About 50 anti-war demonstrators took part in a protest on the Casco Bay Bridge on Sunday evening, March 12, marking the third anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq. The event, called Lights in the Darkness, featured participants spanning the bridge holding candles, lanterns and anti-war signs. Paper lanterns were set up on the walkway barricade, from the Portland end of the bridge to about the drawbridge section. Many motorists honked their horns in support of the demonstration, but one motorist headed toward South Portland yelled at the demonstrators in opposition to their actions.
Dexter Kamilewicz, an independent candidate for Congress from Maine’s 1st District, who is calling for an unconditional US troop withdrawal from Iraq, was in attendance at the protest. His son, Benjamin, is currently serving in Iraq with the Vermont National Guard.
The event was organized by West End State Representative John Eder. Another peace demonstration is scheduled to take place on the bridge on Sunday, March 19th, from noon to 2:00 p.m., starting at the South Portland side and stretching across to Portland. The group sponsoring that event has been holding vigils on the bridge since before the war began. Every year on the anniversary, they have expanded their usual one-hour Sunday vigil to two hours and have been joined by about a hundred people in the Portland area, and others on bridges across the state of Maine. For more information, contact Joie Grandbois-Gallup, jgrandbois@gwi.net or 207-671-4292
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