Foes of casinos get to practice public protest

What is the perfect activity for a day with temperatures in the low 80s, humidity in retreat, and marshmallow clouds dappling the sky?

A. Going to a river's edge.

B. Having a picnic there.

C. Going to "site-reclamation training" to learn about nonviolent public-protest techniques by pretending to have a riverside picnic.

If you answered C, you are probably unhappy with the prospect of two Philadelphia casinos rising along the Delaware River - and are willing to take action to block them.

"Everyone has been saying it's a done deal . . . but it's not a done deal," said Aileen Moleski, 73, who lives in the city's Bella Vista neighborhood.

Yesterday, Moleski and 26 others attended a session put on by Casino-Free Philadelphia at the Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church at Columbus Boulevard and Christian Street, a few blocks from the proposed Foxwoods casino site.

The mission: Prepare people to stymie groundbreaking for the Foxwoods and SugarHouse casinos.

"We hope not to be doing something like this," said Daniel Hunter, 27, one of the session leaders.

Casino opponents hope Mayor Nutter and other politicians can persuade the developers and Gov. Rendell to move the slots facilities elsewhere in Philadelphia.

They praised a report, delivered Friday to Nutter by urban-design consultants PennPraxis, that said the casinos' suburban-style blueprints "would be better sited elsewhere."

Foxwoods officials are studying the report and will discuss it tomorrow, Foxwoods spokeswoman Maureen Garrity said yesterday.

"We respect their right of freedom of speech and the right to demonstrate," she said earlier about protesters, " but we do expect they will respect our private property."

At yesterday's session, Hunter and fellow trainer George Lakey of Swarthmore College explained that symbolism is as important as and more feasible than stopping a bulldozer.

They said the plan was to provide people with beach balls and food, and send them to the sites to attempt a picnic - a natural use for the riverfront.

The group first practiced inside, playing roles such as protesters, police or construction workers. The real lesson came when they went to the Foxwoods site, where, a Casino-Free Philadelphia news release said, trainees would practice "blockade techniques, such as chaining ourselves to the fence."

They were observed there by more than 10 Philadelphia police officers from the Civil Affairs Unit, including two who videotaped and photographed the scene.

The officers watched at the chain-link gate to Foxwoods, across from the Riverview United Artists Theatres, as the protesters practiced again, beach balls and all. The trainees did not chain themselves to or breach the fence. No arrests were made.

"We'll respect their right to protest and First Amendment right to freedom of speech," said Capt. William V. Fisher, the unit's commanding officer. "But we're not going to tolerate breaking the law."

Some trainees said they were ready to be arrested for trespassing to block the casinos. Others weren't so sure.

"I'm still working on that," said Moleski, who has lived in Bella Vista for more than 40 years. "I've never in my 731/2 years ever been arrested. As awful as that sounds, I would do it."