RAINBOW FARM DEATHS REMEMBERED

Supporters Mark Fifth Anniversary of Campground Standoff.

CASSOPOLIS -- Five years after Rainbow Farm burned to the ground,
"Rainbow Guitar Joe" -- holding a lime-green poster displaying the
names of the two friends he's known since junior high -- remembers
only the good times.

Joseph Mellott used to play around all the campfires his friends set
up during several festivals advocating the decriminalization of marijuana.

And the Niles resident was one of the original tractor drivers who
hauled hundreds to thousands of visitors into his friends' popular
Vandalia campground before the two were gunned down during a police standoff.

"I knew these guys all my life and I knew them a lot more at the
end," said Mellott, sporting a rainbow painted on his left cheek
Monday. "They're the best friends you could have."

But five years have passed since Mellott played Pink Floyd's "Wish
You Were Here" for Grover "Tom" Crosslin, 46, and Rolland "Rollie"
Rohm, 28. The two were killed in a police standoff over Labor Day
weekend in September 2001 following a battle involving drug charges
and personal-rights protests.

Crosslin and Rohm owned and operated the famous Rainbow Farm
Campground and avidly supported the movement to legalize marijuana in
the United States, organizing several festivals and concerts.

But the festivals featured rampant illegal drug use and sales,
according to police. This led to undercover surveillance, police
raids and criminal drug charges that could have landed Crosslin in
prison for more than 20 years and Rohm for 15.

A lethal five-day standoff occurred after Crosslin failed to appear
in court, and neighbors said the two men were carrying weapons and
setting fire to buildings on the property.

After a helicopter from South Bend's WNDU-TV received rifle fire
while flying over the 37-acre campground, FBI officials and Michigan
State Police blocked off the property and maintained 24-hour
surveillance. Both men were eventually killed by police sharpshooters.

"We knew it was done as soon as the FBI showed up," said organizer
Melody Karr, of Mesick, Mich., Monday. "We knew they weren't getting
out of there. I don't know what it tells you, but it tells you something."

The headline-making story out of southwestern Michigan was turned
into a book published in June titled "Burning Rainbow Farm: How a
Stoner Utopia Went Up in Smoke," by Dean Kuipers.

On Monday, about 20 supporters gathered in front of the old Cass
County Courthouse, holding placards with messages such as "Those guys
didn't deserve that. Where is the justice?" and "The marijuana
culture an endangered species, just like the buffalo."

Several passing drivers honked, holding their thumbs up, waving,
offering peace signs and showing power fists.

"I like to think of them as the unseen demonstrators because not
everybody wants to be out on the corner," Karr said.

Her mission is to remember Crosslin and Rohm as people who not only
supported legalizing marijuana but several other ideas, including the
Green and Libertarian parties' environmental, peace and injustice
issues, she said.

Demonstrators Monday also displayed signs denouncing Scott Teter, the
Cass County prosecutor who began the investigation into Rainbow Farm
and who is now running for judge, said supporter Trena Moss, of
Michigan's Hillsdale County.

Mellott said he believed the Sept. 11, 2001, New York City terrorist
attacks that clouded news of the Rainbow Farm shooting "was
punishment from God for the people who were doing the wickedness."
And for those who question whether the supporters promote drugs to
young children, he said no.

"We're educating kids on drugs so they don't experience the things
that we as kids experienced that no one ever told us about," Mellott
said, sporting his red "Hemp Aid '98 Peace Police" T-shirt.