Indivisible Coburg, an organization aimed at promoting progressive policies and protecting democracy, has been organizing weekly rallies outside of the Coburg City Hall since October. Protesters say they show up each week, despite sometimes small crowds, because of the solidarity they feel and the camaraderie of being within a group.
Michele Postal is one of the organizers from Indivisible Coburg and has been rallying every Saturday since the October 2025 No Kings protest. She says this event usually draws a crowd of 20 to 30 protesters, but the 250th celebration was their second largest event.
“I contacted my friends and neighbors and said, I’m going to stand outside of City Hall with a sign, and if you want to join me, it would be really awesome,” Postal says. “After we spent that hour together, we bonded and said, ‘Why don’t we do this every week?’”
Indivisible Coburg often publicizes its bigger events with Indivisible Eugene/Springfield. Postal was the main organizer of the weekly rallies and has continued to show up in front of Coburg City Hall rain or shine, with other members of the core group.
“It’s an ever-changing group, but we all have this common thread of feeling that being there is doing something. For the people that show up on Saturday, there’s a frustration of what can we do? We vote, and we will vote — but what can we do on a daily basis?” Postal says.
Postal sends out the weather forecast and reminders to those that sign up for the protests online and those that show up frequently. On days that are scheduled to be hot, she makes sure everyone comes prepared and brings water and sun protection.
“When it was cold in the winter, we told each other, ‘At least we’re not in Minnesota,’” Postal says, referring to the ICE Out protests in Michigan in January. “How come we complain about a little rain?”
For America’s 250th Independence Day, they partnered with Democrasonic Response Team, a brass band, Indivisible Eugene/Springfield and Singing Resistance. By noon, the event had already amassed around 150 participants. Usually, the weekly protests gather 20 to 30 people, making the 4th of July rally the second largest turnout they saw after the No Kings rally in October.
“Today I’m here to celebrate democracy and hope that we can keep it lasting,” Postal says. She says she admires the courage it took for the Founding Fathers to declare independence, commit treason and start a new nation.
“My second big thing is that I’m the daughter of an illegal immigrant who passed away, but he eventually became a citizen. So I really relate to people who are undocumented, and I think that we need to extend citizenship beyond birthright citizenship.”
One of the groups that participated in the July 4 protest is the Voices of History, in which three sisters dressed in colonial-era gear gave protesters and people walking by quotes from American history. Teresa Mueller was one of the Voices for the event.
“We realized Americans, through all these hundreds of years, have had a lot of different opinions, and we wanted to remind people that this is how democracy works,” Mueller says. “You think about what people have said. Were they right? Were they wrong? And go from there, and be educated.”
Mueller says she has other “get-ups” or costumes for protests, such as the ICE clouds and trillionaires for Trump. She’s used these in the past Coburg protests and plans to keep taking different roles.
Postal says past topics have ranged from a general counteraction of the Trump administration to shedding light on the Epstein files or Trump’s actions in Greenland. The signs tend to change weekly to accommodate the general theme.
“There was a situation a few months ago where there was a possibility of [building] a detention center up in Newport, and I coordinated with [organizers] to coordinate protests on the same day and have the same theme across the coast and inland cities,” Postal says. “We were rather successful.”
Nancy Bell, the mayor of Coburg, was at the July 4 protest in her personal capacity and is known to attend the protests regularly. “Well, we think that it is important that people stand up for our democracy, and so every Saturday, we are out here, standing up for democracy — for people’s right to choose, for people’s right to vote, for people’s right to say what they want,” Bell says.
“It is important to be involved with the community, with the state, with the government, to know what’s going on and voice your opinion,” Bell says. “If you don’t think things are right, then you have to say it.”
Postal thanks Bell, who, in her personal capacity, teaches the group many of the public safety laws. Postal says, “She was very helpful in teaching me the rules we should abide by, like staying off the sidewalk, not blocking the crosswalk — things to avoid so we wouldn’t get into trouble.”
Postal says that the group hasn’t received significant pushback and the number of “fingers out the window” has decreased in the last couple of months. She says that if people do say derogatory things or make offensive gestures, the protesters “blow them a kiss” and continue rallying.
Linda and Lee Lasse were at the Independence Day rally through their connection with Indivisible Coburg. Linda Lasse says upcoming elections brought her out. She says, “It’s becoming more and more evident that people need to do what we do to change our current administration.”
Natalie Fitch says, “I think the reason I am out protesting is what I feel is appropriate to celebrate the Fourth of July, by standing up for basic decency and human rights.”
The protest was full of American flags, chants about voting and jubilation over American democracy. Signs celebrating democracy, the freedom of speech and election stability were flying through the skies. Those who supported the movement honked at the protesters, who then responded in cheers.
Protests have remained peaceful through the months, according to Postal. Postal says one of the main reasons driving the organization of the Coburg weekly rally is to make protesting accessible for all community members. The area has available parking nearby, allowing people to drive to the event.
“I think there is blatant corruption in what we see in every branch of government right now,” says Jeanette Butler of why she was protesting. “It feels like an unchecked pillaging of not just our democracy and our rights, but our tax dollars and everything else. It feels like we’re being robbed in daylight.”