Keystone Indivisible to Hold ‘No Kings’ Parade to Ballot Box

This story originally appeared in The Centre County Gazette.

STATE COLLEGE — A local civil advocacy group will hold a non-partisan “No Kings” gathering and parade in an effort to get people out and casting their votes early. 

Organized by Keystone Indivisible, a community gathering before the parade will be held from 1-2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17 at the Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza in downtown State College, where apple cider, donuts and music will be offered. 

Attendees are encouraged to wear costumes and bring signs relating to ongoing issues, but promoting a specific candidate or political party is frowned upon. 

Following the gathering, the crowd will parade from the plaza to the ballot box behind the State College Municipal Building, located at 243 S. Allen St. 

“Now is the time to do more, and so we’re holding this event as a celebration of democracy and a recognition that voting is the action that people need to take,” Keystone volunteer Christy Delafield said.

She continued, “If you want to see a difference, you’ve got to show up and vote. The deadline to request a mail-in ballot is Oct. 27, so really, we’re just trying to encourage people to take that option if it’s convenient for them, if it works best for them.” 

Keystone’s parade comes after a long line of events in Centre County, such as major “No Kings” protests on the Old Main lawn and downtown, Interstate 99 overpass demonstrations and more. 

Most recently, Keystone has been hosting “What’s The Plan?” watch parties, which take place from 3 to 4 p.m. every Thursday at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Centre County, 780 Waupelani Dr., to discuss local initiatives — and more opportunities to get involved with the organization could be on the horizon. 

“There are still a lot of options out there to be for people to do some door knocking, or to carry out voter calls — we could always use more volunteers,” Delafield said. “The only way to protect democracy is to exercise your rights, and the most important one of those is to vote and choose  our leaders.” 

For more information about the upcoming gathering and parade, visit www.keystoneindivisible.org.