PORT JERVIS – More than 500 people participated in a peaceful march through Port Jervis on Saturday carrying signs of equal rights. It was one of several marches around the country to coincide with the march in Washington, DC, with hundreds of thousands sending a message that they are not happy with the President Donald Trump’s rhetoric.
The Port Jervis “sister march” included men, women and children of all ages, many carrying signs calling for unity and equality.
Coordinator Patti Baughman said the walk was non-partisan and was not meant to be in opposition to the new administration.
“We hope that we see a nation that comes together in unity over the next four years rather than a nation that is continually divided,” Baughman said.
Mayor Kelly Decker said his city welcomes everyone.
“We support people and their First Amendment rights just as we support anybody in their constitutional rights and it’s important, especially in the era of making sure that women and people of all races and creeds and colors are treated fairly,” Decker said.
Robert and Marilou Deitrich participated in the Walkway Over
the
Hudson march then drove to Port Jervis for that event
Robert and Marilou Dietrich of Middletown first drove to Poughkeepsie to participate in the sister march on the Walkway Over the Hudson and then drove to Port Jervis on the banks of the Neversink and Delaware rivers to participate in that city’s rally to show solidarity with other people.
“For health equity, for veterans and their rights, to support women and women’s rights, and all people, whether they are Muslims or migrants that are working hard here, or refuges coming in that need somewhere to go,” Robert Dietrich said.
As hundreds gathered outside St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Port Jervis preparing to march, a pickup truck drove by with a young man holding a Trump-Pence sign out the window while country and western music played on their radio.
