Sonoma’s Women’s March draws more than 1,000

A peaceful rally on the Plaza|

Women's marches occurred across the country on Saturday – demonstrations marking the one-year anniversary of the nationwide Women's March, which took place last year from Washington D.C. to Sonoma.

More than 1,000 Sonoma participants assembled at noon Jan. 20 in front of City Hall, with a dozen speakers slated to take the mike, as demonstrators embarked on a peaceful march around the Plaza. The mood was upbeat throughout, though a faulty sound system put a damper on several of the speeches made in support of gender diversity.

Sonoma's Amy Gallagher, owner of Peony Birth Services, was a key organizer of this year's march and she maintained the event Facebook page that got the word out.

'This year, we are aligning with a few California cities to strive to engage youth, uplift women leaders, advocate for gender equality, stand up against voter suppression and stand for fair protection of all human rights,' Gallagher told the I-T prior to the event.

The slate of speakers assembled on Saturday included Jan Thompson, wife of Congressman Mike Thompson; First District Supervisor Susan Gorin; Sonoma County DA Jill Ravitch; Dmitra Smith, of the Sonoma County Commission on Human Rights; Betsy Chavez, of Sonoma's Family Resource Center; Denia Candela, of the North Bay Children's Center; Curran Riechert, of First Congregational Church, Sonoma Valley High School student government leader Alyssa Schimm; Abi Huff, of the Stinging Nettle; and educational equity advocate Celeste Winders.

First on the stage was Mayor Madolyn Agrimonti, who was joined by council members Amy Harrington and Rachel Hundley. Agrimonti drew cheers when she pointed out that Sonoma's City Council is led by a female majority. Council members David Cook and Gary Edwards had conflicting commitments and weren't in attendance.

The Plaza horseshoe lawn was ringed by a variety of nonprofit booths including the Sonoma Valley Mothers Club, the Sonoma Ecology Center, Impact 100 and Sonoma Democrats, among others.

The day prior to the event, Rosie Lee of Readers' Books posted a note on Facebook saying that despite her aversion to crowds, she would be marching.

'I will march because I owe the generations of strong women behind me whatever little support I can give them,' said Lee. 'And I will march because of the children growing up now, who deserve so much better.'

She felt strongly that the heroines in her favorite books would be out marching, suggesting that such characters as Meg Murray in 'A Wrinkle in Time' and Hermione of 'Harry Potter' fame would have marched alongside Sonomans, had they been real.

'Characters like them have inspired countless men and women to stand up for what is right. They will be marching. And so will I,' said Lee.

T-shirts commemorating the local march sold briskly from one stall, and 1st District Supervisor Susan Gorin was spotted in the crowd having donned one over her clothes.

A large portion of the signs were demonstrating against the policies of President Trump, but some of the 'girl power' signs that drew cheers included 'The Future is Female,' 'Men of Quality Don't Fear Equality' and 'Here's to Strong Women: May We Know Them, May We Be Them, May We Raise.'

Email Lorna at lorna.sheridan@sonomanews.com.

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