On tax day (April 15, 2010), it was proved that the Branch County Tea Party is here to stay. First held a year ago to protest excessive government spending, this event was actually the fifth tea party held in Coldwater. At least 130 people participated in the event. A group called the Common Sense Patriots of Branch County has been formed which meets monthly. Interestingly, the participants of the tea party and the Patriots are not of any one particular political party, but rather are common, concerned citizens. Originally focused on excessive government spending, these citizens are especially concerned about our elected officials ignoring the majority will of the people and hastily voting in legislation that the people don't want, such as the health care bill. The call to action was to gather support to vote in replacements to these officials in November. As further proof that the Tea Party is not something that Washington can ignore and will go away, an anti-Tea Party group was also present, calling themselves the "Pizza Party" (see bottom of picture at right). The mere existence of such groups protesting the protesters indicates that they now see the Tea Party as a viable threat. Never in recent history have common citizens come together in such numbers in a unified protest against government, so it will be interesting to see how this will affect the election in November, our government, and ultimately, our laws and way of life.