Island Lake vigil a call to action

Though billed as a peace vigil, Island Lake's contribution to national Take A Stand Day turned out to be more a call to action for the two dozen gathered at Veterans Memorial Park.

"We need to begin having far fewer moments of silence. ... It's time to stand up," said Marge Haracz to the crowd gathered in front of the veterans memorial Tuesday night. "The Mundelein resident, whose son is being redeployed to Iraq, urged those who oppose the war to contact their lawmakers and make some noise. It's time to call them up and say, 'Hey, it's me again.' "

As part of the night's events, protesters read a list of all the men and women who died serving the United States in Iraq from January until today. Scattered among the protesters lay anti-war signs, candles, origami doves made from yellow paper and signup sheets for future events. Organizers said poll numbers show those who do not support the war are in the majority.

"We're sending all this money out to a war the people of Illinois no longer believe in," Haracz said.

Fellow protester and moveon.org member Jean Paskalides said some of the reasons people don't speak out more against the war are simple.

"A lot of people are busy," the Island Lake resident said. "They're sympathetic, but it takes work."

She also said if there were a draft, Americans might become more aware of the costs of war.

"Not everybody has skin in the game," she said.

Paskalides said one of the reasons the group planned the event, which coincided with a larger national series of vigils planned by moveon.org, was to refocus the country's attention.

"(The protests) are a way to, again, have people speak who don't always have a voice," she said. "We do this so it keeps in front of people."