A LONELY FEW PRESS ON AS PEACE PROTESTS WANE.

Byline: Jeff Wright The Register-Guard

Maggie Springer felt the power and the hope when she stood with nearly 20 other women, all dressed in black, in silent protest against the war in Iraq.

But that was March and this is June, and when Springer returned to the corner of Seventh and Pearl in downtown Eugene on Monday, she was grateful to find three other black-clad compatriots. There have been times when only one or two have shown up for the Women in Black group's recent vigils.

Did no one tell them the war is over?

As far as Springer is concerned, it's not. "Bush has said we're fighting an endless war against terrorism," she says. "I call it an endless war for empire."

Springer, of Eugene, says she misses the crowds - the largest exceeded 1,000 people - and struggles to keep up her spirits. "I feel like I'm in it for the very long haul, probably the rest of my life.

"The trick," she says, "is not to get discouraged."

It's a trick that hundreds of Lane County peace activists have tried to learn as they watched the war unfold despite the protests of millions around the world, and then watched as their own numbers at local rallies dwindled to a diehard few.

"People have been very discouraged, and they're also very tired," says Peg Morton, a Quaker and longtime anti-war activist. "We put a tremendous amount of energy into this. There's a need for people to rest."

But while conceding disappointment, many local activists insist they are merely down, not out.

"There's been a lot of anger and disbelief, but also this resilience," says Phil Weaver of Eugene PeaceWorks. "People are realizing, this is the beginning of how bad it can get, and when our work really needs to be focused."

But focused on what? Some activists have taken up the issue of military recruitment in the public schools, while others focus on anti-terrorism laws' restriction of civil liberties, the government's proposed use of strategic nuclear weapons or the role of corporate-owned media in advancing war.

Still others have decided to put their energies into voter registration, in hopes of spurring a "regime change" in the 2004 presidential election.

"Effect unclear"

The impact of all the protests on the larger populace, meanwhile, is tough to gauge.

Glenda Poling, a development director in Eugene who helped create an emergency fund for local military families, says she worries that continued demonstrations may damage troop morale - but doubts they have much effect on the hearts and minds of other citizens.

"It's fine that they do it, but I don't think they're very representative of a public that's shown its support for our troops and the president's decision to embark on war," she says. "I'd personally be hard-pressed to think of anyone who has the time and means to stand on a street corner and protest the war."

As wars go, the one in Iraq was relatively short with relatively few casualties - and it opened a window to the depths of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's oppression.

But most activists interviewed say those facts don't excuse a pre-emptive war opposed by the United Nations and many countries and people around the world. The absence of weapons of mass destruction - one of the president's primary rationales for the war - particularly sticks in the craw.

"That was their cornerstone for going in there," says David Zupan, a board member with both Eugene PeaceWorks and the Justice Not War Coalition. "Now they're trying to spin it that it doesn't really matter because Saddam is a bad guy."

For some activists, the turn of events has been nothing short of devastating.

"I'm in complete and utter despair," says a tearful Amy Pincus Merwin, among the first local people to mobilize against the restriction of civil liberties in the the wake of Sept. 11. "It makes no difference what we protest. It's pointless."

Anita Russell helped coordinate weekly vigils in Springfield that petered out two weeks ago. "I just got kind of despondent," she says. "People would yell, `Get a life,' and I'd think, well, they've got a point. I have other stuff to do."

But this past Wednesday, Russell joined more than a dozen others in front of the Federal Building in Eugene, where a weekly vigil has been observed for almost a year.

Members of Faith in Action, a peace group that sponsors the Wednesday vigils, met earlier in the week to debate whether to continue the gatherings. Some feared that low attendance was sending the wrong message. But the group decided it was more important to maintain a consistent presence.

"It's faith-based work, and when you're vigiling out of faith, you don't stop because the crowds dwindle or it's not a popular cause anymore," says member Jennifer Knowlton.

Events coming

Knowlton takes issue with the idea that earlier protests were largely a flop or that activists are demoralized.

"At least the public was made aware that maybe this is not a totally just war," she says. "The point was made."

Education, in fact, is central to many of the ongoing pursuits. Several groups, for example, are banding together to sponsor a third annual Peace and Justice conference on the University of Oregon campus in October.

Poets Against the War, which sponsored poetry readings and an "Operation Paperback" for soldiers abroad, is also planning a fall event, Eugene poet Ingrid Wendt says. "Raising our Voices," an anthology of poems by Oregon poets opposed to the war, will reach bookstores later this month, she says.

In Eugene's Friendly Street neighborhood, about a third of the anti-war signs that sprouted like so many daffodils this spring are still up, says Barbara Sklar of Friendly Neighbors for Peace.

The neighborhood group will sponsor the showing of an anti-war film later this month, and is planning a Fourth of July celebration. Neighbors are also keen to unleash a voter registration drive this fall, Sklar says.

Elizabeth Steffensen, hoping to inspire others to follow Friendly's lead, has set up a small office on the downtown mall to promote Neighborhoods for Peace. Several neighborhoods throughout town and across the county - including west Eugene and Florence - have requested information, she says.

It's those kinds of grass-roots activities that are the taproot of a larger discontent, says Peter Bergel, executive director of Oregon PeaceWorks in Salem.

"I think people are going to say, `What I didn't like about the situation before the war hasn't changed a bit,' ' he says. "As soon as we come up with a unified strategy, I think there's a good chance we'll be able to mobilize all those people once again."

LOCAL PEACE GROUPS

Beyond War: 485-0911, gaylelandt@attnet, www.beyondwar2003.org

Eugene PeaceWorks: 454 Willamette St., 343-8548, [e-mail], www.efn.org/~eugpeace

Faith in Action: 484-6671, [e-mail]

Friendly Neighbors for Peace: 687-6879

Justice Not War Coalition: 454 Willamette St., 343-8548, [e-mail], and www.justicenotwarcoalition.org

Lane County Bill of Rights Defense Committee:

www.lanerights.org

Neighborhoods for Peace: 30 E. Broadway, Suite 151, 686-2531

Progressive Responses: 485-1755, [e-mail], www.progressiveresponses.org

Women's Action for New Directions: 344-6443, [e-mail]

Calendar of peace events: www.planeteugene.com/peace-events, www.efn.org/~eugpeace or www.oregonpeaceworks.org

CAPTION(S):

Peg Morton, 72, keeps vigil with a few other peace activists near the Federal Building in downtown Eugene on Wednesday as ranks dwindle.