Summer 2004 Tour

 

     We launched a "Coast to Coast Tour."

 

     In Shipshewana, Indiana (pop. 509), we toured a rather elaborate, and quite interactive, Amish-Mennonite Museum called "Menno-Hof."  We learned, for instance, that Old Order Amish and Mennonites dress for simplicity, modesty and "their fashions never go out of style."

 

     We stopped in Oregon, Illinois where, just a few days earlier, "higher than accepted" radium levels were found in a city well.  The Byron Nuclear Power Plant is just north of here, incidentally.  In a news release to the Oregon Republic newspaper I said we should be stridently questioning the merits of nuclear power and focusing a lot of effort on developing "green energy."

 

     We did a whistle-stop even in Brookings, South Dakota.  I told the Brookings Register newspaper that we should be making tangible amends to the Native Americans for, among other things, the land we stole.  "If something has been stolen, you give it back -- no matter how many generations have passed," I said.  I was also interviewed by the local ABC affiliate news this day as well.

 

     In North Platte, Nebraska, I was interviewed by the North Platte Telegraph.

 

     On the Rosebud Reservation in southern South Dakota, I talked wtih Pastor Ed Bausell of the Tiospaye Bible Baptist Chruch.  He has worked among the Lakote Sioux here for the past 25 years.

 

     In De Smet, South Dakota, we visited a "Little House on the Prairie" site.  My wife Liz had read the kids all these books.

 

     We did a whistle-stop event in Winnemucca, Nevada.  I told the Humboldt Sun newspaper that I didn't want my children growing up in a world laced with pollution, global warming, ozone holes...

 

     We stopped at the Historic Wendover (Utah) Airfield" where I met with Airfield manager Jim Peterson.  This once "secret location" spans thee and a half million acres of desert and was used as a training base for bomber crews during World War II.  Among these was the crew for the Enola Gay, who dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

 

     We stopped in Cheyenne, Wyoming, not to campaign, but to go to the Wrangler Store.  ("The place all the cowboys and cowgirls go," said a billboard.)

 

     We stopped in San Francisco.  We took in China town, then headed out to talk to people living on the streets here as we continue to research urban poverty in America.

 

     Heading back east, we stopped in Lovelock, Nevada, where we passed out campaign fliers.

 

     Back in Winnemucca, Nevada, we met with the mayor  He said when he first became mayor 18 years ago, most streets were gravel, the downtown was a hodge-podge of residential trailers and the city government was lacking a bit of efficiency.  Now he said the streets are paved, there is a solid, consistent downtown mercantile section and a much more well-oiled government.

 

     Later in the day, I stumped at the Winnemucca Senior Center.

 

     In Hebber City, Utah, we attended a seminar by a professor from Belerman University who talked about the life of the late monk, and author, Thomas Merton.  The speaker said the Merton once wrote that war propaganda most always has it that:  "The enemy's bombs are always from 'Hell,' while our bombs are always the instrument of 'Divne Justice."'

 

     In Rawlins, Wyoming (pop. 9,000), I interviewed Dan Mika who runs the Parks Department and is on the Tree Advisory Board.  He said Rawlins tries to be "hard on grass."  That is, the area topography is high desert and green lawns waste water and chemical fertilizers, weed killers and pesticides are major sources of ground water pollution.

 

     In Rawlins, I also met with Mark Williams, who is a fire expert with the Bureau of Land Management here.  He said species diversity, and so on, is different for different forests in different parts of the country, and management should be tailored to fit each specific region.

 

     I was interviewed by The Daily Times in Rawlins.

 

     I met with Dave Chladeck, who teaches at the Cooperative High School in Rawlins for students struggling with regular high school -- because of pregnancy, drugs and alcohol, attention deficit disorder, oppositional behavior...  The school uses a Boys Town Model that's short on reprimand and heavy on dialogue with the students.  According to Chladeck, it works.

 

     I met with Lauren Lambertson at the Bureau of Land Management in Rawlins.  The Rawlins Field Office manages 4.2 million acres, which is hard to police.  Ms. Lambertson said with the overgrazing of this land comes soil erosion and other eco-system damage.

