Schriner says he got the idea to run for president after traveling the U.S. as a journalist, interviewing "average" citizens who were going that extra mile to help their community's kids, their poor and their natural environment. "And I thought, wouldn't it be, nice to have some of these rather regular, common sense-type people leading the country and inspiring similar projects in similar towns everywhere?

The thought of having his children, Sarah and Joseph, inherit a polluted world plagued by acid rain, ozone holes and global warming also troubled him and his wife, Liz, Schriner said.

After settling in Ripley, the Schriner wrote a weekly column for two local newspapers, looking at local issues, such as pollution or the need for low income housing, and suggesting potential solutions to the problem.

"After a year of seeing whether the projects could actually work in Ripley, and they could, it was time to run for president - of the United States," he said.

In 2000, the family set out in a 1974 conversion van on a 19-month, 20,000 mile campaign tour of the country. They operated on a shoestring budget financed by donations, meeting people and stumping for votes. They are compiling their experiences for an upcoming book, "The Back Road to the White House."

Though his bid for election was unsuccessful, he wasn't deterred. The family hit the road Again May 17 of this year on the "Campaign 2004" tour.

Schriner made a campaign swing through the area this week on his statewide tour of the 1,300-mile Buckeye Trail. He stayed with Tom and Diane Powers in Oregon where he met with the Powers' daughter Patrice Powers-Barker, a program assistant for the Ohio State University Extension and project Neighborhood Community Gardening.

Powers-Barker filled Schriner in on the program, which has helped inspire some 40 community gardens throughout the Toledo area. Among these is an inter-faith community garden maintained by people from all different denominations.

"I was told this food isn't sold, but rather given away to those less fortunate," Schriner said.

The candidate also toured a community garden at St. Louis Church in Toledo, where much of the food grown at the garden is given to a soup kitchen connected to a church outreach program.

Schriner's platform calls for more neighbors helping neighbors" programs at the grassroots level and he said both these programs are excellent examples of this, he said.