area to the far right on the map and in the center of the map.

Although all street parking is public, we ask that you please do not park in the limited parking spots in front of our local businesses, but definitely enjoy our beautiful towns restaurants and shops after the rally! 

Thank you