 

     We met with Robbie Goldman in downtown Denver, Colorado.  he is part of a rather unique ministry called: Dry Bones (Book of Ezekiel).  This is an outreach to the homeless youth in the city.  We took a tour and met with some of the kids.  Many here are into the "gutter punk lifestyle" that originally came out of L.A. and is steeped in drugs, prostitution and violence.

 

     I gave a talk to members of a "Just Faith Group" at St. Joseph Catholic community in arvada, Colorado.  I said we believed in a "consistent pro-life ethic" that has us not only concerned about ending abortion, but about ending conditions that lead to poverty, to pollution, to war, and any other things that can end life "prematurely."

 

     We stopped in Burlington, Colorado, where we visited a quite impressive "Veterans Monument" adjacent to VFW Post 6491.  Atop a stainless steel base with the names of area soldiers who have died in war, is an authentic Cobra helicopter acquired from the Department of Defense.

 

     We stopped in Wilson (pop. 1,000) and the "Czech Capital of Kansas."  There is a Czech dance hall downtown with the sign: "Czechs bounce."

 

     We appeared on the front page of the Salina (KS) Journal.  The reporter said we were "...bypassing the political parcheesi played by other candidates."

 

     We stopped at the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in New Castle.  In Indiana, basketball is a close second to: breathing.  at the Hall, we learned the legendary James Dean, before he was a Hollywood "rebel," was a "rebel on the hardwood" fro the Fairmount (IN) Quakers in 1949.

 

     In Decatur, Indiana (pop. 9,000) we met with Judge Jim Heimann and his family.  Judge Heimann has been on the bench the past 14 years here, having run for office twice, literally.  he said during his campaigns he has knocked on every door in his district, actually 'running' from door-to-door in a black suit -- and black tennis shoes.

 

     We made a pit stop back in Ohio.

 

     We did a whistle-stop event in front of a historic diner in downtown Edinboro, Pennsylvania.  I also talked to jerry Caler of Edinboro.  He made the Olympic Trials as a gymnast in 1964 and now volunteers at the Kid's Cafe here for latchkey kids, etc.  He said perhaps the most poignant thing he's heard there is a youth saying:  "Before I started coming down here, I didn't know you were supposed to eat three times a day."

 

     In Warren, Pennsylvania, we met with Alan Kiser, a Constitution Party state coordinator, and candidate.  Kiser has run for State Senator and for a House of Representative seat.  He said his Party stands on Biblical values with a "Constitutional standard."

 

     We participated in Warren, Pennsylvania's 4th of July Parade.  We were also interviewed by the Warren Times Observer.

 

     I toured the Phoenix House in Warren.  it is a halfway house for men with drug and alcohol addiction.  It was started by Jack Wells 18 years ago and is not connected to a county, or state, agency.  Wells told me he estimates that some 500 men have come through here over the years and 50% have stayed sober.

 

     In Warren, I also met with Vietnam veterans Gary Seymour and Joby McAulay.  McAulay started the local chapter of Veterans of the Vietnam War, Inc.  He also spearheaded the drive to get "The Moving Wall" (a 5/8th replica of The Wall in D.C.) to come to Warren recently.  He said in this town of 9,000, there were 4,000 people there for the opening ceremony.

 

     We headed north to Jamestown, New York, where we were interviewed by The Post-Journal there.  I said I was concerned about violence in society, including to the unborn.  In the evening, I met with Ken Vedder, 17, who has started a website for youth: teenpundit.com.  His site offers space for political column and things like blogs for debates on such topis as religion, science, world politics, U.S. politics... 

 

     I did the WJTN "Jim Roselli Radio Show" out of Jamestown, New York.  I said a key platform point of ours is:  "You can't heal the country until you heal the family."  Dr. Edward Hallowell, who was the next radio guest, and is a psychiatrist and instructor at Harvard University, leaned into the microphone and said:  "That's right."

 

     In Jamestown, I was also interviewed by Channel 8 News and then interviewed Dr. Rudolph Mueller who wrote the book:  As Sick As It Gets (Healthcare in America).  He said he's wrote the book because he's heard too many "horror stories" about healthcare in America.  For instance, there was a woman who got a cut on her leg and it got infected.  She didn't have healthcare insurance and waited, and waited... She developed gangrene and the leg had to be amputated.

