GotZoom
Senior Member
CRAWFORD When peace activist Cindy Sheehan returns here next month to protest the war in Iraq, she wont be a guest. Shell be one of Crawfords newest residents.
Sheehans peace group, Gold Star Families for Peace, said on its Web site Thursday that Sheehan had purchased five acres on State Highway 317, about a half-mile north of the sole traffic light here. County records indicate she is acquiring the property through a third party who himself recently purchased it.
On her Web site, Sheehan says shes already planning to mount next months war protest on the property, again timed for the period when President Bush routinely spends his vacation at his Central Texas ranch. The Bush ranch is several miles west of Sheehans place, and area residents are largely defensive of the president.
Well, theres not much we can do about it, said Jamie Burgess of the Red Bull gift shop in town. I guess she has the right to buy (property) here.
Longtime Crawford resident Bobby D. Ramsey sold a little more than five acres to Gerald T. Fonseca, a New Orleans native who said he was displaced by Hurricane Katrina last fall. Fonseca was in Crawford along with hundreds of other war protesters when the hurricane destroyed his home Aug. 29.
Fonseca, who identifies himself as a Vietnam veteran and a member of Veterans for Peace, had been living more recently in Eagle Rock, Mo., with relatives. He has been in Crawford the past four weeks, staying at the Crawford Peace House.
Transfer planned
While Fonsecas name is on the deed as the lands new owner, Sheehans protest group will use the property for this years Camp Casey, the peace camp named for Sheehans son, Casey Sheehan, a 24-year-old Fort Hood soldier killed in Iraq in 2004.
In September, Fonseca said, ownership of the land will be transferred to Sheehan.
Ramsey, who soon may find unexpected neighbors when protesters move into a huge tent on the property he sold, said he was unaware before the sale that it would be used by Sheehan to host Camp Casey in August.
(Fonseca) said he was going to build a home and, one day, a shop (on the land), Ramsey said Thursday, speaking from his adjacent property in Crawford. He told me that Katrina wiped him out.. . . . It didnt even occur to me that he could use it for this.
Fonseca confirmed he never indicated to his new neighbors that the land would be transferred to Sheehan, but he said that was always the plan. He said the $52,500 used to pay for the property a spread of rustic, wooded prairie with no houses came from Sheehan and her Gold Star Families for Peace.
Fonseca said he acted as an agent for Sheehan, negotiating the purchase and closing the deal with Ramsey.
Theyre really good neighbors, Fonseca said of families nearby. The idea again is that were here to be good neighbors, to make it as comfortable as we can for everyone.
While Sheehan frequently attacks Bush for his policy on the war in Iraq, she has often discussed, like Bush, how much she likes Crawford and Central Texas. On her Web site, Sheehan says she originally never understood how George Bush could pick such a place as Crawford to have his home.
She goes on to say, however, that after spending an entire year there in every season, I totally understand. I even get upset when people put Crawford down in any way.
Bush, whose presidency has been marked by frequent retreats to his Prairie Chapel Ranch, purchased his property near Crawford in 1999. Crawford has been the site of numerous protests since he became president in 2001.
Sheehan gained international fame last August when she led war protests from a roadside ditch near the presidents ranch, demanding Bush interrupt his vacation to meet and discuss the war. The month also saw counterprotests staged by supporters of the president.
Citing concerns about traffic safety and roadside sanitation, county commissioners later passed an ordinance outlawing anyone from camping along the road near Bushs ranch, which subsequently sparked legal challenges over free speech issues.
It will keep traffic off
McLennan County Commissioner Ray Meadows, whose precinct includes both the Bush ranch and the five acres Sheehan will soon own, said he was glad to see the so-called peace mom moving in because it would likely preclude last summers roadside protests near the Bush ranch.
Itll keep the traffic off Prairie Chapel Road, he said Thursday. I am ecstatic about it. It will keep them off the road and keep traffic moving.
He went on to jest that Sheehans protest group was all just a part of summer now.
On her Web site, Sheehan said she was enthusiastic about the new Crawford site because the peace movement had outgrown sites used last year, and we needed to move on to bigger property.
Sheehan says this summers war protest will run from Aug. 13 to Sept. 2. White House reports indicate President Bush plans to spend far less time at his ranch this August than usual.
Retired postmaster Joyce Holmes said she could understand how property owners near the Sheehan spread might be anxious about next month.
