Memorial Fund for Gabriel

It is with a heavy heart that I write this today because I miss a little boy named Gabriel. Watching his brother Raven and his father Woodstock, a/k/a Loren David O'Connor, suffer through the pain of their loss while trying to make arrangements for his burial, memorial and wake is really hard. Gabriel Jaden Coates was with us for a short 3 years, 2 months and 2 days, yet he has made a profound impression on the hearts of people that will last forever. He left this earth to enter the spirit world on Sunday, May 24, 2009 at about 11 am. Gabriel fell into the water of the Antelope Creek, which was fast moving and deep. His body was recovered by very compassionate rescue workers about two hours later.

Woodstock, Raven, his friends and family are sort of moving in a state of unreal shock. Things need to get done. So we are helping in whatever way we can. Funds are urgently needed to buy the casket and to buy a plot where he will be laid to rest. Please spread the word and help in whatever way you can.

Please visit the dedication site for Gabriel at http://www.angelsforgabriel.org. News and information about his memorial, burial and wake will be posted on this blog. Lots of pictures will be loaded soon that I took of the gathering site where little Gabriel drowned. We took photos of the creek and the campsite where he laughed, played and enjoyed. There is a very spiritual picture on the site now that shows what we believe is Gabriel's spirit that appeared while Woodstock and I were standing by the stream talking about Gabriel, about what happened, about his life, about what to do now. It is then that we both felt his presence and a butterfly landed on Woodstock after that moment. I took a photo in the direction of where they found Gabriel's body in the water and that is where the column of light appeared. It was an intense, sad, happy, etherical time.

We will be assisting Woodstock with transferring of funds to the Funeral home when it is placed on the paypal in the amount we need. The general manager Chris Girdner at the Girdner Funeral Chapel is giving us until Tuesday at closing time to come up with the total for the casket. This is urgent. Other arrangements are being made and other funds are needed very much. Please email angelsforgabriel@gmail.com if you have questions or if you want to help in some way.

The Forest Service, the fire department, the Siskiyou county Sheriff's department, the Fish and Game dept. personnel, and the townspeople volunteers from Tennant were very gentle, kind, compassionate during the entire ordeal. We are all grateful to them for the way they handled this situation.

I have many things to write and memorial signs and brochures to make, and a website to update, so please help us facilitate this link being spread far and wide to get the funds together. Gabriel deserves a decent casket, memorial, burial and wake. Help us give him that much, please. Woodstock should not have to concern himself with money at a time like this. Right now we are all camping in our rigs while this is all taking place, so family please plug into this compassionate service.

Much love and blessings.
Summer Breeze on behalf of Woodstock, Raven, Gabriel & Raven and
Jazzy all his friends and family.

Highlights of Events

It has been awhile since I posted here, so I will start with a highlighted list of events that are of interest in the peaceable free assembly quest to preserve rights under the first amendment of the Constitution of these united States of America.

As the peace and healing gatherings continue regionally around the nation and internationally around the world, so also continues the talks with the Forest Service in general and the Undersecretary of Agriculture Mark Rey, in particular.

Forgive me as I write these notes without benefit of files or verified information. This post will be edited later for accuracy.

