Friday afternoon marked Tina Holloway’s fifth protest so far in 2025.
This one was smaller than the others, just a handful of those opposed to the actions of President Donald Trump, standing alongside East Detroit Street in downtown Warsaw.
Holloway was there with her son, and her signs, on Independence Day.
In the weeks leading up to Thursday’s budget bill’s passage in Congress, Holloway had called her representatives to express her concerns, to no response.
“I guess coming here, when I first got up this morning, I was defeated-feeling,” she said. “People started trickling in. Not all is lost, but we have a really hard road ahead of us.”
With every honk from passing motorists, Holloway said, she felt a little less alone.
She said she never considered herself political, and always gravitated toward those who were helping people.
“I don’t think it’s any longer, like, Republicans and Democrats,” she said. “When we get really worn out…being around other people that think the same way really helps. It’s good that people are out here. I just wish the people who were in charge, who we elected to represent us, were actually representing us.”
Sarah Harris, of Milford, said this year’s Fourth of July felt very dark, felt dire.
“Historically, the Fourth of July has been a joyous celebration of our country. It’s always had problems and we’re always trying to work it,” she said.
Harris felt like she is lucky and was proud to have been born and raised in the U. S., and now she is worried about what feels like an escalating humanitarian and Constitutional crisis from the loss of healthcare for low-income Americans to the administration’s massive deportation effort.
“People should be ashamed,” she said.
At the other end of the block was Glen Collins of Warsaw.
He too has been to all of the protests held in the community since January.
Collins hopes that with the next election, maybe things will change.
He sends money to support the causes he believes in, but Collins said protesting feels like a way to do something else, to make his voice heard.
Collins' voice trembled when asked about what the Fourth of July meant to him.
“I think it’s a time to reflect, on the past and what’s going on now,” he said.
His voice trailed off as he shook his head, his hands holding onto his sign.
