Montgomery County residents plan to hold a rally on Nov. 29 on the north end of Montgomery City to stand up for the issues the county – as well as the United States – have been facing for the last several months.

The event, which is called “We The People, Feed The People,” is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at a small park on North Sturgeon Street, next to Get Wet Car Wash. It will also include a food drive in which non-perishable foods or items will be sent to either Crisis Closet or Reach Church. Funds can also be donated and they will go to the Montgomery County Senior Center for the emergency packs.

Ten county residents gathered at the community room of the Montgomery City Public Library in the evening of Nov. 11 to discuss the plans for the rally/food drive, which is sponsored by the Montgomery County Democratic Party. They were Holly Bishop, Jim Braun, Laura Burnham, Christine DeTienne, Peggy Edwards, Gary Garufi, Jim Guffie, Cathy Powell Nickens and Laurie and Richard Sippel.

Burnham, a Bellflower resident, said this event is based loosely on the No Kings Movement, which is a series of protests that focused on being against authoritarianism and promoting democracy.

“The whole idea behind all of this is to just show that we care about our neighbors,” Burnham said. “We’re concerned about their issues, like the farmers who are having trouble and the people who are having trouble getting SNAP benefits. There are so many issues that we care about.”

Burnham said she hopes the rally will be a peaceful one. When she recently posted the notice about the rally on social media, she received not-so-positive comments.

“When I first put it on Facebook, we had a lot of negative you-know-whats who wanted to behead me and God knows what,” Burnham said.

A month ago, Nickens, who lives outside of Montgomery City, met Burnham and Sippel at the No Kings rally in Hermann.

“I said, “You’re Democrats. Can we do something like this here?’ I called and texted people. It wasn’t just me, but we all talked about it and we had 20 something people show that night instead of three,” Nickens said. “We’re old women. They can call us geriatric hippies, but we have to make a change.”

Now, the three residents are teaming up to fight for not only what they think it’s right for the county, but for the problems this country has faced, such as the recent government shutdown and Medicare being cut. 

“We’ve been running on fear,” Nickens said. “People have been hiding under bushes and under rocks as Democrats in this county for at least 20 years and it’s wrong.”

In case of inclement weather, the event will be moved to Dec. 6. There will be a 48-hour cancellation notice. 

Also, visitors are suggested not to park at Bratchers Market and cross the street to go to the rally because of the risk of getting hurt. They can park at the Montgomery City Hall parking lot.