• The first meeting with Undersecretary of Agriculture Mark Rey took place on April 20, 2007 at 1:00 pm eastern time. (4-20) Present were Mark Rey, John Twiss, John ?, Raven, Summer Breeze and Thomas from Proposition One Committee. On the phone was Attorney Brian Michaels of Eugene, Oregon along with his secretary Sephira, who took notes and later shared them with the family. Other folks called in on a conference line.
• Thanksgiving Council took place some where near Taos, New Mexico. Information will be forthcoming.
• The annual gathering of the tribes of the rainbow family of living light will take place in New Mexico in 2009. The site will be determined at a spring council gathering to be held at a site that will be announced in the future once the scouts look at different locations and determine a site nearest the possible sites.
• Raven and Summer Breeze met with Undersecretary Mark Rey and two other individuals whose names need to be confirmed and later posted. This meeting took place November 12, 2008 at the Federal Office of the Department of Agriculture in Washington DC. The meeting lasted one hour beginning at 4 pm eastern time. It was an informal talk session to discuss “what next” and touch on what happened these past two years as an alternative means of compliance under the current Code of Federal Regulations 36 CFR 251 & 261.
• Two gatherings operated as a matter of record as legal gatherings without a signed permit as required in previous years. Arkansas in 2007 and Wyoming in 2008 were a co-operative effort to explore the possibility of an alternative means of compliance without fully changing the regulation.
• The next phone conference between Mark Rey, the Forest Service representatives and liaison and the rainbow gatherers, will be held December 9, 2008 at 4pm Eastern Time. Twenty individuals will be able to call in on this teleconference as an imposed limit due to the nature of the call line. Raven and Summer Breeze will be present in person at the United States Department of Agriculture building in Washington DC. Summer Breeze will attempt to take some clear notes. It is the hope that this meeting will be recorded by family as happened at about three other phone conferences in the past. It would be encouraging for several other people to take notes and compare.
• Audio tapes of previous phone conferences with Mark Reyare available at One Tin Soldier, the original recordings being hosted on Garage Band thanks to Marty Who Likes to Party from the New York Lacona Tribe. Thanks so much for the love, Marty.
• Audio files are available on the top right side bar of One Tin Soldier.
• The ACLU has taken an interest in the events of police misconduct which occurred at the Wyoming 2008 gathering. In particular, an incident took place at Kiddie Village where Shanti Sena and other folks including children, were shot with rubber bullets and mace balls.
• Files of lawsuits, court cases, and testimonies as well as the ACLU letter for Wyoming 2008 is available at PCU//Free Assembly. Visit Scottie’s site and offer information to help complete the records, if you have any. Support Scottie in his work as well.
• There is an internal investigation into the event at kiddie village to determine whether the conduct of Forest Service Incident Command Team officers was in violation of proper procedure. The investigation is also to determine whether any “rainbows” provoked the incident or escalated it in any way, as per the Undersecretary of Agriculture Mark Rey. In Mark Rey’s words, “I viewed the tapes of the kiddie village incident, and to be honest, as an onlooker it would be hard for me to tell who is friend and who is foe.” This is a direct quote of a statement made to Raven and Summer Breeze at the November 12, 2008 “what next” meeting with Mark Rey.
• Undersecretary of Agriculture Mark Rey requested the investigation from the internal affairs department.
• Dear friend and scout for rainbow gatherings of many years, Sailor, made an announcement on agr around Thanksgiving, that he is not expected to live past Christmas. Write your farewells to this dear brother and friend of many years to many rainbows, who scouted many a trail and caught lots of fish, so Sailor can read your words while he is still alive. Email Sailor at x989@earthlink.net and send comfort to his lovely wife, sweet sister, Sailor’s soul mate, Catherine, at cebax@earthlink.net. Sailor has invited family to visit on his boats with prior notice to share the remaining days of his life in family fellowship. I dearly and truly wish I could be there but Raven and I have to finish this work in Washington DC.
• Karin Zirk of San Diego, California maintains a couple blogs of distinction which chronicle events of the gatherings. Visit the Wyoming blog or the New Mexico blog. Send Karin your information of events of concern to the annual gatherings.
• Rainbow Justus is seeking photos, documentation of harassment or court trials, testimonies of any information regarding gathering rights and justice. Send your videos, your events, your documents or information or audio files to themidnightwriter1@gmail.com with permission to publish and your contact information. Help us complete the history of this making of a walking.
• The Making of A Walking website covers the time during Summer Breeze’s ticketing, trials, arrest and gatherings for a ticket she received in Michigan 2002.
• On September 11, 2007, the first gathering of the Mountain Spirit Tribe was held in the Ochoco National Forest at Indian Prairie in Oregon. It was held at the same location as the Oregon 97 annual gathering of the tribes of the rainbow family of living light. This 2007 gathering was a reunion and a new beginning of a medicine wheel healing circle which lasted until the reunion date Elijah’s birthday on September 23, 1998.
• A second annual gathering of the Mountain Spirit Tribe took place at Indian Prairie in the Ochoco National Forest from September 1-21, 2008. Raven and Summer Breeze experienced vehicle difficulties which prevented their attendance. Brother David of the pirates showed up to feed and hold the gathering together. Medicine Dancer did not attend to build the sweat lodge this year as he had in 2007.
• Brother Tyson Schrade went missing in the Ochoco National Forest during the Mountain Spirit Tribe gathering in September 2008. According to the last information received from authorities, Tyson Schrade was never found. Pray that this brother has wandered off with friends some where down the trail and that he will be located safe and well. His mother really needs closure and so does the rainbow family. Tyson is a friend of ours so this is close to home.