 

     In Gowanda, New York, I interviewed Officer Ron Russell.  He bicycles a beat here as part of the town's Community Oriented Policing model.  It's a throw back to the old days when officers walked a beat, and it is quite effective in fighting crime.

 

     On the westside of Buffalo, in a rough neighborhood, we met with another doctor, Myron Glick M.D.  He moved his family into the area and started the Jericho Road Clinic, using a minimal sliding fee scale.  He helps because he believes it's his spiritual responsibility (he's Christian) to help.

 

      We toured the Women's Rights National Historical Museum in Seneca Falls, New York.  it was here in 1848 that the first Women's Rights Convention in U.S. history took place.

 

     We stopped at the Harriet Tubman Home in Auburn, New York.  Ms. Tubman escaped from slavery in 1849 from the Eastern Shroe of Maryland, then made 19 periolus trips South to help free some 300 other slaves from the "Jaws of Hell."

 

     In Fonda, New York, I was interviewed by a reporter from The Amsterdam Recorder.

 

 

     In Whitehall, New York, we learned this was the "birthplace f the U.S. Navy."  In 1776, Congress ordered the contstruction of a fleet of ships here to counter an anticipated British invasion.

 

     In Humberton, Vermont, we walked the grounds of the famous "Green Mountain Boys" battle.  It was the only battle of the American Revolution that was fought totally on Vermont soil.  The battle claimed 580 casualties, from both sides.

 

     We met with Fr. Gerard Leclerc in Vergennes, Vermont.  He was a priest in Bolivia for 20 years and said, except for Haiti, Bolivia is perhaps the poorest country in the world.

 

     We toured the National Morgan Horse Museum in Shelburne, Vermont, today.  The Morgan was the first horse bred in America.  Later in the day, I told the Shelburne News that our platform calls for a return of the small family farm and a return to "small technology," like small tractors, these Morgan horses as plow animals (like they were used in the old days).

 

     In Montpelier, Vermont, the state capitol, we met with Doug Wells, a represenative of Solar Works.  He said across the country a type of solar system is starting to be installed where, once you've used what you've needed for the month, the excess goes back into the grid.

 

     At St. Johnsbury House in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, I gave an impromtu "front porch" speech.  The St. Johnsbury House is a home for seniors.  I was later interviewed by the local Caledonian Record newspaper.

 

     In St. Johnsbury, Vermont, I met with Fr. Joseph Towle who is a Maryknoll missionary and has spent the past 10 years filming the video series "Children of the Earth."  He highlights youth from all over the world and proposes youth in America "adopt a country" each school year -- to bring the world closer together.

 

     In East St. Johnsbury, Vermont, we met with Beth Ridley, a para-educator working with special needs children at the 3rd and 4th grade levels.  She said the school employs a "team approach."  For each student, there is usually some combination of a case worker, a physical therapist, classroom teacher, para-educator, mental health therapist...  This apparently works quite well.

 

     In Lancaster, New Hampshire, we talked with Dale Martin who works at the Common Grounds Cafe here and is a member of the "12 Tribes Community."  The community members pray, eat, exercise, raise children, work... together.  They, for instance, own the cafe and a number of other businesses around town.  They are attempting to live as the early Christians lived.  That is, living together (in three big homes) and sharing things in kind.

 

     In Berlin, New Hampshire, I was interviewed by The Berlin Daily Sun.  I said we'd like to see the education curriculum in America include at least one-third of the time being volunteer work out in the communtiy.

 

     In Warner, New Hampshire, we talked with Joshua Miller.  He, his wife and three children are part of the Samaritan Ministries Healthcare Plan.  This is a Christian Health Insurance Group that has started up across the nation.  He said because of the relatively large size of the group now, their family pays a comparitively low premium every month.  And he said when someone in the network experiences medical problems, not only are they compensated financially, but a whole prayer network in the group kicks in as well.

 

     I was interviewed by the Journal Tribune in Sanford, Maine.

 

     We did somes stumping at the "Third Alarm Diner" in Sanford, Maine.  It was started by a local firefighter.

 

     As the final stop of the tour, we did a whistle-stop event at Old Orchard Beach, Maine.  We then took the kids swimming in the Atlantic.