For several years, I’ve been badgering my grade school friend Noah Elkin—who grew up in East Chatham—to find the photographs he took of Larry (“Ollie”) North Day, which took place in Philmont in 1987.
Lo and behold, Noah has managed to find ’em... A gallery of a dozen or so images, depicting both pro-Ollie marchers and anti-U.S.-imperialism protesters on August 15th, 1987 can be found here.
The gallery includes a short essay of Elkin’s memory of the day, the mood of the crowds, and how people reacted to the sudden national media attention.
North had grown up in Philmont, but no longer lived there, and declined to attend. Since then, he has been a FOX News commentator, and now heads the National Rifle Association. To this writer’s knowledge, he has not visited Philmont in the past few decades.
The march took place shortly after the conclusion of the Iran-Contra hearings, and just a few days after President Ronald Reagan made his first public statement on the scandal, in which his administration ignored the specific prohibition of Congress not to arm the anti-Communist Nicaraguan CONTRAs. Reagan offered a tepid apology, sloughing most of the blame off on National Security Adviser John Poindexter.
North had been instrumental in enacting the plan, likely devised by then-CIA director Bill Casey, and had been caught among other things shredding evidence of the illegal plot. George H.W. Bush infamously pardoned five of the convicted conspirators during his first year in office, including Eliot Abrams (who is back in the news as Trump’s point man in the effort to foment a coup in oil-rich Venezuela).
The Ollie rally was big local news, but happened to coincide with another potentially-explosive local event, the start of the Wyley Gates trial. Gates was a Canaan teenager who confessed roughly six months earlier to “shooting his father, his father's girlfriend, his brother and a 3-year-old cousin,” according to The New York Times. However, the local jury eventually “acquitted the youth of murder charges, citing shoddy police work and a coerced confession,” and Gates was only convicted of felony conspiracy.
As a result, the Philmont rally became only the second most important story of the day in local papers. A look at the stories of the day adds some additional details to the North Day festivities (or outrage, depending on how you look at it). Reports in the Register-Star stated that:
— North’s mother “called the village hall and said upon the advice of counsel, her son will not attend.”
— Catholic Reverend Charles Gaffigan declined to participate in an “ecumenical church service” planned for the occasion, saying it was “an inappropriate occaison for a religious service,” and it was scrapped.
— Copake resident Paul Marcel said he bought a commemorative t-shirt because “someday this thing will be a collector’s item.” (Is it someday yet?)
— The parade was organized by Sharon Johnson “to support [North] in his time of trouble, with the indulgence of Mayor “Po” Mossman, who was eager to boost flagging attendance at Philmont’s annual community day. Johnson claimed it would be Philmont’s “biggest celebration since servicemen returned home at the end of World War II.”
– 20 State troopers, County sheriffs, and Philmont's own “constabulary” monitored the event; Mayor Mossman “denied reports that he had alerted the National Guard” about it.
— North proponents “warned the crowd that Communist-backed forces are coming dangerously close to the southern borders of the United States,” a sentiment which seems to have recrudesced decades later among Trump supporters.
— There were some “heated arguments,” but mostly prior to the start of the parade. These included a controversy about the intention of a longstanding activist group, Columbia County Citizens for the Prevention of Nuclear War, to hold a press conference. Kathy Stumph of the group said that “I feel the responsibility and obligation to my children and to other young Americans to stand up and take issue with a celebration that mocks the very concept of true heroism.”
— The protesters declined to be a part of the parade, preferring to line the parade route. A teenaged Eddie Coons of Mellenville stated that protesters “have no right coming here and ruining it for everyone.”
— Millerton resident James Brandt held a $15 clambake fundraiser at the Rod & Gun Club to raise funds for a North Defense Fund.
— Then-Senator Al D’Amato and Congressman Jerry Soloman “sent letters of support” but begged off attending.