The Midnight Writer

Twiss Retiring on All Hallows Eve

According to the Undersecretary of Agriculture Mark Rey, the Federal Director of Law Enforcement John Twiss is retiring on October 31, 2008. John is returning home to South Dakota to spend more time with his wife after a long career with the Forest Service. His career as Federal Director of Law Enforcement in his association with the Rainbow Gatherings has been a very controversial term of service and a rocky road for a lot of folks close to these events.

Good Journey John Twiss. DC will be different without you.

May the Lord Bless us with a decent and fair individual with a compassionate heart for the free assembly, peace and love cause of the rainbow gatherings.

All We Are Saying is Give Peace A Chance.
No guns in our church of nature. Safety for our children in kiddie village.

The Midnight Writer

What's Happening in the Forests?

Back to Story - Help

Mexican marijuana cartels sully US forests, parks

By TRACIE CONE, Associated Press Writer2 hours, 40 minutes ago

National forests and parks — long popular with Mexican marijuana-growing cartels — have become home to some of the most polluted pockets of wilderness in America because of the toxic chemicals needed to eke lucrative harvests from rocky mountainsides, federal officials said.

The grow sites have taken hold from the West Coast's Cascade Mountains, as well as on federal lands in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia.

Seven hundred grow sites were discovered on U.S. Forest Service land in California alone in 2007 and 2008 — and authorities say the 1,800-square-mile Sequoia National Forest is the hardest hit.

Weed and bug sprays, some long banned in the U.S., have been smuggled to the marijuana farms. Plant growth hormones have been dumped into streams, and the water has then been diverted for miles in PVC pipes.

Rat poison has been sprinkled over the landscape to keep animals away from tender plants. And many sites are strewn with the carcasses of deer and bears poached by workers during the five-month growing season that is now ending.

"What's going on on public lands is a crisis at every level," said Forest Service agent Ron Pugh. "These are America's most precious resources, and they are being devastated by an unprecedented commercial enterprise conducted by armed foreign nationals. It is a huge mess."

The first documented marijuana cartels were discovered in Sequoia National Park in 1998. Then, officials say, tighter border controls after Sept. 11, 2001, forced industrial-scale growers to move their operations into the United States.

Millions of dollars are spent every year to find and uproot marijuana-growing operations on state and federal lands, but federal officials say no money is budgeted to clean up the environmental mess left behind after helicopters carry off the plants. They are encouraged that Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who last year secured funding for eradication, has inquired about the pollution problems.

In the meantime, the only cleanup is done by volunteers. On Tuesday, the nonprofit High Sierra Trail Crew, founded to improve access to public lands, plans to take 30 people deep into the Sequoia National Forest to carry out miles of drip irrigation pipe, tons of human garbage, volatile propane canisters, and bags and bottles of herbicides and pesticides.

"If the people of California knew what was going on out there, they'd be up in arms about this," said Shane Krogen, the nonprofit's executive director. "Helicopters full of dope are like body counts in the Vietnam War. What does it really mean?"

Last year, law enforcement agents uprooted nearly five million plants in California, nearly a half million in Kentucky and 276,000 in Washington state as the development of hybrid plants has expanded the range of climates marijuana can tolerate.

"People light up a joint, and they have no idea the amount of environmental damage associated with it," said Cicely Muldoon, deputy regional director of the Pacific West Region of the National Park Service.

As of Sept. 2, more than 2.2 million plants had been uprooted statewide. The largest single bust in the nation this year netted 482,000 plants in the remote Sierra of Tulare County, the forest service said.

