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Day 1-Wednesday
Occupy Ashland begins
<i>Weather: Mostly rainy skies. High 54, Low 45</i>
With a sign reading: “The banks are picking your leaders — Occupy Ashland,” about 15 demonstrators stand in front of Ashland’s Chase Bank and hear Robbie Lindauer of Ashland say: “This is how it all starts. We have the numbers. We are the 99 percent.”
From left, Robbie Lindauer, Mark Arinsberg and Todd Ellis protest. -
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Occupy Ashland
Highlights of the Ashland Occupation -
Day 2-Thursday
National protest hits Ashland
<i>Weather: Cloudy skies. High 60, Low 39</i>
About 250 people gather on the Ashland Plaza to hear State Rep. Peter Buckley, D-Ashland, open the planned two-day protest with a 15-minute speech. Participants are asked to sign a pledge: “The people will not stand silent any longer. The time has come to resist.” The crowd dwindles to about 75 by evening. About 15 protesters stay overnight. KSKQ 89.95 FM hosts a live broadcast.
Gloria Longhi, 88, of Ashland, joined the protest. -
Day 3-Friday
<i>Weather: Mostly cloudy skies. High 66, Low 45</i>
About 40 people gather for the rally’s final scheduled day. A group of 25 march from the Plaza to Ashland’s Chase Bank. Protesters cooperate when Ashland police ask them to keep the path clear. An Occupy Ashland Facebook page debuts, since gathering 25 statements with comments a day.
About 75 people attend the general assembly and 12 people stay overnight as police patrol throughout the night. -
Day 4-Saturday
<i>Weather: Mostly sunny skies. High 72, Low 41</i>
About 30 protesters hand out pamphlets to passersby and wave picket signs. The general assembly draws about 25 people.
About eight people stay overnight at the Plaza. “It feels like it is all a part of something even bigger than most of us can even really picture,” says Vanessa Houk, protester and publisher of Ashland Free Press. -
Day 5-Sunday
<i>Weather: Mostly sunny skies, some rain during night. High 73, Low 43</i>
Daytime occupation drops but plans to end the overnight occupations change at the general assembly and six protesters stay. Rumors circulate that Rogue Valley Federal Credit Union, which Chase Bank protesters support, had a spike in new accounts on Friday. “I just can’t believe what’s happening to our country,” says Vietnam war and Occupy Ashland protester Kit Schneider, 70, “We haven’t learned anything in 50 years.” -
Day 6-Monday
<i>Weather: Rain. High 70, Low 54 </i>
Protesters staying overnight again express frustration over a lack of support. There is a high of about 30 throughout the day, the general assembly draws about 50 and three stay overnight. The group establishes a treasury to accept $40 in donations and creates the website www.occupyashlandoregon.org.
Posts Will Barondeau: “If you honk as you drive through Ashland, great. If you Occupy Alba Park on Saturday, great. If we have your solidarity, great.” -
Day 7-Tuesday
'We'll stay as long as we need to stay'
<i>Weather: Mostly sunny. High 71, Low 48</i>
A group of 10 march two blocks from the Plaza to join forces with 10 protesters in front of Chase Bank where they play music, chant and wave signs. About 20 people attend the general assembly and 30 occupy the Plaza throughout the day. Only Keith Haxton, 22, of Ashland, an organizer of Occupy Ashland and a member of Phronesis, stays over night. He says: “I’ve always resisted an end to the overnight occupations.” Robbie Lindauer and others protest. -
Day 8-Wednesday
<i>Weather: Mostly sunny. High 63, Low 40</i>
Participation numbers hold steady, but the group reads on Facebook: “Just so you all know this Occupation ended at 9 pm Friday according to Channel 10 News! Let’s let them know what’s really going on!” SOU students ask Channel 5 to retract a statement that “students are apathetic to the Occupy Ashland.” Protester Liz Maltsberger, 45, of Ashland, says, “The people doing this are smart, thoughtful and very hard working." -
Day 9-Thursday
<i>Weather: Mostly sunny. High 70, Low 40 </i>
Requests for big plastic bins for dirty dishes and volunteers to wash and return dishes solves the problem of using the nearby water fountain. The power is turned out in the Plaza, leaving protesters in the dark. and reporting increased police patrols. About eight protesters stay through the night. -
Day 10-Friday
<i>Weather: Sunny. High 79, Low 44</i>
About 30 protest through the day and attend the general assembly; eight stay overnight. Occupy Ashland's treasury has about $150 in donations. When Kai Lewis-Kelly is asked where he lives, he points to the ground of the Plaza and says, “I live here now.” Cometmom posts on the Mail Tribune website: “How many of these ‘protesters’ work for these greedy companies? ...These millionaire actors that are giving ‘support’ to the protesters? -
Day 11-Saturday
<i>Weather: Sunny. High 80, Low 50</i>
Learning from Ashland and other community rallies around the world, organizers of Occupy Medford prepared for their rally at Alba Park by working out trash and porta-potties issues, and delegating volunteers to handle media inquiries. Ashland protesters conceive a migration plan to Alba Park. Police estimate 200 attend. About 50 Occupy Ashland protesters return to the Plaza for the general assembly. Six stay overnight. -
Day 12-Sunday
<i>Weather: Mostly sunny. High 77, Low 48</i>
