Cherokee County residents will be active in the Tea Party rallies scheduled for next week in Atlanta and the nation's capitol.

Cherokee residents are being sought out for a trip to the Tax Day Tea Party scheduled on April 15 in Washington, D.C.

The Tax Day Tea Party is designed to express concerns about government spending.

Nighta Davis, founder of North Georgia Patriots, said about four Cherokee residents will be joining her group on a bus trip to Washington.

"The group is very active in Cherokee," she said about Cherokee County Patriots, a division of North Georgia Patriots. "The people are very responsive."

She said there is still room for six more people to join the bus ride to Washington. For more information, call her at (706) 896-9021 or send her an email at ampatriotsusa@aol .com.

"We are going to the source," she said about the reasons for taking a local group to Washington. "That is where the legislators are."

Jack Staver of Woodstock, an organizer of the Atlanta Tea Party, will be attending the Washington Tea Party next week.

"The awareness is so much more now," he said about the interest in the Tea Parties, adding that he gets eight to 10 calls a day about the event. "We are trying to get (Washington) to be fiscally responsible with our money."

A Tea Party also will be conducted in Atlanta at the state capitol at 6 p.m.

Jeff Duncan, chairman of the Cherokee County Republican Party, said that while the event is not an official function of the Republican Party, he has heard from hundreds of people interested in the event.

"With the weather we are getting, it will be a really good turnout," he said, adding the Tea Party movement appeals to more people than just Republicans.

"Most Americans believe that government should behave the same way they have to behave," he said.

Bob Rugg of Canton will be part of the Cherokee crowd at the capitol on April 15.

"From a personal standpoint, the federal government is growing too fast and too big," he said about his reasons for attending the Tea Party in Atlanta. "I'm making my protestations known. It seems like we don't have much a voice. We want to join the crowd to get noticed."