Tours of 2000
Deep South, Appalachia, Route 66, Mountain Time,
West Coast and Back-to-Basics Bike Tour
Tour of the South
The Deep South Tour
In Troy, Alabama, we interviewed Officer Richard Feagin who was home visiting relatives. He's involved with Community-Oriented Policing in Detroit, Michigan. Besides walking a neighborhood beat, they have developed a mentoring program where each of the officers have six youth they take on for three years. They regularly hang out with the youth, taking them to ball games, shooting hoops with them, taking them out for a soda... Police are not "the enemy" to these youths, he said.
In Bonita Springs, Florida, we met with Tom Black. He and his wife go to Guasmas, Mexico, every year and volunteer with a Franciscan Order there. His wife Judy, for instance, teaches local women how to sew and do pottery so they can start "cottage businesses." (Our platform calls for mobilizing as much help as possible south of the border to help people become as sustainable as possible in their own homes, communities...
In Key Largo, Florida, we met with Jean and Roger Olson. Their daughter had majored in Wellness at Washington University, then did a stint in the Peace Corps in South America. Part of her mission was to teach proper nutrition, hygiene, and other wellness concepts to the impoverished.
In Key West, Florida, Key West Citizen newspaper reporter Linda Gottwald wrote: Schriner -- who bears a resemblance to Bing Crosby, but speaks with the poise of a seasoned politico -- said the family chose the Keys as one of their stops after reading a National Geographic article that described the Keys as: "the longest small town in America."
In Marathon Key we interviewed a retired teacher from Monterey, California. He said the school system is quite progressive, even allowing teachers to "job share." That is, they could switch mid-week, or mid-year, with another teacher.
Back in Key Largo, I interviewed Robert and Christie Cunningham who had been foster parents the past two years. They said their whole church, St. Justin Martyr, rallied around them to help with food, children's clothes, money.... They said the support had been phenomenal.
I was interviewed by the Naples Daily News. I told the reporter I wanted to run the higher echelons of Federal Government with: "regular people." What a concept, huh?
In Ocala, Florida, Ray Geisel, who has a prison ministry, told me he believes that you could divert a lot of non-violent offenders with drug and alcohol problems (and there are a lot) to intesive long-term treatment. This would free the prison system up to do more rehabilitation with other types of offenders.
In High Springs, Florida, we met with Dan Burden, who Time Magazine named as one of the top environmentalists in the country. He's developed an extremely creative Walkable Community model that he teaches about all over the country. He advocates for slower speed limits, wider bicycle lanes, diagonal walking paths into town to shorten the distance... "I want to spend my life saving cities," he said to us.
In Ocilla, Georgia, we met with Noel Peacock. He and his wife facilitate a discussion group called Youth Time Out. Teen topics include: lack of morality, alcohol and drug abuse, violence -- not among their peers -- but rather their parents.
We stopped in Seaside, Florida, to view one of Dan Burden's walkable community models. It was impressive.
In Pensacola, Florida, we met with James and Ingred Kane. The Kanes said modern American culture talks continually about "safe sex" (using condoms, IUDs, the pill...). What about "chastity" they wonder. They recently sponsored an area wide conference on the topic.
In Slidell, Louisiana, we talked with a man who works in biology for the Louisiana Fish & Wildlife Service. He works, in part, with endangered species. He said, for instance, they've been finding a lot of deformed frogs in these parts. He attributes it to bad water quality.
We took the kids to a youth baseball league game in Nachez, Mississippi.
We crossed back to Louisiana where we met with Jerry Outlaw in St. Joseph Parish. He is a case manager for the Louisiana JTPA Works Project. He said this area used to have 12,000 people. Now it has 5,000. It is 100 percent rural here, said Outlaw, and as the farms become increasingly mechanized, the jobs decreased in kind. Families that had been part of this area, this culture, for generations, had to move away.
In Lake Village, Arkansas, we talked with Fr. henry Mischouski, who worked with Mother Theresa in Calcutta, India. Fascinating stories.
Appalachian Tour
Appalachian Tour pix: We stopped at The Coal House in Williamson, WV. It is built of coal masonry. Coal mining seems almost synonymous with Appalachia.
Appalachian Tour
Appalachia, according to Kentucky writer Jesse Stuart, is an eclectic mix of folk music, story telling, crafts, home remedies, food preservation and poverty.
