500 cram into parks meeting

OREGON - Nearly 500 people surged into the Coliseum Wednesday evening to tell two state senators how passionately they want Lowden and Castle Rock state parks to remain open. "I want to know how you're going to lock a park?" asked Rose Avey of Mount Morris. "It's going to cost more money to lock people out than it would to keep the parks open and let them in. If I ever was to be civilly disobedient ... I just may drive in there myself." Avey attended the meeting with 101-year-old Clarence Mitchell, a Mount Morris author and nature enthusiast who Avey said actually knew Gov. Frank O. Lowden, for whom the park is named. She pleaded with the crowd to speak out against the closures. "Have you called? Have you written a letter? We need to keep a