I know if I were living out that close, Id be just like they are, Holmes said. I wouldnt want all that commotion around me.
http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2006/07/28/07282006wacosheehanlandbuy.html
Sheehans peace group, Gold Star Families for Peace, said on its Web site Thursday that Sheehan had purchased five acres on State Highway 317, about a half-mile north of the sole traffic light here. County records indicate she is acquiring the property through a third party who himself recently purchased it.
On her Web site, Sheehan says shes already planning to mount next months war protest on the property, again timed for the period when President Bush routinely spends his vacation at his Central Texas ranch. The Bush ranch is several miles west of Sheehans place, and area residents are largely defensive of the president.
Well, theres not much we can do about it, said Jamie Burgess of the Red Bull gift shop in town. I guess she has the right to buy (property) here.
Longtime Crawford resident Bobby D. Ramsey sold a little more than five acres to Gerald T. Fonseca, a New Orleans native who said he was displaced by Hurricane Katrina last fall. Fonseca was in Crawford along with hundreds of other war protesters when the hurricane destroyed his home Aug. 29.
Fonseca, who identifies himself as a Vietnam veteran and a member of Veterans for Peace, had been living more recently in Eagle Rock, Mo., with relatives. He has been in Crawford the past four weeks, staying at the Crawford Peace House.
Transfer planned
While Fonsecas name is on the deed as the lands new owner, Sheehans protest group will use the property for this years Camp Casey, the peace camp named for Sheehans son, Casey Sheehan, a 24-year-old Fort Hood soldier killed in Iraq in 2004.
In September, Fonseca said, ownership of the land will be transferred to Sheehan.
Ramsey, who soon may find unexpected neighbors when protesters move into a huge tent on the property he sold, said he was unaware before the sale that it would be used by Sheehan to host Camp Casey in August.
(Fonseca) said he was going to build a home and, one day, a shop (on the land), Ramsey said Thursday, speaking from his adjacent property in Crawford. He told me that Katrina wiped him out.. . . . It didnt even occur to me that he could use it for this.
Fonseca confirmed he never indicated to his new neighbors that the land would be transferred to Sheehan, but he said that was always the plan. He said the $52,500 used to pay for the property a spread of rustic, wooded prairie with no houses came from Sheehan and her Gold Star Families for Peace.
Fonseca said he acted as an agent for Sheehan, negotiating the purchase and closing the deal with Ramsey.
Theyre really good neighbors, Fonseca said of families nearby. The idea again is that were here to be good neighbors, to make it as comfortable as we can for everyone.
While Sheehan frequently attacks Bush for his policy on the war in Iraq, she has often discussed, like Bush, how much she likes Crawford and Central Texas. On her Web site, Sheehan says she originally never understood how George Bush could pick such a place as Crawford to have his home.
She goes on to say, however, that after spending an entire year there in every season, I totally understand. I even get upset when people put Crawford down in any way.
Bush, whose presidency has been marked by frequent retreats to his Prairie Chapel Ranch, purchased his property near Crawford in 1999. Crawford has been the site of numerous protests since he became president in 2001.
Sheehan gained international fame last August when she led war protests from a roadside ditch near the presidents ranch, demanding Bush interrupt his vacation to meet and discuss the war. The month also saw counterprotests staged by supporters of the president.
Citing concerns about traffic safety and roadside sanitation, county commissioners later passed an ordinance outlawing anyone from camping along the road near Bushs ranch, which subsequently sparked legal challenges over free speech issues.
It will keep traffic off
McLennan County Commissioner Ray Meadows, whose precinct includes both the Bush ranch and the five acres Sheehan will soon own, said he was glad to see the so-called peace mom moving in because it would likely preclude last summers roadside protests near the Bush ranch.
Itll keep the traffic off Prairie Chapel Road, he said Thursday. I am ecstatic about it. It will keep them off the road and keep traffic moving.
He went on to jest that Sheehans protest group was all just a part of summer now.
On her Web site, Sheehan said she was enthusiastic about the new Crawford site because the peace movement had outgrown sites used last year, and we needed to move on to bigger property.
Sheehan says this summers war protest will run from Aug. 13 to Sept. 2. White House reports indicate President Bush plans to spend far less time at his ranch this August than usual.
Retired postmaster Joyce Holmes said she could understand how property owners near the Sheehan spread might be anxious about next month.
I know if I were living out that close, Id be just like they are, Holmes said. I wouldnt want all that commotion around me.
http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2006/07/28/07282006wacosheehanlandbuy.html