Some popular parks also have suffered damage. In 2007, rangers found more than 20,000 plants in Yosemite National Park and 43,000 plants in Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park, where 159 grow sites have been discovered over the past 10 years.

Agent Patrick Foy of the California Department of Fish and Game estimated that 1.5 pounds of fertilizers and pesticides is used for every 11.5 plants.

"I've seen the pesticide residue on the plants," Foy said. "You ain't just smoking pot, bud. You're smoking some heavy-duty pesticides from Mexico."

Scott Wanek, the western regional chief ranger for the National Park Service, said he believes the eradication efforts have touched only a small portion of the marijuana farms and that the environmental impact is much greater than anyone knows.

"Think about Sequoia," Wanek said. "The impact goes well beyond the acreage planted. They create huge networks of trail systems, and the chemicals that get into watersheds are potentially very far-reaching — all the way to drinking water for the downstream communities. We are trying to study that now."

Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Tyson Schrade Update

http://www.centraloregonian.com/PCONews1.shtml

www.CentralOregonian.com (541) 447-6205 558 N. Main St., Prineville, OR 97754
Active search for missing hiker concluded Tyson Schrade remains missing after more than a week of searching By Kevin Gaboury
After searching in vain for a 27-year-old missing hiker for more than 10 days, Crook County Search and Rescue (SAR) officials suspended the search for Tyson Schrade on Monday pending further developments in the case.
Schrade, a Salem resident, reportedly disappeared from a Rainbow Family gathering near Indian Prairie in the Ochoco National Forest on Sept. 11, but SAR officials weren't notified until Sept. 13.
"The search is ongoing. It's not the (SAR) command trailer and the big parade of volunteers, but we're not giving up," said Crook County Special Services Commander Brandon Smith. "We're still investigating this and we're hoping some clues might give us an idea of where else to look."
After finding footprints on Sept. 18, that investigators believe are Schrade's, SAR personnel followed them for 2 « miles before reaching a hard-packed dirt road, where the footprints disappeared.
"On the last day, we walked along that road about six miles, flanking it and trying to find clues, but we just couldn't come up with anything," Smith said.
The footprints, which matched Schrade's print pattern and size, led investigators north through the rugged area of the Bridge Creek Burn before vanishing.
Smith said that on any given day of the search, there were approximately 20 SAR volunteers from Wheeler, Crook and Deschutes counties looking for Schrade, along with helicopters, airplanes and dogs - and they also utilized some less conventional methods, including the use of a psychic at the request of Schrade's mother.
However, officials are now concerned that with the recent drop in temperature, Schrade may have succumbed to hypothermia. If this is the case, Smith said he may have left behind some clothing, which could lead to his whereabouts.
"He wasn't really dressed for the elements," Smith said. "We had really cold nights last week, and he probably would have started shedding clothing. During hypothermia, the body makes you think that you're hot."
The Crook County SAR encourages hunters and anyone else in the area to keep an eye out for a studded belt, black pants cut below the knee, a black t-shirt with AUDIO written in white and a conductor-style hat - the last clothes that Schrade was seen wearing.
Schrade is described as a Caucasian male, 5' 10" in height and weighing 175 lbs. He has dark brown hair cut into a Mohawk and blue eyes.
Despite the recent developments, Smith has a feeling that Schrade is still out there.
"I'm about 80 percent certain he's still out in those woods, but there's a 20 percent chance that he jumped in with somebody and got a ride out of there," he said. "We think because of his medical condition that he's up there somewhere."
Schrade's condition reportedly causes hallucinations and delirium tremens (DTs), which are normally associated with alcohol withdrawal. It is unknown whether this was the case in Schrade.
However, Smith feels that this situation could have been prevented if Schrade had received help earlier.
"It's really a tragedy that the folks there weren't decent enough to call authorities when he was exhibiting medical problems the night before," Smith said. "He should have been hospitalized that night, but the folks there refused to do that. Then, with the conditions they knew he had, they allowed him to wander into the woods and didn't call us for two days. My heart goes out to the Schrade family."

