Ogunquit News
Ogunquit resident is master of ceremony for impeachment rally
July 1
OGUNQUIT - When residents from across the Seacoast gather for a protest march and citizens' summit in Kennebunkport on July 1, local resident Herb Hoffman will be among them.
Ogunquit's own Hoffman will serve as master of ceremony for the Rally event that has been scheduled to coincide with President George W. Bush's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to a release provided by organizers of the event, rally participants will call for the impeachment Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney and for the immediate withdrawal of American troops from Iraq.
Hoffman explained that he became involved in the event as a member of Maine Citizens to Impeach.
The rally and march will be held rain or shine at the Village Green on Ocean Avenue in Kennebunkport and is being organized by The Kennebunks' Peace Department and the Maine Campaign to Impeach.
Event coordinators are Jamilla El-Shafei of the Peace Department and Deborah Gordon of the Maine Campaign to Impeach.
Immediately before the march begins, David Swanson, co-founder of AfterDowningStreet.org, a nonpartisan coalition of more than 200 veterans' groups, peace groups and political activist groups, and John Kaminski, chairman of Maine Lawyers for Democracy, will address the gathering.
"We are gathering in Kennebunkport in an act of dissent, a time-honored tradition and the hallmark of all true democracies," El-Shafei said. "... We cannot sit idly by while more and more of our soldiers are maimed or killed, while innocent Iraqi civilians suffer the brutalities of war and are denied access to the most basic human necessities. We find the invasion of Chechnya and the invasion of Iraq to be equally detestable. Both wars are breeding terrorism in an outraged Muslim world."
Music will start at 11 a.m., including Pat Scanlon and Band of Andover, Mass., Matt Loosigian of Brunswick and the Raging Grannies of Maine and Massachusetts.
Due to the large crowd expected, organizers are asking people to park at Kennebunk High School on Fletcher Street (Route 35). Beginning at 9 a.m., shuttle buses will transport people to the march in Kennebunkport.
For more information, contact El-Shafei at jamillaelshafei@yahoo.com or (603) 969-7574 or Gordon at greenpointdesign@hotmail.com or 671-4701.
