Another holiday, another war over Rainbow Valley
Gideon Israel calls his parties peaceandlove gatherings with drugs
banned but Thurston County officials, others call them drugfests

Karen Hucks; The News Tribune

Gideon Israel says his fourday Fourth of July celebration is a
peaceandlove gathering of folks working to end the federal war against
hemp.

But some children's advocates near his property 23 acres of land on the
Black River south of Littlerock that he calls Rainbow Valley say the
gathering, like all of his others, is a dangerous scene where drugs are
bought, sold and given away to minors.

"It is not a very harmless place," said John Patterson, a teen outreach
counselor. "It's a smorgasbord of some very highend drugs:
methamphetamine, crack, cocaine."

Some of the teens he treats say they've seen everything at Rainbow Valley
from sheets of LSD to guns, said Patterson, who works for the Chehalis
Indian Reservation and Oakville School District in Grays Harbor County,
less than 10 miles from Israel's place in Thurston County.

Israel said that's bunk.

He said drugs, alcohol and violence are banned from Rainbow Valley, where
he holds four gatherings a year that each attract more than 2,000 people a
day. And Israel said if he catches any of his guests selling or using
drugs or alcohol, he throws them out.

"I run them out with a pitchfork," Israel said. "I have no mercy on them
whatsoever. If I walk by somebody who I spot selling, that's it. It's
Armageddon. You are permanently 86'ed from Rainbow Valley."

Even marijuana, which Israel considers a religious sacrament and not a
drug, cannot be sold on his property, he said.

Israel requires anyone under 18 come with a chaperone.

"It's a cheap shot by these people to blame me for the problems of
society," said Israel, who believes legalizing marijuana would cure many
problems. "The adults bring their problems with them."

Thurston County authorities say Rainbow Valley creates problems of its
own. Israel's four summer celebrations a year are unusual because they
attract so many young people, said Ray Hansen, Thurston County sheriff's
chief criminal deputy.

During Israel's most recent gathering, during Memorial Day weekend, Hansen
said, deputies in six patrol cars four more than usual handled:

* 55 complaints from neighbors about noise and increased traffic.

* Eight criminal citations, ranging from possession of marijuana and
unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia to a minor in possession of or
consuming alcohol.

* 19 criminal traffic citations for crimes such as negligent driving and
driving while intoxicated, plus another 106 lessserious traffic
infractions.

* Three drugrelated felony arrests such as possession of marijuana and
suspected psychedelic mushrooms with intent to deliver and one felony
arrest warrant served.

* Six misdemeanors for crimes such as possession of controlled substances
or drug paraphernalia.

* Seven drug overdoses, with five of the people transported to hospital.

Those numbers are low compared with those of a decade ago, Hansen said.
But deputies have seen a recent rise in the numbers, and they say they
can't take on Israel's massive crowds alone. They need backup from the
courts. During the late 1980s, the county tried to have Rainbow Valley
declared a public nuisance but failed in Thurston County Superior Court,
Hansen said.

"There's no control (at the festivals)," Hansen said. "I still contend
that they're out of control."

Some local teens agree. One 14yearold girl said she has been to Israel's
gatherings about six times, and drugs have always been available.

"Everywhere you go, there's people asking you if you want to buy some
acid," said the girl, who spoke to a reporter only on the condition of
anonymity. "They ask anybody. They don't care how old you are, because
they're strung out."

Israel has been at odds with the county over everything from rock concert
noise to drug use to buildings without permits often going to court
rather than complying. Recently, he began cooperating with authorities and
applied for building and environmental permits. But he's appealing a
February decision from Thurston County Superior Court that required him to
apply for those permits.

Combating Israel's celebrations, which draw kids from as far as Vancouver,
B.C., and Northern California, has become a multicounty and statewide
effort, Patterson said.

Last year, Patterson joined with Thurston County Parks and Recreation
Department and the Chehalis Indian Tribe to sponsor a "countering event"
during Israel's Labor Day celebration.

Patterson hopes to provide another safe alternative for teens this Labor
Day but doesn't have the time to do events for all four of Israel's
gatherings.

Earlyse Swift, a Lacey city councilwoman and executive director of
Thurston County's youth antidrug program Together!, shares Patterson's
worries and wants to warn parents.

"I'm concerned that our preteens and our teens are in an environment that
is very conducive to using alcohol and drugs," Swift said. "Parents have
got to know where their kids are going and what's happening there."