In a series of firsts, the 2008 Stark County Life Chain was something to remember. If it would have only been our holding steady with close to over 250 participants, that would have been great. But as a consequence of the November elections and Ohio being a battleground state once more, a TV documentary film crew from the Netherlands attended our Life Chain and their presence could have possibly averted an incident with a local merchant and the Jackson Township police.

Floor Bremer, correspondent from Dutch TV Channel 1, contacted Executive Director Mark Stevenson and requested to profile his family and cover the Life Chain. This documentary film crew had done a series of profiles on Stark County, being the bellwether county of Ohio. They chose several election issues to profile for the Dutch public to view. After some preliminary discussion, the film crew appeared at Mark's house on Life Chain Sunday, filmed the family doing the local newspaper route, leaving their home and worshipping at Cathedral of Life church in Canton, coming back to their home for a quick lunch and attending Life Chain. Charity Stevenson had been a local poster child for the local Life Chain and they targeted her to interview, while participating.

 A distinctive moment had been when Helzberg Diamonds called the Jackson Township Police to

remove participants from the curb. When  the police showed up at Helzberg Diamonds, a Life Chain representative approached a female officer and asked if she was dispatched because of the gathering. She responded an affirmative and that she would be out with management to "physically remove" participants "from the property." Asked if she was aware that the tenants did not own the property, she said that leasing was considered as the same.

With the Dutch TV crew on hand to cover any incident, no one came out of Helzberg Diamonds to create confrontation. Management could be seen peering from a side door, viewing Life Chain participants. One of the news correspondents observed, "I guess this shows how sensitive of an issue this is for Americans?" After speaking with the female officer, a Life Chain representative approached the curb area and started to pray for Helzberg Diamond management to soften their position. It seemed fortunate that the Dutch TV crew was in attendance as it appeared that their presence detoured any further incident. It is difficult to say what would have happened had they not been there to cover our event.

 

Many Life Chain participants could be heard saying this was a year that stood out to them, simply because the event meant more to them personally. One participant stated that he had viewed himself as pro-life for many years, but when he stood on the chain for the first time this year, he felt a connection to the plight of the unborn, and the mothers that need help.

We thank every Life Chain participant and hope to see you on Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009.

The picture at the left, back row, Dutch Film crew, front row, Life Chain and Right to Life board members.