Timeline of Schrade search

Story copied from http://kohd.com/news/local/45469
Search for Missing Man
09/22/08 Ochoco Nat'l Forest

Progress is made in the search for 27 year old Tyson Schrade who wandered away from a gathering in the Ochoco Nat'l Forest in Wheeler County last Thursday. Below is the timeline of the search.

Monday, September 22, 2008

On Saturday afternoon after 8 days of searching, officials have suspended the search for Tyson Schrade pending further developments in the case. We are asking that anyone that may be in that area keeps their eyes open for a studded belt, black pants cut right below the knee, a black t-shirt with AUDIO written in white, and a conductor's hat. Please notify Crook County Sheriff's Offfice if you have any information.

Friday, September 19, 2008 Update
Searchers will return to the Search area today to continue to track foot prints followed yesterday. Ground teams will continue searching in the hopes of finding new clues to determine Tyson's direction of travel.
Thursday, September 18, 2008 Update

Wednesday's Search was very productive. Searchers located a set of foot prints heading to the north toward private land and through the recent Bridge Creek burn. Searchers followed the tracks nearly 1 mile through very rugged terrain. The shoe print pattern and size are consistent with Tyson's.

10 Searchers from the Crook County Sheriff's Office and the Wheeler County Sheriff's Office will return to the Search area today in an attempt to re-locate and follow these foot prints. We would like to thank the public for all of the tips that have come in.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008 Update

The Search for Tyson Schrade will continue for today. Search crews will focus their efforts on a location to the East of the gathering.

Tuesday , September 16, 2008 Update

Thirty Search and Rescue Personnel representing Wheeler County, Crook County, Deschutes County and the United States Forest Service returned to the area around Indian Prairie. Tyson's family arrived in Prineville today to assist with the search.

Monday, September 15, 2008 Update

The Search Continues for Tyson Schrade. The Civil Air Patrol and Crook County Search and Rescue searched the Ochoco National Forest today. Tyson Schrade's family has been located in Northern California and is on their way to Prineville to assist in the search efforts. Authorities appreciate the assistance of the public and are following up on leads.

Sunday, September 14, 2008 Update

Members of the Wheeler County Sheriff's Office, Crook County Sheriff's Office, and Crook County Search and Rescue volunteers continue to look for Tyson Schrade (pronounced Schrad E) in and around the Indian Prairie area. Information gathered today leads authorities to believe that Tyson is more than likely still in the forest and we are looking for the publics help. If anyone has seen Tyson or a person meeting Tyson's description, please contact the Wheeler County or Crook County Sheriff's Office.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

While performing Search and Rescue training on Saturday September 13, 2008, the
Crook County Search and Rescue Team was flagged down by Rainbow Gathering participants near Indian Prairie in the Ochoco National Forest, Wheeler County Oregon. The Search and Rescue Team was informed that Tyson Glenn Schrade (age 27) had wandered away from the gathering the morning of Thursday, September 11th.

Tyson is described as a Caucasian male, 5'10", 175 lbs, dark brown hair and blue eyes. Tyson was last seen wearing black cut off "Dickies" style work pants, a black t-shirt with 6"-8" white horizontal lettering on the front spelling out the word "Audio". Tyson has a Mohawk style hair cut, but was last seen wearing a train conductor's hat. Tyson may be suffering from a medical condition causing hallucinations and delirium.

At this time, it is unclear if Tyson is in the forest or has hitched hiked out of the area. If anyone has information about Tyson Schrade's whereabouts, please contact the Wheeler or Crook County Sheriff's Office

Search for Tyson Suspended

Search for missing Salem man suspended

Posted: Sep 15, 2008 05:38 PM PDT

Last Updated: Sep 22, 2008 04:57 PM PDT

Flyer prepared by Crook County Sheriff's Office for missing man, Tyson Schrade

Reportedly had joined 'Rainbow' gathering; mother fears for son

By Amy Easley, Tony Fuller and Kate Paul, KTVZ.COM

Searchers east of Prineville on Thursday found more footprints, for a total of 2 1/2 miles after two days, but so far have not found a Salem man missing for a week in very rugged terrain, Crook County sheriff's deputies said.

But on Saturday afternoon, after eight days of searching, officials suspended the search for Tyson Schrade, 27, pending further developments in the case.

