PARIS — As many as 100 people came with flags, signs and bells to the corner of Main Street in Paris and Fair Street in Norway to take part in Thursday evening’s Make Good Trouble demonstration.

Coordinated locally by Western Maine Take Action, Make Good Trouble is an annual nationwide event honoring the late civil rights activist and Georgia U.S. Rep. John Lewis on the day he died in 2020.

The messages Oxford Hills citizens displayed were in support of climate reform, civil and human rights, American workers and the U.S. Constitution, or against President Donald Trump’s deportation policies and the growing influence of billionaires over U.S. politics and economy.

Tobie Gordon, a spokesperson for Western Maine Take Action, said the momentum to take action and be seen is building during Trump’s second presidential term.

“This began about five years ago, with gatherings in Norway on Sundays,” she told the Advertiser Democrat. “In February of this year we began rallying in town again. I had reached out to the original organizers to reinvigorate and grow the group. We’re demonstrating, not every week, on Saturdays.”

Thunderstorms and excessive heat were factors in Thursday’s attendance, but Gordon said some days she has seen upwards of 300-400 people turn out for demonstrations.

An estimated 500 people assembled at Longley Square in Norway for the nationwide No Kings protest on June 14.

Most of the protests are sponsored by national organizations like Good Trouble Lives On, but Gordon said that a locally-produced event a few weeks ago to draw attention to budget and services cuts of Trumps “big, beautiful bill” also brought out an impressive crowd.

Gordon is promoting A Families First rally that will be held at the same spot Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., this one sponsored by MoveOn. The organization’s website describes it as a protest against cuts to health care, Medicaid and food assistance to support billionaire tax cuts.