By Kerri Pepoy,Staff Writer

NORWAY – A controversial anti-gay group will not be permitted to protest on school grounds Saturday during funeral services for Corey Dan, a Norway soldier killed last week in Iraq, SAD 17 Superintendent Mark Eastman said Tuesday.

Eastman said he consulted with attorneys for the school district, who advised that district officials are not obligated to allow protesters on school property.

“We do not have an open forum that allows open demonstration and there’s no provision for that,” he said. “If (the protesters) want to demonstrate, they have to demonstrate off school property.”

The Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., which has about 75 members and is led by Rev. Fred Phelps, said last weekend it will send several delegates to Dan’s funeral at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School to spread their message that God is killing American soldiers in retribution for the United States’ tolerance of homosexuality.

Dan, a 22-year-old sergeant with the 101st Airborne Division, was killed March 13. His body was flown to Manchester, N.H., on Tuesday and was brought to Oxford by Oxford Hills Funeral Services on Route 26, Director Chris Weston said.

Eastman said he met Tuesday with Paris Police Chief David Verrier, OHCHS Principal Ted Moccia, SAD 17 Police Committee Chairman John Jenness, and Weston.

“We were reviewing the whole plan for the day and for the event itself,” he said. If members of Phelps’ group do show up, they will be allowed to protest on the sidewalk outside of the high school’s fence along Route 26, he said.

Shirley Phelps-Roper, a lawyer for the group and Phelps’ daughter, did not return phone calls Tuesday.

Meanwhile, local police departments are further strategizing their response if the controversial protesters do show up, Paris Police Chief David Verrier said Tuesday.

Verrier said officers from Oxford, Norway and Paris will be present on Saturday. Oxford County Sheriff Skip Herrick said he will provide additional manpower if it is needed.

“We’ll have a strong show of force,” said Verrier. “Everybody from our department will be there.”

The Paris Police Department has 10 officers including Verrier. He said if the protesters do show up, he will talk to them and “promote non-violence” during the day’s events.

Meanwhile, a national motorcycle riders’ group, the Patriot Guard Riders, said Tuesday that they received a formal invitation from Dan’s family to attend the service.

Asha Lamy, a ride captain in Maine for the group, said Dan’s family extended the invitation Monday night. Lamy, who lives in Naples, said the number of motorcycle riders who plan to attend “is growing by the hour.”

“We’re expecting at least 30 motorcycles,” she said, adding that some representatives also will ride in vehicles. Lamy said members of other motorcycle clubs also plan to attend including the Maine and New Hampshire chapters of Vietnam Veterans.

As ride captain, Lamy said she is responsible for organizing the ride and overseeing the safety of the riders.

“We’re all there for the same purpose, and that is to honor our fallen hero and let the family know that America does care,” she said.

Republican state Rep. Michael Vaughan, R-Durham, is the Patriot Guard Riders’ Maine state captain. He was unavailable for comment Tuesday.

The riders plan to gather at the Oxford Plaza on Route 26 at 11:15 a.m. Saturday and ride to the high school. Lamy said they also will ride in the funeral procession to the burial site at the family’s plot on French Road in Norway.

Kurt Mayer, a spokesman for the riders’ group in Houston, said the Patriot Guard Riders have encountered Phelps’ group at other funerals for soldiers in other parts of the country. In fact, the group was formed in response to Phelps’ activities.

“They jeer and try to incite anger and a reaction,” he said. “They also attempt to try and get a bunch of veterans worked up.”

The Patriot Guard Riders has about 19,000 members across the country, 75 percent of whom are veterans, Mayer said.

The possible presence of the Phelps group continued to spark community outrage. “While everyone has a right to their opinion, the Fred Phelps group of protesters, along with their hateful messages, have no place here under these circumstances,” said Norway resident Mariel Geiger.

Dorris Jaynes, another Norway resident, said she was worried about Dan’s family. “I think they have given up a child who has performed his duty as far as protecting our country,” she said. “They need to be supported in their sorrow.”