Crook County authorities asked on Monday that anyone who is in the Indian Prairie area look out for a studded belt, black pants cut right below the knee, a black T-shirt with "AUDIO" written in whit, and a conductor's hat. You're asked to notify Crook County sheriff's deputies with any information

Shoe prints in a pattern and size consistent with Schrade were found heading to the north, toward private land and through the area burned by the recent Bridge Creek Fire, deputies said.

Ten Crook and Wheeler county deputies returned to the search area Thursday and followed the footprints, using a GPS tracking device to connect the dots, so to speak.

They said it looked like Schrade was heading north from Indian Prairie to a forest road, but that the footprints stopped. So he might have hitched a ride out of the area, but definitely spent some time in the forest.

Since he left the campsite without his backpack, he apparently had no extra clothes if it got cold, nor any food.

His mother, Denice, has been handing out flyers around Prineville.

Deputies offered thanks to the public for al the tips that have come in as to Schrade's whereabouts. And they said they'd keep searching, as long as new clues arise.

The Salem man was reported missing last Saturday, two days after leaving a group of fellow campers near the Bridge Creek Wilderness Area on the Ochoco National Forest.

Two Civil Air Patrol planes from Bend and Medford flew Monday to help Wheeler and Crook county sheriff's deputies search for the man, last seen Sept. 11 near the wilderness area, about 40 miles northeast of Prineville, said sheriff's Deputy Will Osborn.

Crook County Undersheriff Jim Hensley said Schrade was reported missing Saturday night after leaving a group of friends last Thursday morning at the Spirit Mountain Festival in the Indian Prairie area of Wheeler County.

Osborn said Schrade had been camping in the area with the Rainbow Family, a group that frequently holds gatherings in the national forests during the summer.

Wednesday's focus for search crews was on a location to the east of that gathering, officials said. On Tuesday, 30 search and rescue personnel returned to the area, as Tyson's family arrived in Prineville to assist in the search.

Hensley said Crook County Sheriff's Search and Rescue members were in the area on a training exercise when they were contacted by the group. He said an investigation has determined the man could have gotten a ride out of the area, or could be hiding out in the wilderness.

A ground search was conducted Sunday in the area covered with thick underbrush, Osborn said, and another took place Tuesday.

Schrade was described as 5-foot-11 and 160 pounds, with brown hair in a mohawk and blue eyes.

Anyone with information as to his whereabouts was asked to contact Crook or Wheeler county authorities.

"My son has a medical condition, and I don't know if he is going to make it out of here," said Denice Schrade. "So if anybody sees anything odd - he was wearing all black - he is definitely in trouble."

Brandon Smith, Crook County Search and Rescue commander, said, "What we're hoping for is that some woodcutters or some hunters might be able to see him or maybe spot some clothing from this gentleman, and give us some clues, so we know where to search."

But Denice Schrade added, "They're saying the odds aren't so good.  I just want him found, one way or the other, because I don't know if I can live with him just being missing forever, and I just want him found."

Two days later, she was still trying to hold out hope, but said, "I just don't understand."

Footloose

In the year 2004, I was arrested at the California Rainbow gathering for gathering on National Forest System lands without a permit. The original citation was given to me two years prior in July 2002 in Michigan during that annual rainbow gathering. Two years later after court hearings and a second arrest, the forest service took me into custody and transported me to five facilities around the nation.

After thirty days of no contact with my family, or any one, my daughter drove from Pennsylvania to Michigan to take me to her home. At the same time, my husband Raven and dearly departed friend, Shanti Sena Luke, were on their way to rendezvous with me in New Mexico at the home of our dear friend Indian Bob.

During the entire drive from Michigan to Pennsylvania, I listened over and over to Footloose with my daughter Shannon's blessing. She knew I was happy to be free.

Listen to the song and you will understand why I chose this one as my freedom song.

insert the video here....

 

During the time of my first arrest and three arraignments in Sacramento Federal court, I traveled by train from Mount Shasta to Sacramento. With one week between each hearing, I prepared documents for court, consulted with Raven and family and friends to prepare my case. My favorite inspirational song during that time was "Eye of The Tiger."