“We got to shake em up,” said Lorraine Smalley, Langley resident turned peace activist, as she sorts through the countless pages of her peace petition.

Smalley has collected more than 1,100 signatures protesting the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon – any war.

“For years I’ve been anti-war. I can’t remember ever feeling differently,” Smalley said.

Next week, her friends Linda Morris and Mully Mullally will deliver those signatures to the Washington offices of Congressman Rick Larsen, Senator Patty Murray and Senator Maria Cantwell.

For a little longer than a month, the petite and graceful 80-year-old has been loading a card table, chair and a stack of petition forms in the car each morning. She’s driven her van over to downtown Langley and set up on the lawn next to city hall or near the Star Store. If rain is pouring, her dining room table at home turns into command central to get everything ready to be delivered to Washington D.C.

Her activism was sparked by the war between Lebanon and Israel, Smalley said. She listened to a radio interview with an aid worker talking about the destruction, devastation and the impact on human life.

Suddenly, the reality of war hit her.

“I pictured myself,” she said. “I pictured an older lady like myself. She’s in Iraq, Lebanon, somewhere in the world and her home is gone. Maybe her family is gone.

“I like beading and creating things, maybe she liked making things too. You can’t just kill a person’s spirit like that.”

Smalley said she believes reports of the events in war zones by the government and media are “cleaned up.” Therefore people forget the civilians involved in the wars.

War is more than a word for her.

Smalley did some library research and learned how to write a petition. Her niece helped her format the piece on the computer.

But Smalley, who is 80, is no stranger to the peace movement. Since before the invasion of Iraq, she has been attending war protests at the Baview Park and Ride parking lot.

Living through many wars, most importantly World War II and the Vietnam war, she believes now is the time to get up and be heard.

“As I get older, I am much more determined that we need to settle our differences peacefully,” she said.

In the 60s and 70s, she had strong feelings against the war in Vietnam, but she was worried visible activism would hurt her husband’s career or her children may be affected. She wrote letters to the government, though.

“That was another total waste of human life,” Smalley said.

She said Sept. 11 put fear into people’s heads.

“People said, ‘Sure, go to war with Iraq.’ But that’s not the answer,” she added.

In her lifetime she has seen many versions of the fear concept. She said the government wanted her to be afraid of atomic threats, communism and now terrorists.

“I am 80 now,” she said. “There have been many victims of war. I remember the fear of communists. All that fear built up. All the money spent. They want us to be continually in fear.”

Most people appreciate her work and have been very supportive signing her petition or simply bringing hot tea and muffins or sharing encouraging words.

But not all passersby feel that way.

“I think there is probably one or two that got verbal,” she said. “One man got very angry and said, ‘We got to kill them before they kill us.’”

But she knows that an activist needs a thick skin.

“I am not there to argue,” she said.

Sometimes people just want to vent their frustration and confusion.

“One tall southern gentleman came up. He put both hands on the table and went on and on,” she said. “In the end, he said, ‘I think I’ll sign it after all.’”

She understands that not everybody has the time or energy to actively be on the streets to make their voices heard, but she strongly believes that the elected officials are accountable to their constituency and that they have to listen.

“Especially if you have a family, it’s difficult to get really involved,” she said. “Some people think it will do no good. But you have to do something. So I thought, I just shake them up.”

Smalley calls the government to stand up against the war lobby, bring American troops home as soon as possible and practice caution and diplomacy instead of invasion.

“If it’s defense – fine. But this seems criminal to me,” Smalley said.