We got our first look at Appalachian poverty in Anniston, Alabama. We stopped to tour the Soup Bowl, a soup kitchen for the poor in town. This day the Soup Bowl was quite crowded. One man told me while working at a nearby restaurant, he was shot in the head while walking out to empty garbage. His speech was slow and a bit garbled. He said he and his wife live in a small apartment and subsist on enough Social Security to barely make ends meet.
In Oxford, Alabama, we were interviewed by the Oxford Independent newspaper. The reporter noted in his story that we wanted people to consider redefining the American Dream. The definition switching from: having more to giving more -- to help people like the ones we met back in Anniston.
Back in Anniston, Anniston Star reporter Brian Lazenby noted we thought the tax code was getting out of hand. The current tax code book in D.C. is 15,100 pages. Out of hand? You couldn't even fit it in both hands.
We did a whistle-stop event in the shadows of the Chattanooga, Tennessee, Aquarium downtown. That evening Channel 12 News did a piece on us. The reporter, Bill Mitchell, asked Liz, "Don't most women want a home, friends and roots?" Liz responded, "Well, I had that. But I think there's more to be done in life."
In Marysville, Tennessee, we talked with Joe Sneed who writes a weekly fitness column for the local newspaper. Sneed told us at present 59% of Americans would be considered overweight and 33% would be considered "obese." This over weight dilemma has increased 25% since 1960, he continued. And with that, heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes has skyrocketed. It would seem there needs to be more of a focus on basic, common sense prevention in the discussion of healthcare in America.
In Knoxville, Tennessee, we were interviewed by two news channels during a whistle-stop event we were doing. One channel sent their version of Andy Rooney. Ken Schwall asked how the campaign was going, while smiling a bit. Playing along, I pointed to our "Vote for Joe" banner and said when we got some more campaign finances, I was going to put my last name on the banner. He laughed. After inter-viewing me, he went off to interview some people we'd talked to earlier. When he came back, he wasn't laughing any more. "Based on the people I just talked to, you would win 8 to 1," he said in astonish-ment. I said wait until it becomes a national story.
In Franklin, Kentucky, Tom Parham offered us a common sense take on our $5.5 trillion debt. That is, we should look at it as a family would look at a big household debt, "...then tighten our belts and pay it off."
In Williamson, West Virginia, I shared
Mr. Parham's take on the national debt
with Appalachian News Express reporter Bruce Justice.
In Williamson, we also met a man who
told us a story that's all too common in Appalachia. His father had worked in the coal mines for 42 years. He eventually developed "black lung disease." It eventually killed him.
In Marietta, Ohio, Marietta Times reporter Andrea Hannon wrote, "Independent presidential candidate Joe Schriner didn't promise bigger business, better tax breaks or a chicken in every pot... Nor is he trying to shake every hand, kiss every baby. Atop a platform steeped in community program-ming and family values, Schriner calls for a return to the days when local forces joined hands to take care of their own."
Our last stop on this tour was in Barnesville, Ohio. I gave a talk here to some 375 people at the 2nd Luddite Congress. These were people (Old Order Amish, Mennonites, Quakers...) who live simply. I said if there was ever a candidate for them, it would be me. One problem. Most of them don't vote. We've got to get a new campaign strategist.
Route 66 Tour
Old Route 66 Tour pix: In Amarillo, Texas, we visited with the Barbosas. Three generations of their family live in a cluster of three homes right together. They share meals, tools, homeschooling duties... The sense of family is palpable, and something now often missing in American families.
Old Route 66 Tour
Old Route 66 was known as the "great diagonal highway." It was a two lane road completed in 1938. It came to symbolize an era in America of a faster paced mobility. Today, it symbolize a slower pace, which many people now nostalgically pine for.
In Oatman, Arizona, I passed out campaign cards and was bitten (flesh wound) by a wild mule - one of many that roam the town each day looking for tourist hand outs. This mule apparently didn't like the saltine cracker I gave it. ("...it was probably a Democrat," a reporter in Kingman, Arizona laughed.)
We stopped at the Hualapai Indian Reservation where I met with some news-paper people on the Reservation. We then informally toured part of the Reservation... ...poverty everywhere.
I was interviewed by the newspaper in Winslow, Arizona, while 'standing on a corner' no less. I told the editor that America should take a page from that song. That is, we need to slow down and 'take it easy.' That is, social health should trump material wealth.
