MONTPELIER -- About 1,000 Vermonters marched through the capital city under snow, sleet and rain Saturday to rally for peace.

They listened as one speaker after another stood at a podium on the granite steps of the Statehouse to call for an end to aggression.

Montpelier, Vermont - October 26, 2002 Rain-soaked crowd on Capitol steps. (Photo: Will Miller)

Many who spoke out or who listened said they wanted the Bush administration to know its policies don't represent the desires of most people.

"Bush is ignoring the will of the people," said Matt Holland, 37, a Web site designer. He said the threat of a war against Iraq has prompted many people to become activists for the first time.

"This rush to war has pushed them over the edge," he said. "It has got the attention of people who don't usually come out to protest."

The march in Montpelier, which included banners, puppets and babies in strollers, certainly got the attention of people going about their business in town on Saturday morning. Organizers said about 1,100 people demonstrated. A rough count put the number who marched to the Statehouse at 1,000; Montpelier police said there were about 500.

Whatever the number, it was a formidable turnout in a city of about 8,000.

"People are really moved to see that the administration is not responding to citizen concerns," said Diane Tetrault of Plainfield, who was handing out leaflets and stickers from under the shelter of a tent. A plastic milk jug on the table for donations was stuffed with dollar bills. Tetrault said the money would go to pay for things such as advertising and a peace activism Web site.

"There are a lot of families here; it's great to see," Tetrault said. "People are concerned about a foreign policy that serves a handful of people."

Ten-year-old Ariel Goodman of Waterbury took her turn at the podium to call on the government to spend more money on schools -- including her own century-old school building, which she said badly needs repairs -- and less on the defense budget.

"It's really, really, really stupid that we can kill people for oil," she said. The crowd cheered.

"In this country, racism ... is a common theme in the activation of military might," Robert Appel, the director of the Vermont Human Rights Commission, told the crowd.

"It's crucially important that we tell the administration that we want no part of their warmongering on the suffering people of Iraq or any other country," said Nancy Rice, 60, of Randolph, who carried a sign that said "Bullying and Bombing Make us Less Secure."

"I don't think that we have any right to change regimes of other countries," Rice said. "War puts the whole world in a very vulnerable position."

Tetrault said the demonstration was organized by the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, the American Friends Service Committee and the Montpelier-based Citizens Concerned about Violence, a group that formed Sept. 12, 2001.

©The Associated Press

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