20 Sep 2000

mirele@xmission.com (Deana Holmes)

I arrived at the Ontario airport at 11:30 or so, about 45 minutes late. I guess the combined intention beams of Scientology couldn't keep my plane permanently on the ground--the maintenance people in Salt Lake City were able to replace the starter motor in the engine. Brent Stone was waiting there for me. He'd been there for a few hours. Unfortunately, Ontario airport is not a very good place to wait. Apparently they roll up the sidewalks at 6 pm and there isn't a single shop or restaurant open after that.

We drove the hour or so to Hemet, and went to Ida's house, where Keith, Arel and Ida were waiting for us. At that point it was nearly 1 am California time (2 am Utah time). I was DOGGED. I went to bed, and Ida woke us up at 6 am to go out and picket Gold. I was able to stagger out of bed and get ready to picket.

Of course, Scientology thought they were going to neutralize Keith with the 300 yard keepaway order they'd gotten from the judge on Friday. However, they didn't take into account that the Hemet section of the Riverside Press-Enterprise would run an article about Keith on Saturday, complete with picture. Keith had already decided to picket on a street corner in downtown Hemet, and the article only helped his visibility.

Brent, Arel and I headed out to Golden Era Studios, and as we were driving out Sanderson to 79, we ended up behind one of the buses that take SO from the Kirby Arms downtown to Gold. We parked by the Ashlee Shaner memorial which looked like it had been trashed. So I replaced the butterflies and later Barb found the wreath in the bushes and put it back by the cross. Then we got out our signs and started to march up and down the highway. After a while, Barb and her dad showed up (nice work, Scn, you pulled it in) and then after that, Graham and a friend also made it there.

Here are some impressions I had:

* Brent calls the studio building the "Fairy Castle." I examined the building from the perspective of one who has studied medieval history. The castle does have the foreboding look of a medieval fortress--except for one thing. I have never seen a medieval castle that was entirely covered over in beige stucco. But if you substitute stones for the stucco, it becomes clear that the building is designed as a fortress.

* I was unable to confirm if there is razor wire on the inside of the fence in front of the chapel. Of course the fence is wired to alert against intruders.

* There are a whole series of truly ugly monuments on the chapel side of the road. They are concrete rectangles, about two feet long, one foot wide and about 5 inches tall. They say "PRIVATE PROPERTY NO TRESPASSING" on them. Apparently this is what the crew was doing when they left the entire wheelbarrow full of cement to harden because of a previous visit by an SP. The wheelbarrow is still there, located a bit behind a wall with a lot of other junk of the construction type. Really, the owners of the area seem not to care that their area is looking junky.

* Following up on the last comment, there are a lot of "No Trespassing" signs on the Scn property. They're attached to the fence, put on stakes along the road, or in the form of those awful monuments. If you didn't know that you might be trespassing, you ought to know that within five minutes of your arrival. However, it appears that the monuments and signs, as well as the plants that have been put in this summer are encroaching on the state's easement for highway 79. I would like to get a survey of the area, including the road, so I can determine which part is easement and which part is Scientology property. I would not be surprised to find out that their property line actually begins at the fence.

* Brent got a picture of me standing in front of the chapel, while a large crow sat on top of the Scientology "cross" on top of the chapel. Crows are, of course, harbingers of bad luck, and I can say that the area was full of them, landing on buildings and making noise. <JokeAlert I think it would take a number of trained crows to carry off Davey, probably far more than the number of trained eagles. I wonder if Davey looks up and worries about eagles carrying him off?</JokeAlert

* Davey's house is across the road from the main complex. It's up a winding road with a large, well-maintained lawn, shaded by palm trees. I saw another large house being constructed closer to the road, and it's said that this is going to be Davey's new home (the better to see the picketing SPs from).

* Green tarp tech was definitely in evidence, although it was interesting to note that they still haven't put up green tarp on the black fencing that runs along the property. (I suspect the locals wouldn't go for it.) A picketer who stationed herself on the top of the underground tunnel that goes under the road in between the main gate and the lower service gate would find that Scientology stations people to keep them from crossing the road just in case they might see a sign that says "Church of $".

* Sea Org housing construction is well in evidence on the south end of the property, going towards the golf course. I think there are three or four buildings going up. One of the buildings has a Sea Org logo over the main door (the laurel leaves and star). Revenimus. I could not tell from the construction whether it was shoddy or typical. It is apparently dorm-style housing, however.

After we'd been out there for a couple of hours, and the sun was over us and very hot, we decided to pack it in and head over to Ida's. She was preparing a huge spread for us. (Ida loves having the company.) Keith was still picketing on the downtown corner. He didn't come back until later. During that time, Fred Rice and family showed up. Fred was there to help Ida with some stuff around the house. The boys amused themselves by chasing after PIs on their scooter. They left after lunch.

Ah yes, the PIs. I would estimate that we had approximately five PIs in the neighborhood this weekend. I find their presence irritating. Apparently California's vaunted anti-stalking law does not prohibit PIs from doing their thing. You would think that five PIs might rank as blatant overkill and obvious stalking but noooooo. Would-be stalkers ought to note this and do their stalking by proxy. (Gee thanks Scientology!)