In Holbrook, Arizona, we met with Bob McCarthy. He teaches about "healthy family dynamics" at Our Lady of Guadalupe Family Center here. He said, "...to have a healthy marriage, you have to have a healthy relationship with God." He said a major problem these days is when parents see their primary vocation as career, not family.
In Gallup, New Mexico, we talked with Priscilla Smith, who is a former president of the School Board here. She said teachers these days are so burdened with policing activities, study hall duties, paperwork... they don't have much energy or time to, well, teach. She lobbies for more teacher's aids.
Also in Gallup, I met with Ron Morsbach, who is a leader in the Republican Party here. He lives in nearby, and tiny, Ramah (pop. 500). He has worked to get roads paved there, a school back up and running, and a variety of other projects. It's the Ron Morsbachs of this country who are the backbone.
I gave a talk at the Christian Fellowship Church in Los Lunas, New Mexico. I talked about how crucial it is to be good stewards of the environment. I mean, we're leaving the world to our children.
In Moriarity, New Mexico, I met with Pastor John Miller. He said, among other things, that the prison system in America should be reformed. He said all these people (prisoners) with all this talent are for the most part in "dead-end" ware-housing. Why not have them pay off their debt to society by having them work for society. Makes sense - common sense.
Arriving in Amarillo ("...by morning."), I heard a priest during Mass at St. Hyacinth's Church say that we should bring the Blue Laws back. For the first part of the last century, these laws kept things closed on Sundays so people had more time for God and family, he said. These laws reflected the dominant spirituality of the time.
I was interviewed by the Amarillo Commity College newspaper editor Glenda Taylor. I told her my goal was to try and make the world more sane and balanced for children.
I was also interviewed by Amarillo Globe News columnist Mike Haynes. He would write: "...I do think America needs to hear Schriner's appeals to simplify lifestyles, heal the family, return to rural values, expand local charity efforts, and save the unborn."
While in Amarillo, I also interviewed Gwen Johns who is all about 'saving the unborn.' She is the director of Rachel's Vineyard here, which is a support for women in crisis pregnancy (and for women who have had an abortion, and now regret it). Ms. Johns told me she had an abortion at 17. This started a descent into drugs, alcohol and "free sex." Then she hit bottom. She named the child, allowed the grief to surface and now helps others.
We stopped at the National Route 66 Museum in Elk City, Oklahoma.
Elk City reporter John Lyon noted I saw a glaring disparity in our society. "We're walking around real pumped up, saying we've got the best country on earth because we've got the biggest Gross National Product. Meanwhile, we've got a whole constellation of other problems (abortion, inner city poverty, global warming...) that are just sort of being glossed over."
I was interviewed by a political reporter for the newspaper in Joplin, Missouri. He asked me if I was serious. I said yes.
We met with Ken H., who founded an Overcomers group in Webb City, Missouri. It's a Christian 12-Step group to help people move into recovery from compulsive eating disorders, alcohol and drug addiction, compulsive gambling, sex addiction...
In nearby Pittsburgh, Kansas, I told a Pittsburgh Morning News reporter that our platform called for making tangible amends to Native Americans and African Americans.
The Lamar (MO) Democrat newspaper noted that I said to help level the playing field in America, I was asking some established professionals to slow their upward mobility climb and take more time to mentor underprivileged children in inner city America.
We stopped at the George Washington Carver Center in Diamond Missouri.
In Springfield, Missouri, we toured the "Hotel Missouri." Run by the Sisters of St. Francis, it is a hotel that's been converted to a homeless shelter. But instead of one big cramped space (like many shelters), each person, or family, gets their own room. And they are nice, well appointed rooms.
It was in Missouri that we ended the Rte. 66 Tour, and headed south.
Mountain Time Tour
Mountain Time Tour
In Longmont, Colorado, I gave a talk to an in-home prayer group.
In Fort Lupton, Colorado, we visited a town and high school library combined into one. Books are shared, expenses are shared and the citizens at large interface with high school students a lot more.
I gave a talk to the Pides Peak Justice and Peace Commission in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The local affiliate NBC News was there. I said it was important we work toward an end to nuclear proliferation because I didn't want our kids growing up in such a dangerous world.
In Pueblo, Colorado, we met with Cyndi Grissom who started "Luv in Action." The non-profit, which has helped thousands, provides food, clothing, furniture... to those in need. It's based on providing "Random Acts of Kindness."
