GILL — What began as a group of eight or nine residents convening weekly on Friday afternoons to protest the Trump administration has grown into a standout that draws together people from across the region, some of whom are continuing their lifelong activism while others are just getting started.

The most recent standout on Friday, April 4 at 4:30 p.m. — the day before “Hands Off!” demonstrations were held nationwide to decry various actions taken by President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk — was one of the largest standouts since it started just after Trump’s inauguration in January. More than 40 residents from across Franklin County and beyond gathered at the intersection where Route 2 meets Main Road, holding banners and signs.

Among the topics featured on the signs that have inspired residents to protest are cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs and veterans’ benefits, eliminating Social Security Administration positions and the rollback of legal protections for immigrants.

This weekly demonstration, spearheaded by Turners Falls resident Edite Cunha, originally started through an email chain. She began by messaging a few of her neighbors with the idea, and since the first protest was held in January with that small group, more people have joined each week. With some of the attendees unable to make it out to larger protests in Boston or Washington D.C., she felt this local option made the resistance to the Trump administration “visible.”

“There’s a whole bunch of us here right now who can’t really leave town, so I thought, ‘I really just want to go stand somewhere visible that’s near me,’” Cunha said about starting the Gill protest.

More people began showing up by word-of-mouth.

“I think it was eight or nine people, and then it’s just kept growing and growing,” she said.

One of the protesters, Turners Falls resident Nina Arnold, has been attending the Gill standout since its beginning. She said it’s been “thrilling” to see the turnout grow.

Like Cunha, Arnold has been engaging in protests for many years. She grew up in Brooklyn, New York, with parents who were both activists, and she recalls participating in the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam in October 1969, which saw participation from an estimated 2 million protesters across the U.S.

In her years of civic engagement, Arnold said she’s never seen anything like the Trump administration, and she’s concerned for Trump’s “blatant disrespect for the law.”

Another Turners Falls resident, Joanne Belair, was attending the Gill standout for the first time with a large American flag. The flag used to belong to her father, who served in the U.S. military.

With this being her first time at Gill’s weekly protests, she said her “frustration” with the Trump administration has grown, and this was an opportunity for her to participate in this community action against the administration.

Despite the frustration that protesters expressed, Arnold spoke to the need to come together as a community amid a divisive political climate.

“I kind of figured that community is the most important thing we’ve got right now,” Arnold said.

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.