A crowd of approximately 400 people gathered at City Hall at noon today for the Greta Thunberg-inspired protest dubbed Climate Strike.
It was an active and boisterous group made up mostly of high school students but also many older and younger protesters, a wide number of which carried creative placards and signs.
They sang, they chanted, they listened to fellow protestors who volunteered to speak, and they ventured out on at least three traffic-stopping marches through the downtown streets.
PentictonNow arrived on the scene before the scheduled start time of noon and remained on site to 1:00 p.m. During that span, no one from City Hall addressed the crowd, despite several calls of "Where is the mayor?"
One of the many concerned kids in the crowd today was Julia DeVito, a student at Penticton Secondary School.
"I'm missing my favourite subject right now," she said, her voice cracking with emotion. "I'm here because I'm scared. I'm scared I won't live to fifty, I'm scared for my children, I’m scared for my friends. And I think we need a change in Penticton, and the world."
DeVito said Thunberg was a huge inspiration. "She's amazing. She's a voice for all the youth. You can see all the kids here today, and we know what we want, and we want it now. I know there will be change one day."
Standing next to DeVioto was Rick, another Pen Hi student. "Big government needs big changes. The youth are all over the world are protesting today because we know we're the ones who are going to be living on this planet."
Fellow Pen Hi student Sophie Serendip was one of several young people to stand in front of the crowd and lead the chants.
"This is something that means so much to me that I had to come out of school to protest about it," she said later.
Asked how she had the courage to take the reins, she laughed and said, "I'm in theatre. I have some confidence on stage, so if nobody says anything, I guess I will."
And she had some advice for the older generations. "Please think about every choice you make consciously, whether it's buying something or driving your car. Always think of the repercussions of those actions."
But earlier in the rally, it was a member of the older generation who led the charge. His name was John Barber, a Summerland-based landscape photographer.
"I came here because I care about the climate, and our planet. We've been headed in the wrong direction for a long time. We've been so focused on economic growth that we've neglected everything else that we need for the future."
Also on hand was Margaret Holm of Penticton's climate change informational organization First Things First Okanagan.
Holm said she attended "because municipalities actually have quite a bit of influence on climate action. There's quite a bit we can do at a municipal level, so it's important we stand in front of City Hall."
Earlier in the day, Penticton brew pub Slackwater Brewing was one of several nearby shops that opened their doors to anyone who wanted to create a sign for the rally.
Slackwater's Jason Matthews said the pub was happy to do so. "We're super happy to have the guys and girls make their signs today. It was actually organized by one of our employees, Katie Hurley, and we're thrilled to support her and her endeavor to have the community gain more awareness about climate change."
Hurley, in the midst of fashioning several signs, said she's a big believer is climate change action.
"We need to make a little noise and show people we're paying attention. And part of that is engaging people who are maybe scared to be involved or don't know the steps they can take. But to me, it's really important that people know that every little action matters. We can all start with baby steps."
Also at Slackwater before heading to the rally was Peachland's Lloyd Sotas.
"I think Greta has galvanized a nation of young kids," he said. "It's important that the generations coming are aware of their surroundings and what's going on."
"We're trapped in this Catch 22 where only young kids will make the decisions, because the baby boomers such as my generation basically buggered it all up. I think we need to make atonements for the things that we've taken for granted."
"We have to say we're not buying plastic crap anymore. We'll probably have to start growing our own vegetables. We'll need to have a tidal shift in how we perceive the future and what we're doing to it today."
