A protest of one

On March 24, thousands of people converged upon Washington D.C. to attend the “March for Our Lives,” a protest that had been organized in the aftermath of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Fla. At the same time, an estimated 800 marches were taking place in cities around the nation and the world. In the town of Riverside, population 52, one lone protester was present.

Pat Laird taught second-grade students at the Saratoga Elementary School (SES) for 25 years, teaching altogether for 38 years, before retiring in 2005. Laird’s room was closest to the front entranc...