Louisville- They are pilgrims on a journey on a narrow road off I-65.
“Spend our time out here walking back and forth and letting the public know about it,” says Everett Sparkman.
Their makeshift home is a duct-taped horse trailer. But its wheels don’t turn. The volunteers vow to stay put until the Lion’s Den disappears.
“Hold up signs, take pictures of people coming in, get license numbers and try to discourage them from going in,” Sparkman says.
“I been here when it’s 3 below zero,” says protestor Don Hall. “Been out here with 40 mile per hour wind, rain, whatever.”
Nearly 40 volunteers take four-hour shifts guarding the bookstore driveway.
“You got a bible, a pair of binoculars, a camera, a flashlight and some crackers,” Hall lists.
Someone is here with a sign every minute of every day, watching.
“Oh yeah, you get all kinds of cussings,” Sparkman says. “Give a few of them back when you get a chance.”
The bookstore owners have tried to get rid of them.
“They come out and take our pictures when we walk across the driveway, put up the fence, trying to fence us off the driveway … Anything else they can think of to intimidate us,” Sparkman says. “It ain’t worked, you can tell that.”
They’ve been here since the summer. They say most people expected them to give up. Instead, the volunteers dug in for the winter.
“That sign out there says God’s watching you when you come in and when you leave it says God saw you, judgment day is coming,” Hall enthuses. “And that has a big effect, has a big effect.”
The volunteers say some people pull over and give $10, $20 or $50 bills to support their work.
A clerk at the Lion’s Den said he couldn’t comment about the protestors. The volunteers post some of the customer’s photos on a website, along with their car’s license plates and descriptions.