The Pueblo Chieftan newspaper carried an article on our visit. It started, "Meet average Joe Schriner. Husband. Dad. Journalist. Presidential candidate."
In Gunnison, Colorado, we talked with Kelli Woll. She started a Promise Keepers organization for youth, called "God's Thing." (This is a Christian organization.)
In Grand Junction, Colorado, we learned about The Marillac Clinic. Dr. Carl Malito, M.D., told us that this two story hospital is staffed with volunteer doctors, volunteer nurses, volunteer citizens at large who do intake work, janitorial work, landscaping work... If a person without healthcare insurance in Grand Junction needs major surgery, they can get it for as little as $5. This so epitomizes the old "neighbors helping neighbors" philosophy.
In Orem, Utah, we met with Dave and Mary Staub. They are a Mormon couple. They told us their teenage daughter is involved with the Personal Progress mentoring Program at their church. Youth attend these groups weekly to learn about and practice such values as faith, integrity, individual worth, good works, choice and accountability.
I gave a talk to some Bringham Young University students at an in-home gathering. I said urban sprawl has become an environmental cancer in this country. As we've practically clear cut America, now we're paving the whole thing over.
In Elko, Nevada, we toured FISH (Friends In Service Helping. Executive director Susan Marsolf there are some 1,100 people who are "homeless" in this town of 6,800. Some are on the streets, while others are temporarily staying with friends, relatives... or in their vehicles. The overall amount of FISH food distributed last year was: $240,000.
In Jackson Hole, Wyoming, we were interviewed by the Jackson Hole News.
I talked about the Marillac Clinic we'd researched back in Grand Junction, Colorado.
We were also interviewed by the Rock Springs, Wyoming, newspaper and gave a talk at an elementary school there. It was a class of 11 and 12 year-olds, so I bypassed the National Debt situation, Social Security issues... and told them about our 2,000 mile bicycle tour. They were in awe. One boy said, "Boy, my mom won't even let me ride all the way down to the grocery store!"
In Laramie, Wyoming, we interviewed Joe Zenk. He's with the Newman Catholic Center opposite the University of Wyoming. Each year he does a "homeless challenge." Students get $5 for a weekend and are sent to the streets -- to increase their empathy for the poor. It works.
In Cheyenne, Wyoming, we did our final whistle-stop event of Campaign 2000. We were also interviewed by reporters from the Casper Star Tribune and the Wyoming Eagle newspapers.
Then it was on to Campaign 2004...
West Coast Tour
West Coast Tour pix: In a canyon near Palm Springs, there's a large wind turbine display. Our administration would push for much more alternative energy technology and installations, quick.
West Coast Tour
In Oregon, I was interviewed by Sinslaw News reporter Heather Kibbee who asked me about the key to improving America. I said thinking outside of conventional lines.
We stopped in Coos Bay, Oregon, where we walked about downtown passing out campaign cards to people on the streets.
In Port Orford, Oregon (pop. 1,000), we learned the town was experiencing drinking water problems because of excessive turbidity in a nearby river and increased salt in the town's lake. (The town is on the Pacific Coast.) A reporter from the local newspaper told me the town was eco-nomically depressed and having a hard time dealing with the problem. I said as president I'd ask for a town more well off somewhere else in the country to financially adopt Port Orford. (Just thinking outside 'conventional lines.')
In Brookings, Oregon, Mick Breenan, a forestry technician with the U.S. Forest Service, said "tree farms" are the answer to the many of the endangered species problems. He said we should simply stop cutting trees in the old growth forests and grow our own wood on these farms. Made sense. Common sense. Brookings Pilot newspaper reporter William Lundquist noted that I hoped to build a following with a "common sense, back-to-basics philosophy.
We were interviewed by a reporter from an ABC affiliate in Eureka, California. She told us when Wal-Mart wanted to build here, a citizens group adamantly fought it, and won.
I did a Catholic radio show in Sacramento. I said it's our take many Americans today are forever scurrying around trying to make more and more "quick bucks" (stock market, lottery, et. al.) -- at the expense of time with God, time with family, time with community...
In Santa Cruz, California, we interviwed a man who founded a movement to establish a National Bicycle Trail System, just like there's a National Highway System. Good idea.
In Los Osos, California, we met with Will Mehring. He thinks America would be a lot more "democratic" if people got to fill out a form each year designating where at least part of their tax money went: military, social programs, environmental protection...