About 25 attend the general assembly and four people stay overnight. Food donors -- including Greenleaf, Mix, Martolis, Grilla Bites, Food Angels and “Kathy for vegan egg salad sandwiches” -- are thanked via Facebook as are the Ashland police, Ashland Congregational Church, Ashland Parks Department workers “as well as all of the anonymous folks who quietly saw a need and filled it in these last (almost) two weeks.” -
Day 13-Monday
<i>Weather: Sunny. High 78, Low 40</i>
About 30 protesters spend time at the Plaza and attend the general assemble. Some walk to City Council Chambers with musical instruments. Eight stay overnight. Wish list postings note the need for dry erase boards and supplies to clean the Plaza. -
Day 14-Tuesday
<i>Weather: Sunny. High 83, Low 41</i>
About 35 arrive during the day, 20 attend the general assembly and five stay overnight. The group reads its entry in Wikipedia: “Occupy Ashland is a peaceful protest against economic inequality, corporate greed and the influence of corporations and lobbyists on government." Chase Bank protest organizer Lindauer posts: “Unfortunately I won’t be able to Occupy Ashland at Chase every day for a while. I hope someone can take over there.” -
Day 15-Wednesday
<i>Weather: Mostly sunny. High 75, Low 48</i>
About 25 protest and attend the general assembly and six stay overnight. Protesters adopt Occupy Ashland Oregon Statement of Intent. “We, the 99% are united in discussion and positive action to create a world where we are free from all tyrannies...” Frequent Facebook contributor Vanessa Martynse Houk posts that the Ashland police “will be much more heavy handed in issuing citations for anyone caught sleeping. ...Stepping up our nightwatch is key." -
Day 16-Thursday
<i>Weather: Mostly sunny. High 72, Low 43</i>
There is a high of 50 people throughout the day and 45 people attend an Occupy Ashland protest potluck in SOU's Stevenson Union building. Six stay over night. Mail Tribune website reader Kelly Pierce Pegoda posts: “I want to know what standing around holding signs is really going to accomplish. I hate what’s happening ... but I have a job and a life and standing on a corner is NOT doing anything. There has to be a more productive way." -
Day 17-Friday
<i>Weather: Partly cloudy. High 72, Low 42 </i>
Turnout is low at the general assembly, so no proposals are voted on. Longtime occupier Kai Lewis-Kelly explains that he can't attend because he has to "do some self-care for recovering from bronchial issues." But he posts on Facebook his opposition to ending the nighttime occupation and his support of making the occupation nomadic. -
Day 18-Saturday
Protests prompt moves to credit unions
<i>Weather: Mostly sunny. High 75, Low 42</i>
The general assemblies will change from nightly to meets in the Ashland Plaza starting at 2 p.m. Saturday and 6 p.m. Wednesdays. The Facebook page drops to 238 members. from a high of about 300, One occupier opines on Facebook "sitting in occupation, 4-5;30 AM, listening to snoring while the town gets resupplied and waits for Starbucks to open. peaceful." One of the posted comments objects to the coffee corportation. -
Day 19-Sunday
<i>Weather: Mostly sunny. High 75, Low 40</i>
The treasury has $418. Protester Karen Jeffery posts on the group's Facebook page: "Occupy Wall Street was predicted to be just another short-term protest. But it took flight and has altered the national and global conversation. Athough the goals remain intentionally undefined, its impact has been profound." -
Day 20-Monday
<i>Weather : High 64, Low 41</i>
Invitations to protest in other cities are piling up on Ashland Occupiers’ calendars: The Occupy Medford group will gather this Tuesday and Thursday at Vogel Plaza. Occupy Your Capitol National Event is at the Salem Oregon State Capitol Building Oct. 29. Nov. 1, there will be a reading of foreclosures on the Jackson Courthouse steps. Nov. 5 is National Move Your Money Day, a bank walkout. Two people stay overnight.
Photo of chalk art in Ashland Plaza -
Day 21-Tuesday
<i>Weather: High of 62, Low 31</I>
A Facebook posting in the early morning announces an upcoming encampment without the date, time and place, and asks for donations. A squabble erupts about who still possesses sleeping bags. A few protesters wonder if "Ashland has the population to support an occupation" and suggests daytime protests. -
Day 22-Wednesday
<i>Weather: High 66, Low 27</I>
Vanessa Martynse Houk posts on Facebook that she spent the early mornings alone on the Plaza. "It's supposed to be dropping to 30 degrees each night now so we might not even have any homeless folks around," she says. At the general assembly, the group discusses an "escape clause" in case they can't muster enough bodies for an impressive encampment next week. -
Day 23-Thursday
<i>Weather: High 66, Low 32</i>
The cost to print 1,000 new color Move Your Money brochures ($291) will be divided by Occupy Ashland, Occupy Medford and Jobs with Justice. The hat was passed at last night's general assembly and Occupy Ashland's needed $97 was collected. -
Day 24-Friday
Police clear the Plaza of tables and signs this morning when no Occupiers are on site. The group plans an artistic candlelight anarchy ceremony and potluck in the Plaza from 7 p.m. "until we go home" to celebrate the stable condition of a USMC Iraq War Vet shot in the face with a rubber bullet in Oakland.
