The event will be held Saturday from 4-6 p.m. held in the Mill Creek Elementary School parking lot, said organizer Heather Merritt. The event is in no way affiliated with the school or the Bulloch County Board of Education.
Playing upon the Boston Tea Party, a historical event when citizens protested what they felt were unfair taxes by tossing imported tea into the sea, the T.E.A. Party is another protest against unfair taxes, she said. T.E.A. stands for 'Taxed Enough Already."
"We're protesting the massive expansion of government into our lives," she said. " We're recommending loudly that our senators not pass the Cap and Trade Bill."
Merritt refers to a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, that was authored to "create clean energy jobs, achieve energy independence, reduce global warming pollution and transition to a clean energy economy. "
Protesters think it is unfair to increase taxes on energy, which is what the bill will do, she said.
"The Bulloch County Independence Day T.E.A Party is a local protest forum for any and all groups and individuals dissatisfied with the current governance of the United States, regardless of ideology, partisan identity, or political affiliation," Merritt said. The gathering Saturday will feature speakers from Republican, Democratic and Independent parties, as well as entertainment by Sabby Fisk, a former American Idol contestant, she said.
"We are sick and tired of big government and we don't trust the major parties in Washington DC to bring real changes," she said. "We are demanding that our representatives uphold their oath to defend and protect the supreme law of the land, the Constitution."
This is the second T.E.A. Party in Bulloch County. Over 250 people met April 15 - Tax Day - at the Bulloch County Courthouse, she said.
Anyone is welcome to attend. Boiled shrimp plates with cole slaw and tea from Ocean Galley will be sold for $7. For more information, contact Merritt at 690-1068 or access Internet web site www.bullochtea.com.