Several Great Bend residents traveled to Wichita and Topeka on Saturday for “Hands Off!” protests.

Pam Martin, with Women for Kansas - Barton County, reports, “It was a good weekend for democracy, with protests throughout the U.S., supporting federal workers, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, National Parks, veterans, etc. Some of us participated in the Wichita and Topeka protests, raising our voices against those who want to install an oligarch-led autocracy.”

She later posted photos on social media showing some of the signs she liked, as well as a crowd shot. She wrote, “All those people helped block the wind! In spite of the cold, windy weather, KSN estimated the crowd size at 1,400 for the Hands Off protest today in Wichita.”

Statements on signs included: “Things you don’t privatize: Social Security, The Post Office, Weather Service” and “I will not go quietly back to the 1950s.”

Janice Walker, Great Bend, said she was with a group that went to Wichita. “Over a thousand of us were chanting, ‘This is what democracy looks like!’ There are estimates on Facebook that up to 5 million people nationwide came out that day.”

Women for Kansas has a meeting scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday, April 13, at the Front Door community center, 1615 10th St. For the first hour, Great Bend will be on the Virtual Chapter Zoom with Dr. Gretchen Eick, who will present “Ukraine, Past and Future. ” For more information email w4kgreatbend@gmail.com.