A year ago, we stumbled into how to “win” the games our bureaucrats play, and in the intervening months it’s become obvious that it’s not just one way, it’s the ONLY way we win— civil disobedience. Defiance. Standing strong and saying loudly, NO. MAKE ME.
What did it take for us, a rag tag group of random citizens brought together by necessity, to learn this first and most important lesson? They came for our kids. 
One sunny day a year ago, we decided we were tired of two months of cautioned taped playgrounds and confused toddlers. We’d already learned that coronavirus doesn’t last long on surfaces, let alone ones in the fresh air and sunshine, and we knew that children are the least at risk from the virus. So we decided to meet up one morning in late May, move some caution tape and let our children play. Together. The horror. 
Our first stop was Menlo playground in Perkasie. It was a peaceful morning of new friends, laughter and relief. But wouldn’t you know, at the tail end of our innocent little playdate, a local bureaucrat hit the proverbial panic button, and decided she should double down…
The borough manager, Andrea Coaxum, sent a township worker out (unmasked and ungloved) to cover the play structures with orange snow fencing as the kids still played. We were told the next step would be to “uninstall the playground” if we didn’t stay away. She also posted a string of lies on the borough Facebook page, accusing us of vandalism and suggesting we broke into the playground (which is actually completely open on 2 sides 
).
What did we do next? We banded together, and for the first time we said NO. We said MAKE ME. Within a few days we had assembled about 100 wonderful people, and we came back to that very playground, much stronger. The women put up signs and were cursed at by an angry neighbor. The men removed every zip tie, bundled up the orange snow fencing neatly, and left it on a nearby picnic table with a note our resident attorney wrote. 
We watched over the kids as they played, but this time no enforcement came.
This group had existed for a few weeks prior to that day, but it was in those first acts of disobedience that ReOpen Bucks was really born. The message became — reopen our world, or WE WILL. Let our children enjoy normal, or WE WILL. It was born out of glaring necessity.
Since then, we have never stopped being willing to stand up when and where we’re needed. We’ve steadily grown in numbers, in strength, and it surprises me most of all to say that we have grown in influence, too. 
Bureaucrats quietly watch us and worry about what we’ll do next. Secret tipsters let us know that we continue to make a difference behind the scenes. Hi bureaucrats. Hi tipsters. 
Within two days of our first playground emancipation, Bucks emergency services released a bulletin directing all playgrounds to open. Perkasie breathed a sigh of relief and folded immediately, as did many other municipalities, but not all. The rest of them, well, let’s say we spent the next several weeks helping them along in the reopening process. 
And the mission spread to Montco. And New Jersey. And in time playground closures became a thing of the past.
Next we focused on helping the defiantly reopening businesses, bringing them together, getting the straight facts about what they’d face if they dipped their toes into defiant waters, sending them support. The ReOpen Schools movement was born that summer, and in the same spirit, moms and dads have stood in front of the system that wants us to surrender our children into the abyss of fear and control and said NO. MAKE ME. Bucks County Sports Association became a bold refuge for normalcy in sports when everyone else cancelled seasons or masked up the kids.
Why am I reflecting on all of this now? Not to pat ourselves on the back, but to remind you (and me) that living as free people, that standing strong in the face of threats and intimidation and saying NO. MAKE ME. — that is our identity. That is our strength. That, I hope, is our legacy.
We do not ask for permission. We do not look to spineless politicians to save us. We celebrate political wins as they happen, like this Tuesday’s Constitutional amendments, but we know that the real wins come in the dirt.
They come when you get on your hands and knees and dig out a fence post in front of an embarrassed police officer who was sent to bully your kids off a playground with his loud speaker. They come when you open the back door to your gym or your salon and let the first few nervous clients through. They come when you expose the collusion between unions and school administrators, no matter the cost. They come when you decide to recreate the normal that our world has been so sorely lacking. They come when you show your face in public, even when no one else will. They come when you refuse to let someone in a white coat poke you with something you don’t need or want. They come when you say NO. MAKE ME.
We do not allow ourselves to be governed in our daily lives by bureaucracy, signage, mandates, or bullies. We do not compromise when it comes to restoring normalcy, especially for our children. And we never will. 
