By Laura Swanson
“We just have to be activists, we’re called to raise awareness about issues that impact us all,” said one of the North County Resistance unofficial organizers. It takes a village and the “organization” is a team effort with several people taking on various roles – sharing information, making signs, bringing snacks, and more. This grassroots group started gathering to protest almost a year ago on February 17th, last President’s Day, and have consistently had participants show up nearly every Saturday since. Recently, they’ve seen an increase in participation, and on Saturday January 24, 2026 over 85 people. “We were going to take the winter season off, but there was so much support and everyone wanted to out here …”
Many people have commented to me about “finding their people” and how impactful it is to see them out there every Saturday.
The Pioneer had been sharing videos each week from North Coast Pinball, and the videos were “going viral” – racking up over 150,000 views. When I contacted the organizers and shared this information, they were delighted and stunned. For all the negative comments on social media, this truly is making a difference. Little Nehalem, population 270 has over 70 regular protesters. The “protest” is more of gathering of goodwill and peace (for the most part) citizens exercising their freedom of speech. It’s about we the people standing up for truth and justice for ALL. The murders by ICE and CBP, the lies from our government, programs defunded, blue states punished, destroying longstanding international agreements, the list could go on anad on … and all the benefits for billionaires. This is not making America great again, it’s destroying the very fabric of our culture. America has become morally and mortally wounded – the moral foundations our country was born from, life, liberty and the pursuit of hapiness for ALL are no longer in view for many.
I know that many of the Pioneer’s readers “don’t do social media” – and there are some that do. I want to share that as we’ve become more aggressive with our social media posts, the trolls and bots have come out. As I mentioned, the videos are receiving thousands of view, and also thousands of comments. We work diligently to delete comments that don’t adhear to our standards — truth, kindness and benefit to the community. Another inspiring statistic from the social media posts – the ratio of interactions – Likes/Loves vs. Laughs – over 75% are supportive. They are the minority, but they are loud. Many of the comments aren’t from real people, but from bots and trolls – fake profiles and targeted attacks on any content that’s anti-ICE or anti-Trump. We will continue to share trustworthy, accurate information from reliable sources, such as the Associated Press, PBS and other verified news organizations.
There is hope and there are actionable endeavors for us all. The Pioneer has shared several viewpoints below – Words of Wisdom from Neal Lemery and some Positive Vibes from Jan Boal – Marc Johnson also shared his views and poem from Langston Hughes.
We are all in this together. And we are here for you. The Pioneer will continue to strive to provide accurate, trustworthy information about our communities, county, region and nation.
Please let us know how we can help you – resources, connections, information … we want to hear from you about how you are navigating through these uncertain times. Email to editor@tillamookcountypioneer.net.
Here are our photos and video from the North County Resistance, Saturday January 24, 2026 – lots of creativity in our community …
