AUGUSTA — About 50 people gathered in the rain Tuesday afternoon in downtown Augusta, decrying the continued recommendations for mask-wearing amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Even so, Gail Geraghty of Norway wore a Halloween mask while talking to reporters at the corner of Water and Winthrop streets, near Maine Center for Disease Control & Prevention offices. She later removed the Halloween mask as other demonstrators held up umbrellas to shield themselves from the rain.

“Enough is enough. Why do you think we’re standing out here in the rain today? Not because we want to, because we feel desperate to get our message across — this has gone on long enough,” Geraghty said.

“Mainers Against Mask Mandates” protested even as Maine enters phase 4 of the pandemic reopening plan, which eases some restrictions that were in place to limit the spread of the COVID-19 illness.

Wearing a mask and social distancing, however, continue to be the best way to limit exposure to the coronavirus, according to the CDC.

Saying she was mad, Geraghty lamented mask-wearing as a new normal that she felt was teaching children to fear and part of a larger “social engineering agenda.” Some children attended the gathering on Tuesday.

“We have a right to choose,” Geraghty said.