Some folks are throwing a "TEA Party" in Southern Pines Wednesday -- but don't expect this one to come with crumpets and scones.

No, this type of TEA -- "Taxed Enough Already" -- is for those sick of what they call fiscal irresponsibility in the federal government.

As a nod to the colonial Boston Tea Party, one of the nation's first organized protests, almost 2,000 TEA Parties are being planned across the country for Wednesday -- Tax Day -- to allow people to speak their minds about how spending has gotten out of control in Washington.

Southern Pines is having its own version in front of the Post Office from 4 to 7 p.m, rain or shine.

Gina Brown of Southern Pines is one of the organizers, and she says she's fed up. She was hard to miss on Friday, walking around downtown wearing a hat with used tag bags hanging down from its brim in front of her face.

"I have a checkbook, and I don't write a check for more than I have in it or I would expect to go to jail," she says. "I think it's teaching people values, and in Washington, D.C., inside that Beltway, there's another culture and I think we need to have fiscal responsibility.

"You know why I [chose] used tea bags? Because I feel like I'm being used."

A self-described "grandma" who has never gotten involved with any sort of protest or movement before, Brown says she and others became interested in the movement after discovering it online and decided to get involved. A friend suggested that they go to a TEA Party in Raleigh, but she decided there should be one in Southern Pines.

"This is our community," she says. "We have people here that are just as angry, so why don't we have a place where everybody can show up and tell how they feel?"

The TEA Parties are designed to be apolitical and "without labels," Brown says.

Everyone, regardless of age, race, religion or creed is invited to participate, she says. She is unsure of exactly how many participants will show up, but it could be several hundred. Kids are making posters for the event.

In a symbolic gesture of the frustration that's built up among the American public, thousands of tea bags have been sent to the Capitol and the White House. Adelle "Dee" Park, another organizer donning a tea bag hat, says 3,000 sent from this area were personally delivered to Speaker of of the House Nancy Pelosi's office.

"It's not going well in Washington, and I think people in Washington need to hear from the American people," Park says.

Brown said she's received a ton of reaction from her hat. She got a couple of "thumbs up" -- and some stares -- from residents walking by her Friday.

"If you really want an experience, you should come with me to Harris Teeter," she says. "People look at me, but you know, they understand the acronym once we tell him its "taxed enough already."

Brown and Park both encourage anyone and everyone interested to drop by Wednesday.

"Everybody that feels frustrated," Brown says, "please come."

Contact John Krahnert III at 693-2473 or by e-mail at jkrahnert @thepilot.com