We did a whistle-stop event in Ojai, California.
In Manhattan Beach, California, we were interviewed by a reporter from the Christian Science Monitor. He said in his story, "Supplementing the national political debate, however, is not Schriner's (ultimate) goal. He intends to be president." And I do.
In Orange County, California, I told a reporter from the LA Times that, "We should make war on poverty and social injustice."
In Costa Mesa, California, we met with a couple Vietnamese families. They came to America in 1975, fleeing Communism.
While in San Diego, I was interviewed by a reporter from ABC Radio News Network.
A man in Imperial, California, told me he was suspect of lawyers. He said many of them are setting the tone (in D.C.) for what goes on in the country. Yet while in college they aren't always taught to tell the truth -- they are "taught to win," he lamented.
In El Centro, California, my wife Liz talked to Kim Keehan. She was in the Navy for five years when she opted out to stay with her first child, rather than deploy on another six-months at sea. She said working parents get a tax break for sending their children to day care. She wondered why there shouldn't be a tax break for stay-at-home moms (or dads).
In Indio, California, we learned about "CHIPS," a citizen volunteer group of people who get squad cars, uniforms, but no guns. They patrol and call in infractions. It's a great help to police here.
Back-to-Basics Bicycle Tour
Bicycle Tour: Here we were traveling through rural Wisconsin.
Back-to-Basics Bicycle Tour
In the Summer of 2000, we did a 2,000-mile bicycle tour through the Midwest. It spanned five states, took three months and I pulled a trailer that weighed close to 250 lbs. (Liz brought everything but the toaster.)
We left from Belmont, Ohio, in the southeast portion of the state.
In Flushing, Ohio, we talked with Dave Jones who has been an auctioneer the past 37 years and does a lot of bankruptcy auctions. He said that bankruptcies are up in recent years because "...there's little responsibility anymore."
In Coshocton, Ohio, we talked with Women of Witness's (Christian organization) Irene Krall. They go about town finding needs (help with food, baby sitting, utilities, rent, home improvement...), then meeting them. "If you see a need," said Irene, "fill it."
A piece about us ran in the Harrison News Herald. Reporter Jeremiah Arn noted I was the first presidential candidate to stop in Harrison County, Ohio, since, well, 1950.
In Tiffin, Ohio, we met with Sr. Paulette Schoeder. She went on a trip to South America as part of a Witness for Peace mission in the late '80s. She said she was appalled at the stories of violence and political repression in the villages there.
In Hart, Michigan, we talked with Fr. Ron Schneider. He takes people from his upper-middle class diocese on "reverse missions" to some of the poorest areas of Mexico. They are not allowed to help. For two weeks, these Americans live among indigenous people in the mountain villages where kids don't have toys, many don't have beds, running water or electricity. However, they do have a deep faith and very close family and community ties. Without TV, or a bunch of extra-curricular activities, these people have more time to pray, spend time with each other...
In Ludington, Michigan, we met with John Claire, who was a former City Prosecutor. He told us his son was a U.S. Congressman who helped sponsor a flat tax bill with Newt Gingrich a number of years prior. He said the reason it didn't pass was because it would have put too many certified public accountants out of work. (We were also interviewed by Ludington's newspaper.
We then took the "Car Ferry" (or in our case, "Bicycle Ferry") across Lake Michigan to Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
I was interviewed by Manitowoc's Herald Times Tribune. The editor said as politicians go, I was refreshingly unique. I had described myself with seven words on our website, at the time. (That's since expanded.) The editor was also a bicyclists and he wrote a great story, that got picked up the National Associated Press.
We did a whistle-stop event in the small town of Plymouth. All the television news channels from Green Bay showed up.
In Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, we did a whistle-stop event in front of Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum. We somehow thought this would be a good metaphor for the campaign. (We were still short on political consultants at this time.)
In Marshfield, Wisconsin, we met with Helen Martin. She works as a nurse in a local nursing home. She said because of skyrocketing prices of elderly care facilities, families are starting to go to much more in-home care -- with some professional help at times.
In Colby, Wisconsin, I gave a speech to a gathering of people at the Lion's Club building there as part of a Pancake Breakfast fundraiser. A reporter from the Milwaukee Journal was there. He would write: "Schriner, who is of average height and average weight and is the father of an average size family, says he understands the average person's problems." And I do.
