Tea Partiers gather in Havelock

HAVELOCK — While a Tea Party gathering Saturday did not spill over in the Havelock City Park, those who attended were seeped in their philosophy.

By starting time at 4 p.m. just over 50 people were in attendance at the Labor Day weekend event. The gathering was scheduled to end at 8 p.m.

John McClurkin of New Bern said he came to show support for the Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association of Craven, Pamlico and Jones Counties.

Wearing an NRA T-shirt, McClurkin that at least two people, including his wife who attended with him, want to show that he supports the effort. “We want people to know that we agree with the philosophy even if we don’t take an active part.”

The focus for Saturday’s event, according to organizer Lynn Childs, was taxes, jobs, the economy, immigration, amnesty and voting responsibility.

Jeff Lewis of the N.C. Federal Immigration Reform and Coalition, speaking to the gathering, said immigration does not need comprehensive reform: “We need enforcement of the laws. We must remember that immigration policies did not start or will they end with the Obama administration.”

“We are not a democracy, but a republic. Democracy put Obama in office,” he said.

Howard Garner was taking in the U.S. flags people grasped in their hands, and the people in their Tea Party T-shirts. He said he drove from his Newport home for two reasons: “I want to see our government return to the constitutional principles and stop the overspending.”

Hilda Sawyer of Bayboro and her husband Dwight said she is afraid of what the country might become if it doesn’t return to the values on which it was founded.

One of the signs read: “Evil prevails when good men do nothing.”

Norm Sanderson said he hoped the gathering would bring people together to express how the government is going. Sanderson is a Republican running for the District 3 N.C. House seat held by Democrat Alice Underhill. He lives in Arapahoe.

“People don’t think anyone is listening to them. Many people think the nation is frozen. The people here are excited about turning our state around in order for it to be the best state in the nation,” Sanderson said.

“The main media think that we are a group who shouldn’t be taken seriously,” said Dale Williams of Lowland. “Members of Congress think so as well. They might just get a surprise in November.”

Francine Sawyer can be reached at 252-635-5671 or at fsawyer@freedomenc.com