Posted on 01/11/2003 7:41:42 AM PST by Jennifer in Florida
Signs of the times
Group protests possible war with Iraq in front of U.S.
Army Secretary's home
Saturday, January 11, 2003
By DIANNA SMITH, dlsmith@naplesnews.com
John Bolan hadn't held a poster board above his head since 1969.
The last time Bolan stood among a sea of signs and joined chants through megaphones, he was 24 and determined to stop the Vietnam War from a small town in Pennsylvania.
On Friday, Bolan left his North Naples home and headed to Old Naples, where about 70 people spent two hours protesting a possible United States attack on Iraq.
He stood in front of a house owned by U.S. Army Secretary Thomas White and held white poster board with the phrase "War is not the answer" written on it in black marker.
Bolan, a certified public accountant, said the thought of a potential war angers him. So much that, after 34 years, he decided to protest one last time.
"This is a perfect target," Bolan, 58, said pointing at White's house. "I'm a CPA and Enron really devastated our profession last year. I think people in Naples should shun (White) and ask him to leave. It's immoral the way he got the money to build this."
White, who served as vice chairman of Enron Energy Services and as a member of Enron's management committee before his Army appointment in 2001, built the $4 million home on a $4.6 million parcel. His critics believe he should resign from President Bush's administration because of his connections to the energy company.
He received a certificate of occupancy from the city of Naples on Dec. 12. A certificate of occupancy is needed from a city building official before the owner is allowed to move into the home.
White was questioned by the Senate Commerce Committee during the summer and said he had no part in manipulating California energy prices and knew nothing of other improprieties while he helped run an Enron subsidiary.
Teacher Ian Harvey, the Collier County Anti-War Coalition and Pax Christi of Naples planned the peaceful protest outside 2 Gulf Shore Blvd. S., an upscale neighborhood filled with megahouses and sidewalks normally occupied by bicyclists and walkers on their way to the Gulf of Mexico.
Lorenzo and Gabrielle Cesari, who live in Europe most of the year, stood away from the group while studying the signs. Lorenzo Cesari, who wore a long-sleeved shirt with an American flag on it, said he was glad to see the protesters, even though he disagreed with their chants. The couple snapped photographs because they had never seen such a peaceful protest before.
"In Europe, people get noisy and block the road and destroy things," Lorenzo Cesari said over the sound of honking horns. "This is a free country. They have the right to protest."
Four Naples police officers kept watchful eyes as one woman tapped a tambourine against her leg, while Harvey hit a large, empty water cooler jug for a drum beat.
Harvey's wife, Cynthia Odierna-Harvey, rode up and down Gulf Shore Boulevard on a unicycle. While blowing a whistle and trying to keep her balance, she held a sign taped to a blue box lid that read, "The house that Enron Built. Our $$$."
Karen and John Dwyer of North Naples said they hoped to try to persuade White to avoid war, but White wasn't there to hear him.
The only car in the driveway was a vacated landscaping truck. White was not expected to be at the house for the event. Despite several rumors White has sold the house, he is still the owner of the property, according to the Collier County Property Appraiser's Office.
The Dwyers said it didn't matter that White wasn't there.
"It's symbolic," John Dwyer said. "We welcome him here. We'd like to convert him to believe in peace."
The Dwyers began the protest by planting three miraculous medals of Mary on three sides of the house, while praying that White and the Bush administration find a peaceful resolution to the problems in Iraq.
The protesters also hung ribbons from a tree on White's property, as well as cranes made of origami. The ribbons and cranes symbolize peace. Karen Dwyer said she received permission from the Naples police to place them in the tree.
Marilyn Longtine, who lives on Central Avenue, decided to join the protest after watching from afar. When she heard that White was building a megahouse near her home, she said she wasn't bothered by the plans for the large home like some of her neighbors were. She was bothered by White himself.
"The ordinary man feels this executive has walked away with their pension plans," Longtine said, pointing to the house and shaking her head. "I'm an ordinary man."
Protesters against the possible war on Iraq take a walk on the beach behind the home U.S. Army Secretary and former Enron executive Thomas White on Friday in Old Naples. Pax Christi, an international Catholic peace organization and the Collier County Anti-War Coalition organized the event that was held to send a message to President George W. Bush to "step back from the brink of war." Lexey Swall/Staff
Archie Goodwin, 80, a former radio gunner on a B-25 bomber in World War II and a member of the national Veterans For Peace organization talks with Naples resident Tim Fanning, 23, during a protest against the possible war on Iraq on Friday in front of the home of U.S. Army Secretary and former Enron executive Thomas White at the corner of Central Avenue and Gulf Shore Boulevard in Old Naples. Lexey Swall/Staff
Cynthia Odierna-Harvey rides a unicycle and blows a whistle while holding a sign that reads, "the house that Enron built: our $$$" during a protest against the possible war on Iraq on Friday in front of the home of U.S. Army Secretary and former Enron executive Thomas White at the corner of Central Avenue and Gulf Shore Boulevard in Old Naples. About 70 people showed up with signs and noise makers. Odierna-Harvey, a member of the Collier County Anti-War Coalition, said, "Protesting seems to be the only way to get around the censorship of the news and to show that, no, not all Americans are united for war." Lexey Swall/Staff
This is absolutely outrageous.
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