Klan rally met by prayer service, church gatherings

By Dennis Nealon; The Journal Inquirer

Excerpted from The Journal Inquirer: October 8, 1984

More turned out for prayer service,

skating party than for Klan rally

By D.J. Shea

and Dennis Nealon

Staff Writers

EAST WINDSOR – While a small band of hooded Ku Klux Klansmen encircled a burning cross in Ed Thrall’s field Saturday night, less than a mile away about 30 people were praying for Thrall – and the Klan – at a local church.

And the turnout of haters at Thrall’s was dwarfed by another alternative event organized by the town’s churchmen: Some 200 children and adults gathered at an Enfield ice rink for a skating party they had organized.

“Christ is here for all people. We should pray for them. We should pray for the Klan and Ed Thrall. Pray for our children and our town,” the Rev. Russell C. Burchard told the ecumenical gathering at Grace Episcopal Church…