Mystic - Joanne Moore of East Lyme grabbed a black marker, jotted "Wall Street. Buy Stock, Not Elections" on a piece of cardboard and took her place in line.

Moore and nearly a dozen other fellow demonstrators lined up, some with signs, to take part in Occupy Mystic for a few hours Saturday afternoon. Mary Tyler Wiley, a justice of the peace who lives in Mystic, organized the show of support for the growing national Occupy Wall Street movement.

"I'm mad," Moore said. "I'm tired of corporations buying elections."

Later, she explained that she owns her own business, Shoreline Physical Therapy, considers herself "a capitalist" and has no problem with the concept of making money.

"This is just about ethics," she said.

Demonstrators stood quietly in front of the Liberty Pole Square memorial beside the S&P Oyster Co. restaurant on this balmy weekend in downtown Mystic, while tourists and natives alike sat outdoors under black patio umbrellas sipping drinks and snacking on hors d'oeuvres.

The memorial is dedicated to "the citizens of Mystic River Valley past, present and future who hold in their hearts the precious gift of liberty."

While no single leader has shepherded the Occupy Wall Street movement or outlined goals for reform, participants across the country and as nearby as Hartford have articulated themes like Moore's - eschewing corporate greed, government gridlock, taxpayer bailouts of financial institutions and a growing gap between the wealthy and the indigent.

Tyler Wiley had left by 2:30 p.m. to conduct a ceremony as part of her job, participants said, but others continued to join the gathering, occasionally shouting, "Main Street, not Wall Street" as drivers and their passengers honked their approval and gave the group the thumbs up.

"I'm really concerned about the disparity between the rich and the poor," said Howard "Mickey" Weiss, Project Oceanology founder and senior scientist, citing evidence of the problems he's seen in Mexico, where he conducts science projects every year.

"The rich have to worry about being kidnapped and paying ransom," he said. "The poor have an inadequate standard of living. They have nothing. I'm concerned that's (where) we're heading in this country."

Refusing to tax the wealthy or allow government to control failing financial systems is part of the problem, too, he said.

"There are a lot of people I meet who are doing OK financially who'd be willing to pay more taxes," Weiss said. "The reduction in spending has got to come out of the sector already disproportionately benefiting from government."

Jay Dempsey of Groton brandished a sign that read, "Pfizer Invest in Connecticut NOT CHINA. Keep our jobs in the USA."

Dempsey, a New London-based land surveyor, employed 10 people in 2006. Today, he has only one worker.

"Our system is definitely broken," he said.

Barbara Foster of Mystic, who is retired from Pfizer and works for a small, start-up biotech firm called Sarataun LLC of New London that is working to treat and cure cancer, said $10 million of the $1 billion laboratory that the Jackson Laboratory of Bar Harbor, Maine, intends to build at the University of Connecticut should go to small start-ups like hers.

If investors spread the wealth, she said, "maybe they'd be able to provide a nourishing environment for former Pfizer employees."

The pharmaceutical giant with offices in Groton is in the process of laying off some 1,100 workers.

Articulate in voicing their message, Occupy Mystic participants Saturday said they weren't clear on whether the event was a "one-shot deal" or would be followed by others.

"I can't imagine this is a one-shot thing, but I don't say that with any kind of authority," said John Metz of Waterford, who retired from teaching music at Arizona State University and now teaches piano privately.

Tyler Wiley published a letter to the editor in The Day and posted on Facebook to draw people to Saturday's gathering.

p.daddona@theday.com