MONTAGUE CENTER — Before Nov. 5, 2024, Montague Center residents Sarah Bliss and Marina Goldman were strangers. By Feb. 5, they were carpooling to Springfield together to dip their toes in the water of political activism.

Bliss and Goldman are two members of a new group called “Montague Resists,” made up of Montague Center residents who are focusing on community partnership and local civic engagement to work together through the second Trump administration. The Feb. 5 trip to the regional offices of U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey represented the group’s first on-the-ground political action.

But Bliss and Goldman were not alone. Around 75 activists from across Franklin, Hampshire, Berkshire and Hampden counties, including members from Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution, gathered to voice their concerns with what Bliss described as the “constitutional crisis and coup underway by Elon Musk and President Donald Trump.”

During two meetings with Jesse Lederman, regional director for Markey, and Mark Antonio Williams, regional director for Warren, the activists “demanded that Sens. Markey and Warren use every tool at their disposal” to “end Musk’s illegal breach of government data, reverse the firing of federal employees and fight the assaults on our communities,” according to Bliss.

According to The Associated Press, advocacy groups and labor unions have filed lawsuits in an attempt to save agencies and federal worker jobs, and former treasury secretaries are sounding the alarm on the risks associated with the Department of Government Efficiency, spearheaded by billionaire Donald Trump donor Elon Musk, accessing Treasury Department payment systems and potentially stopping congressionally authorized payments.

In an interview, Goldman added that it was nice to thank Markey and Warren “for how hard they are fighting for our democracy.” Moving forward, Montague Resists is planning a civil disobedience training from 12:30 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 1, with a location still to be determined.

While Montague Resists is building momentum, the group began to take shape starting in November, when Bliss and fellow Montague Center residents Laurie Davidson and Jennifer Atlee banded together to host gatherings following the November presidential election. The first of these was the night of the election, and another at Bliss’ home was held in December, with around 40 neighbors attending a potluck.

“We sent out a broad invitation to the community to come together in early December … with the intention of making sense of the radically altered landscape,” Bliss explained.

The December gathering wasn’t about political action, Bliss said, but rather a chance for neighbors to meet and find support in one another.

“One the things that was so powerful was that people were coming together from across circles and stepping outside of their normal circles,” Bliss said of the December gathering, adding that guests processed their thoughts together over a meal.

Davidson, Bliss and Atlee saw the success of this potluck and scheduled another on Jan. 6. Neighbors discussed more direct action and formed sub-groups based on their interests in political, spiritual and civic action. That night was when the group now called Montague Resists was officially formed, alongside other groups dedicated to civic engagement in Montague — a reparations study group focused on Indigenous land that met for the first time earlier this week, a book club, a vulnerable populations protection group, and a spiritual group focused on physical and emotional balance.

All told, around 40 Montague residents are involved in these different groups, and organizers feel the strength of the connections being formed is palpable.

“I think an example of just the connections made is that Sarah and Marina, who traveled to the action out in Springfield on [Feb. 5], hadn’t known each other before these meetings, then were carpooling to the action,” Davidson recounted. While she couldn’t go to Springfield herself, Davidson found a way to be involved by making signs for Goldman and Bliss to take with them. “So there was a way of helping out. Even though I couldn’t physically be there, I could support it.”

Montague Resists and the other sub-groups formed are currently made up of Montague Center residents, but any members of the five villages are encouraged to participate, with Davidson saying they hope other communities will start something similar.

When asked about political affiliation for Montague Resists, Bliss said the perspective is less ideological and more about community engagement — something she feels will help the group continue its forward momentum.

“It’s less about political ideology,” Bliss said. “It’s more about strengthening local civic engagement and interpersonal connections, and really valuing what we have, and saying, if we don’t step in, not just expecting other people to do the work of citizenship.”

For more information on Montague Resists and to receive updates, email MontagueResists@gmail.com.

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