Cape Politics

Occupy Falmouth participants speak out Saturday

The first Occupy Hyannis took place last Friday afternoon on the Village Green. But the folks in Falmouth beat them to it, holding their first Occupy event Saturday, October 8. After that, Occupy Falmouth demonstrations in front of Bank of America on Main Street have been held each weekday and again this past Saturday.

In the video above, produced by Maxine Wolfset, demonstrators were given the opportunity to speak their minds, this past Wednesday, October 12.  Although personal reasons ran the gamut, they were all brought together by the Occupy Together message.  Among the many participants was Paul Rifkin, who said of himself, "I'm just an old hippie, trying to save the world."

The day coincided with a special occasion--the 94th birthday of Thelma Goldstein--a Falmouth resident and lifelong Democrat activist. Participants took a moment to serenade Mrs. Goldstein with Happy Birthday.

Future Occupy Falmouth demonstrations are planned. Occupytogether.org is an unofficial meeting "hub" for all the individual groups springing up across the country. The website lists five towns on the Cape (Falmouth, Harwich, Eastham, Proivncetown and Plymouth) with independent occupy organizations.

Maxine Wolfset is a former public school teacher, piano instructor, and hospital administrative assistant.  After moving to Cape Cod in 2000, she began producing short documentaries at a public access studio in Mashpee, and has received regional recognition and several awards for her films.  Her films show great concern for the environment and for local/national events.  She has shown her films to local non-profit organizations, has been interviewed on cable access programs and tapes live meetings at her local Town Hall.  Some of her productions are posted on YouTube.com.