ESTES PARK, CO. – Despite a stiff wind that made the 40-degree temperature feel more like 25 degrees, more than 600 protesters lined West Elkhorn Avenue in Estes Park Saturday morning in solidarity with the nationwide No Kings protests taking place across the country today.
Organizers estimate that 2,500 rallies with millions of protesters and activists are occurring today from coast to coast. This is the fourth No Kings event organized by a coalition of more than 200 organizations, including the Indivisible Project, American Civil Liberties Union, Service Employees International Union, American Federation of Teachers, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, MoveOn, Public Citizen, 50501, and the Third Act Movement.
In Estes Park, a community of nearly 12,000 residents that hosts more than 4 million visitors to Rocky Mountain National Park annually, protestors were particularly sensitive about the government shutdown and the furlough of family members and neighbors who work in Rocky, one of the state’s four national parks.
One protestor’s sign sported the face of an angry Smokey the Bear and read, “Remember only you can prevent fascism.”
The demonstration had a festival feel with drumming and singing, and many people showed up in inflatable costumes, including an American eagle, a bear, a hippopotamus, a dinosaur, a dragon, and Brimmy and Kenny McCormick from South Park.
Handheld signs drawn on cardboard from old Amazon boxes and poster board signs attached to wooden sticks were abundant. Many of the signs sported cheeky puns, including “it’s a Trumpster fire,” and “No faux king way.”
A gust of wind swept one protester off her feet. As people reached out to help stand back up, she commented that her sign felt like a kite or the sail on a boat. Another sign that took advantage of the wind was decorated in patriotic colors with two pinwheels and read, “Peaceful protest is not insurrection or rioting.”
Wally and Melissa Wood of Estes Park stood near the corner of East Elkhorn and Virginia Drive with a banner that read “Honk if U R not in the Epstein Files.” Another protester walked through the crowd with a cardboard bankers box with a sign that read “Epstein Files.”
There were signs supporting the furloughed federal employees who work for the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service in the Estes Valley area. Many signs were done in red, white, and blue colors, some with motifs of stars, American flags, and images of Uncle Sam. One woman wearing star-spangled novelty eyewear held a sign that read, “Hope, joy, love, no kings, no tyrants, no dictators,” as she passed out small American flags and flowers.
Nancy Kixmiller, a retired middle school instrumental and vocal music teacher, put images of her father dressed in his navy uniform and the men on his ship, with the words, “They saved us in WWII…it’s our turn: Protect the Constitution!”
While the majority of the protesters were adults 60 and older in a community whose demographics are 40% 65 and older, there were many young families with kids in the crowd.
One mom with two kids held a sign featuring Sesame Street’s Big Bird holding a “Resist!” sign, and one of her children held a poster with the No Kings logo on a hand-colored rainbow background. Quite a few protesters had their dogs in tow.
To stave off the biting wind, people dressed in winter coats, gloves, and hats, including pink pussy hats, which became emblematic of the January 2017 Women’s March that took place in Washington, D.C., and cities across the country.
Joy Bryant, who wore a burgundy velvet top hat decorated with flowers reminiscent of the era of the suffragettes, held a sign with a pointing finger that read, “Granny says fix our country.”
References to concerns about tyranny, fascism, and the loss of democracy in America were common sign themes. One protestor’s sign asked, “Have you seen my Auntie Fa?” Several protestors wore hats that riffed on the red MAGA hat, “Make lying wrong again,” and a few signs expressed concerns about the actions of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The Estes Park event came off without incidents or a visible presence of local, county, or federal law enforcement.
In the background of the two-hour protest, workers on a cherry picker strung lights on evergreen trees in Bond Park in preparation for the Town’s Catch the Glow holiday festivities set to begin in five weeks.
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