Walkerville: Braving the Cold in Tents and Sleeping Bags

First Night of Walkerville



And you thought camping out in a tent in Zucotti Park in October and November was roughing it?  Evicted from the Capitol by Walker, hundreds of protestors sought to erect tents outside in the late February/early March Wisconsin sub-freezing cold.  As Stew Fyfe writes, "The public was kept out of the building on February 28, in contradiction to official statements made the day previous. The only way in was if you had a specific appointment.  The call went out on Twitter and Facebook for food, blankets, hats, gloves, etc., and people immediately responded. (I met a trio of nurses who showed up from New Jersey with sleeping bags.)...."

When regulations later appeared prohibiting tents, they remained undaunted, camping out in sleeping bags directly beneath the starry skies.  Walkerville's tents eventually re-appeared across the street on city-approved patches of grass.  

from the Vimeo Page of Stew Fyfe

Keep on Rockin' (and Sleeping) in the Free World



From the Flicker Page of "Madison Guy" Peter Patau

Madison Guy's Photostream

(Over 4700 photos at last count)

Peter's commentary on this video:

Some people are night people, some people are morning people -- even in Walkerville, the camp-in at the State Capitol last night. At 11:30pm, some people were already bedded down and trying to sleep, others were still talking and quietly moving around. That's when the dude into the green alligator hat brought the boombox, cranked up and playing "Rockin in the Free World." Great song, but a little loud for the "bedroom." It played for a minute or two and then someone reminded Green Alligator Dude that some people were trying to sleep.

"I got it."

"Thanks, Dude."

In Walkerville, we police our own. Democracy works.