Moore TEA Citizens Hold Picnic

John Ostelvig, dressed as a Revoluntion Army soldier, speaks to attendees at the picnic. Jack Dodson

Jack Dodson

As of Sunday, August 8, 2010

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Moore TEA Citizens host picnic

The local organization Moore TEA Citizens put on a picnic Saturday to raise awareness about their causes -- high taxes and opposition to the reach of federal government.

The Moore TEA Citizens put on a picnic Saturday morning in Pinehurst to raise awareness about their organization and to draw attention to their efforts to get people out to vote in November.

With about 350 people signed up to come, event chair John Marcum said the picnic exceeded expectations with more than 400 people in attendance.

“It shows how broad the appeal is (for the TEA party),” Marcum said. “It’s a good-sized group. A lot of these people are not members — they’re coming out for the first time.”

Marcum said the Moore TEA Citizens put on an event about every month, either in Moore County or at larger venues. At one point, Marcum said, the group traveled to a large-scale rally in Raleigh.

According to Marcum, there are 1,400 registered members of the Moore TEA Citizens group, and more were signing up today. Their main goal as an organization, he said, is to reaffirm American values.

“What we mean is to take back America to its origins — we feel like we need to reaffirm these cultural and constitutional values,” he said.

The event included speakers like U.S. Representative Howard Coble and FOX News contributor Steve Moore.

“If the election were today, I believe we would have the majority in the House,” Coble said to the crowd, as he was preparing to leave for another TEA party event. “We have an administration that’s completely out of step with America.”

For volunteer Allen Coburn, the Moore TEA Citizens membership gave him an opportunity to be involved in something more specific than the U.S.-wide TEA party group.

“I wanted to be associated with something local,” he said. “You have to start to band together. We want to be active, we want to be respectful, we want to be non-confrontational.”

Dee Park, the chair of the board for the Moore TEA Citizens, said she felt she needed to get involved during the last election.

“We were watching as the last election was rolling around and by the inauguration and new Congress, we knew we needed to do something,” Park said.

So she organized an event for downtown Southern Pines. The event was attended by more than 1,000 people, she said, and since then the group has grown.

“Anybody who went never forgot it,” she said.

At the picnic, many people were dressed in red, white and blue — one attendee, a member of the Moore TEA citizens group, John Oltesvig, was wearing a Revolution Army uniform.

“Our community has been drifting away from our founding fathers,” Oltesvig said.

For volunteer Carol French, the organization was a chance to be a part of something larger, she said.

“(The TEA party) can’t be ignored, it’s important,” French said. “Because these are the people that want America to be America.”