I was interviewed by The Country Today newspaper in Wisconsin. I said: "When a small farmer goes out of business, we're not only losing a farm, we're losing another piece of a way of life that's so integral to this country."
In Thorp, Wisconsin, we met with Bernie Stuttgen. He's taught phys. ed. at Thorp High School for over 30 years. He said with the demise of the small family farm and the evolution of television and computers -- kids just aren't getting exercise like they used to. Thus, among other things, the evolution of a youth obesity problem in America.
A reporter from the Spring Valley Sun in Wisconsin asked Liz about the bicycles. Her response: "We believe this country should get back to basics, get out of the fast lane and slow down..."
A story about us in the Faribult (MN) Daily News started: "He's not the son of a former president. He's not a senator's son. He's an average Joe."
In Mankato, Minnesota, we met with Keith Luebke, executive director of Mankato's non-profit Partners for Affordable Housing. Among a number of their initiatives, they bought HUD homes that had been foreclosed. Local churches helped rehab them and they became "Welcome Home Transitional Housing" for the homeless, near homeless and the working poor.
A reporter from the Worthington Daily Globe in Minnesota wrote that our platform revolved around "common sense." Then he sighted one of our common sense platform points in regard to crime: "People often steal because they don't have enough stuff. Let's make sure everyone has enough stuff." (Think about that a minute, before you start laughing.)
In Sutherland, Iowa, we talked with Eleanore Paschal. She appeared to be in her early 70s. Ms. Paschal, who has a number of children of her own, befriended a boy in the neighborhood who had troubles. When he went to a Head Start Program for a couple years, she volunteered there to help (not only him, but all the children). Her home became a second home for the youth growing up in general. (He came from a broken home.) Ms. Paschal said the boy went from being ADD, with overriding anger issues, to a top student and a good athlete -- with a much calmer demeanor. All because a neighbor was willing to help.
In Paulina, Iowa, we talked with Phillip Simm, a third generation hog farmer. He said he might lose the farm because he was having a hard time competing with the big corporate farms these days.
I gave a backyard campaign speech to about 100 people at Jim Helm's place in Harlan, Iowa. All three television stations out of Souix City were there.
In Dennison, Iowa we heard of a group of eight local family farmers who all sold their equipment and went in together on one bigger farm, with one set of equipment. They run the farm together, and some have other jobs as well.
In small town rural America, it's now hard keeping many small "mom & pop" businesses going. In Galva, Iowa (pop. 275) we learned they were having a hard time keeping a town restaurant going. So the town people banded together, bought $50 shares, set up a restaurant board and bought a building downtown. They then leased it to someone who made a go of it long term.
In Neola, Iowa, we learned about a "church farm." A farmer / parishioner left his farm to St. Patrick's Church in his will. Other parishioner farmers pitch in every year and the profit goes to the church, and Third World missions.
In Neola, Iowa, we also learned about a local man who makes a lot of trips to the dump. He retrieves things, fixes them up -- and gives them to those in need.
Our last leg was the "Old Pony Express Trail" (Rte 36) through northern Kansas.
In Seneca, Kansas, we talked with Polly Pageler. She is a "horticulture therapist." She has a degree in horticulture therapy from Kansas State University, the only school in America to offer a four-year-degree in this. Pageler works with special needs people in settings like greenhouses, for example.
In Seneca, Kansas, we also met with Cleta Renyer who was running for the House of Representatives in the 63rd District here. One of her main issues is abortion. She said the Kansas bill of Rights guarantees "...life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." And she believes "life" begins at conception.
The Salina (KS) Journal did a story about the campaign. It started: "Average Joe Schriner is bypassing the political Parcheesi played by big name politicians..."
In Atwood, Kansas (pop. 1,500), we learned about "The Second Century Fund." This is a citizens benevolent fund to help with projects, and people, around the town. Citizens donate, including leaving money in their wills, etc. After 10 years, the fund had a phenomenal (for the size of the village) $932,000. It has helped fund the Atwood Arts Council, The Good Samaritan Center, economic development projects, seniors short on prescription drug money, a Boy Scout trip... Neighbors helping neighbors.
In Bird City, Kansas, who -- with a group of other Midwestern farmers, protested for a month (tents, the whole thing) in D.C. what they see as "really low crop prices."
We ended the tour in St. Francis, Kansas, where I gave a talk downtown, after going from door-to-door the night before passing out campaign literature. This concluded the 3-month, 2,000 mile bicycle journey.