It’s tea time again.

In the wake of what organizers considered a successful “tea party” gathering on April 15, another political event has been scheduled for Thursday. One of the organizers said the interest in the events has increased as people have formed groups to draw attention to rising government debt.

“The party spawned a lot of community activities so people have been meeting and organizing to put pressure on governments, both local and on up,” said Glenn Woods. “There will be more events like these, especially as we’re coming up on an election year.”

The tea parties are held nationwide, but the local event will be held a couple of days before the Fourth of July, when groups across the country are expected to demonstrate.

Woods said the goal this time is to bring awareness of the groups that have been formed and “to remind government that we’re keeping an eye on them and their spending.”

“This is one way to get out the message that these groups are out there and we’re encouraging people to join,” Woods said, adding the effort is more organized this time around, though he expects attendance to stay the same at several hundred people. During the April demonstration, people held signs questioning government spending and opposing new debt.

Wood said most people found out about the movement online, then started trying to find people organizing an event in the area. “It wasn’t just me, there were people looking for each other to start one locally,” Woods said.

The next event is at 5 p.m. on July 2 in the Golden Corral parking lot in Boone. “We got close to 500 signatures last time, and I didn’t really expect the turnout to be that big, but we had people from surrounding counties,” Wood said. “We are encouraging people from all political parties to join, because this is not about parties, it’s about overspending.”

Woods said America’s debt is crashing the economy and will be passed to future generations, and the federal government contains to pile on debt. He also accused legislators of not reading the spending bills they adopt. “This is flat-out insane and it’s just got to stop,” Wood said. “That’s what this is about.”