About Crowd Estimates *Update*
How many people attended the Tax Day Tea Party in St. Louis? It depends on whom you ask. We put the final estimate at 8,000.
The Chief Park Ranger hunted me down after the event, as we were packing up the sound equipment. He told me, “I would say ten-thousand.” That’s the number I went with on Wednesday and Thursday.
Various media have given estimates ranging from 5,000 on the low end (PJTV.com) to 8,000 on the high end. KTVI Fox 2 news director compared the crowd to other events, saying, “That’s the most people I’ve ever seen in Kiener Plaza–except, maybe, before a Cardinals World Series game.”
One gauge of attendance comes from the City of St. Louis’s description of the Morton May Amphitheater:
The maximum capacity for Kiener Plaza and the May Amphitheater is about 3,000 people. The area provides a picturesque setting for festivals, concerts, company picnics, private receptions for conventioneers, fundraising benefits, tailgate parties, pre-game rallies, and marketing events.
The Amphitheater is a little less than 1/3 of the park. From overhead photos, it’s clear that the park was more than two-thirds full, as the crowd Market to Chestnut from 9th Street to about 30 or 40 feet from Broadway. More people gathered on the roofs of parking garages and on the steps of the Old Courthouse.
Altogether, 8,000 seems like a fair estimate.
I’ve email Circle of Concern to find out how much food they collected. I’ll post that as soon as I get an answer.
*UPDATE* Operation Food Search and Circle of Concern gathered “several pallets” of food plus cash and other food-related donations thanks the kind generosity of the Tea Party participants. Thank you on behalf of Circle of Concern, Operation Food Search, and the many families who will benefit from your generosity. And thanks to Eddie Roth of the Post-Dispatch, I understand that we almost filled a one-ton truck and donated about $600 cash. Thanks, Eddie.
*UPDATE II* Nationwide attendance surpassed half-million point.
On the other hand, size matters only to those who were there. Obama’s press office (aka, MSM) refused to report on the largest taxpayer protest in US history. Mark Steyn skewers the press and its CEO, his majesty, King Obama.
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I would like to know more about the tea parties. I live 60 miles from St. Louis but still plan on attending the next tea party if possible!
To Bill and the organizers and speakers at the April 15th St. Louis Tea Party..
THANK YOU ! I was there and it was a well organized well run event. Great job! I will see you in July !!
Lets challenge every person that was there to bring one more person with them in July..then the media can debate on whether it was 16,000 or 20,000 people!
Thanks again.
JD
I wanted to personnally thank not only the organizer’s of the St. Louis tea party but the generous, compassionate and thoughtful people that attended it. This was a first for my wife and I and we were absolutely amazed at the spirit and sincere commitment that they demonstrated to each other and to their fellow Americans across this great land. There was no doubt that the St. Louis tea party was a huge success and something to build on!
An energetic team of volunteers from Circle of Concern were on site during this momentous occasion. The needy people our organization serves were the recipients of your kindness in the form of three thousand pounds of donated food and about $630 in cash donations. Every penny of the cash donations has been spent to buy items that the food pantry greatly needed and were dropped off today.
We again want to thank everyone at the tea party for your kindness and generosity! This is what happens when the spirit of America is energized! See you in July!
Rich
My wife and I attended the 4/15 event and had a great time. Meet many people and all were friendly and talkative. Did not see any hate going on just people showing their displeasure with Washington DC. As my wife and I are conservative, we found it amusing to go to a protest like hippies in the 70’s. But this was much more mature with the kind of people there.
No one should be afraid to go to the next one. Don’t listen to the anti tea party hype coming from the ultra left wing hate machine. Stand up for your rights!
See you in July!
TIME TO CLEAN OUT THE HOUSE AND THE SENATE TOO!
I attended the St. Louis Tea Party and the message was loud and clear, vote out all the irresponsible incumbents who are spending like there’s no tomorrow!
Where do we go from here? Be informed. Go to sites like congress.org to get your Senators’ and Representative’s voting records. You can send emails to them on the website and have it posted under “Your letters to Leaders”. When writing, be sure to advise them you’re keeping track of their voting record and they need to stop careless spending of our tax dollars (or whatever else is troubling you about our government). Remind them the next election is 2010 and that you will be discerning the best candidates and campaigning for them.