The PIs would park on Ida's street, approximately 100 yards or so from the house in each direction. Even though they were pointing their rear ends at the house, they were definitely watching. A person walking towards them would note that first the brake lights would come on, then the car would start to creep forward, and then finally would take off if you got too close. There are other PIs in the neighborhood, and it looks like they remain in radio contact.

After lunch, I had to have a nap, so I fell asleep for a couple of hours. Keith went back out to his corner, and Graham ran out to Gold to picket. We went out there about an hour before darkness, and it was much cooler than earlier. Graham was picketing with a guy that I did not know (and we thought we might have a new PI trying some DA on Graham), but it became clearer when we went up to talk to them. This was DaHatter. He'd driven up from LA to picket. We fixed everyone up with signs, and went to picketing.

My favorite picketing spot was, of course, the underground tunnel. I noticed that they were keeping most everyone away from the tunnel if at all possible, because of that "Church of $" sign I was carrying. One woman in Sea Org dress blues, carrying her jacket on a hanger did go through the tunnel. She held her jacket up to shield herself from the terrible entheta (Church of $). Otherwise, people were being held back. At dark, we decided to pack it in and went back to Ida's for more food and chat. DaHatter went back to LA and Graham and his friend followed along later. We finally went to bed.

Six am on a Sunday morning comes pretty early. I dragged myself out of bed and we got ready faster than the day before. I went outside to enjoy the cool air, and I noticed the PIs were out there. I got irritated at their presence, so I started walking towards one of the cars. The PI noticed me, and started pulling forward. I slowed from a walk to a saunter. The PI slowed down. I then decided I'd surprise this bozo and run. I tore off down the street (I think this PI was probably surprised by how fast a fat woman can run when the adrenalin is flowing) and the PI took off like a shot. While I was unable to catch up with that PI, the lady PI came from the other directon (perhaps he'd radioed to her?) and I was able to say, as she glided by, "How does it feel to spy on a little old lady?" (Apologies to Ida who is a very active woman.) Later I noticed this same lady PI turning into Gold.

Brent, Arel and myself were out at Gold by 7:30. There we noticed something strange. *The place was deserted.* During the whole time we were out there, we could see nobody except for the three people at the guard shack, and Ed Richardson taking pictures behind the shack ("Hi Ed! Long time, no see!"). That was it, except for the gorgeous hawk that was sitting on the fence outside the fairy castle. We were out there for an hour and a half, and at no time did we see anyone. We know that people get bussed in to Gold, and fairly early in the morning (as had happened the day before), but not today. Not a single bus or person was brought in until we left. It was eerie.

One of Scientology's points in the affidavits it has presented in one of the cases Keith Henson is involved in is that the people in Gold are very afraid of Keith Henson. Well, they're also afraid of Deana Holmes, Brent Stone and Arel Lucas. The fact of the matter is that their fear is not of the possibility that Keith might lob ICBMs over their fence (which is a truly ludicrous idea), but that one of the Sea Org might possibly see a sign that says "No OTs Here" (as Brent was carrying) and might actually have doubts. Let's just say that by hiding people from us, Scientology shot themselves in the foot yet again.

As I said, after an hour and a half, we decided that we would go back to Ida's. When we got there, we'd found that Keith had gone to church. Arel wanted to meet up with him there, so Brent and I drove her over. Of course we had our usual PI tail.

There is a little-known arscc (wdne) program called "Take a PI to Church." We think that PIs could use a little bit of religion. So when we were fortuitously driven into the overflow parking lot for this church, the PI also followed. However, because of the crowded conditions (and the PI's sloppy driving abilities) we were able to leave him behind after we dropped Arel off and exited the parking lot. A few turns later, and we were going down another road with no PIs following us. At that point, we decided to stop by the Wal-Mart to buy some more soda for Ida.

After we'd bought the soda, we decided to do a drive-by of Gold to see if the Sea Org had libs for all day, or if they were being brought in to work. As got close to the 79 interchange, we saw one of the Sea Org buses ahead of us, delivering people. Brent and I followed it up the canyon, and then after it had turned in to the lower gate, we went on up the hill. We drove slowly by the guard shack, and I rolled down the window and waved at them. Was that surprise on their faces? I do not know. Then we went to Jack in the Box because I had to have an Ultimate Cheeseburger (we don't have Jack in the Box in Utah and I so love the Ultimate Cheeseburger). After that, we went back to Ida's. Keith and Arel came back not long after that and told the story of their visit to church. I'll let them tell it.

Brent ended up driving Keith and Arel back up to San Jose, as there wasn't a single flight with empty seats anywhere in southern California. (I believe a UCLA game accounted for that.) They did some fancy PI evasion after they left Ida's and I spent the rest of that day resting and watching TV. Ida and I watched a program on Discovery Channel about cults. We saw Steve Hassan (hi Steve!) and he talked a bit about his new book.

Early, early Monday morning I went off to the airport and returned to Salt Lake City. My cats dearly missed me, even though I had someone going in every day to feed them. Apparently there were no revenge pickets when I was gone.

This is true,
Deana Holmes

mirele@xmission.com