Original 13 Colonies Tour

 

April 30, 1999, I did a declaration speech at the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia.

 

In Green Lane, PA, we met with environmentalist Dustin Wade. Growing up in the 1970's, his lunch box was stickered with: SAVE THE TREES; BAN DDT; and such. They also were the only family in town with a compost pile.

 

I gave a campaign stump speech on Rodney Square in downtown Wilmington, Delaware.  I was also interviewed by radio anchor Chris Carl from WDEL.

 

In Rising Sun, Maryland, we met with preservationist Erica Quesenbery. Ms. Quesenbery, who teaches history at a community college here, has marshalled a group of like-minded people who go around the town on Saturdays helping homeowners paint, or repair a front porch, or resurface a driveway --for free.

 

I gave a campaign speech at the Reflecting Pool just across from the Capitol Building in D.C. Being a former counselor, I said that we have become a nation physiologically addicted to adrenaline. We are driving too fast, creating way too much personal debt, being compulsively busy --all stress-related adrenaline triggers.

 

We stopped in Mason Neck, Virginia, where we toured Gunston Hall, home of George Mason. His influence, and others, led to the U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights.

 

We then visited George Washington's Mt. Vernon Plantation 15 miles up the road from Mason Neck. While Washington acknowledged slavery was wrong, he had 300 slaves on his plantation.

 

I gave a fundraising talk at a private home in Timonium, Maryland. I said part of our education platform calls for a tremendous increase in service-learning in the community. This would unleash more help to areas that needed the help and it would help form students in a more caring way.

 

We talked with David Wade, who lives in Ephrata, PA. He started ECHO (Ephrata Committee Helping Others). They identify needs in the town, then mobilize to help, including regular fundraising.

 

We stopped at the Mennonite Central Committee in Akron, PA. A booklet there, Ecological Footprints, notes that our "carbon footprints" are huge in the U.S. For instance, there are 57 cars for every 100 people in this country.

 

I gave a stump speech at One Square in downtown Lancaster, PA.

 

In Freehold, New Jersey, we met with Suzanne Feely. A senior at Notre Dame High School here, she was required to do 10 hours of community volunteer service.  She did 137.

 

I gave a stump speech in Princeton, New Jersey. I said we esteem Ivy League Schools in this country. But maybe we should esteem schools that teach the most relevant classes in: common sense for the common good.

 

Princeton's Town Topics newspaper reporter Albert Raboteau wondered if I was "tilting at windmills," even without hearing much about our alternative energy platform. Hint: We'd like to see more windmills to tilt at.

 

In Goshen, New York, The Times Herald Record's April Hunt started her story about our campaign with: "Think of Joe Schriner as the tortoise.  Slow and steady wins the race."

 

In Woodstock, New York, we researched the dynamics of that towns rather elaborate Community Garden. And I gave a stump speech on the square in downtown Woodstock. I said that not everything that came out of the 60's ("liberated" sexual acting out, drugs, some rock 'n roll...) was, oh, all that great.

 

In Sharon, Connecticut, we met with the Audobon Society's Kathy Amiet. She said if you can get kids excited about nature, then they'll want to "save nature." Common sense.

 

Walked along the Appalachian Trail for awhile outside of Kent, Connecticut. We met Florida's Richard Ryan who was hiking the whole thing. His trail name: "Lion Heart."

 

The Waterbury Republican American newspaper noted we believed in "voluntary simplicity." A movement has started up around the country to get Americans to think about cutting back lifestyle-wise.

 

I gave a talk on "The Green" in Sharon, Connecticut.  I said that while Sharon could be considered, for the most part, upper-middle-class, there were kids sleeping in back alleys in urban centers all over the country. Somehow we've got to figure this out, especially for these inner city children's sakes.

 

A political reporter from the Norwich (CT) Bulletin asked me my motivation for running. I said Liz and I were running as concerned parents. And we weren't just concerned about our kids.

 

In Newport, Rhode Island, we interviewed Barb Brugman, who house shares with a couple of her grown kids. Her kids live in a converted apartment above the garage.  They share a common yard, a common kitchen, cars, clothes... It's this kind of thing that could tremendously impact urban sprawl.

 

In Newport, I also interviewed police officer Mark Santi who is involved with Community Oriented Policing. He walks and bicycles a beat, shoots hoops with the neighborhood kids, has coffee with the adults. Crime is down 40%.

 

I gave a stump speech in downtown Newport.

 

We met with Phyllis Calvey in Bellingham, Massachusetts. She's part of St. Blaize Church here, where they average tithing a phenomenal 17% per parishioner. Ms. Calvey is a writer.  When she hears a poignant story about how the money is helping, say, a Native American girl on a poverty stricken Reservation, Ms. Calvey writes the story and shares it with the church.  It makes the giving much more real, and interactive, she said.

 

I also gave a stump speech in Franklin.

 

In Canterbury, New Hampshire, we visited a former Shakers settlement. Like the Amish, these were a simple people who put God, family and community first --in that order.  And they were serious about it. On simplicity, their founder wrote:  "The scrambling and yearning for worldly possessions is an impediment to spiritual growth."

 

I gave a talk at the Full Gospel Businessmen's Dinner in Keene, New Hampshire.

 

I took the family to a Keene Swamp Bats New England Collegiate Baseball League game. It was 10 bucks to get the family in, and we splurged on some hot dogs and soft drinks. (Have I mentioned its a low budget campaign?)

 

A Keene Sentinel reporter asked us what we'd do when we got to D.C. ? Liz, without skipping a beat, said: "Get out of the van."

 

I gave a talk on Railroad Square in Keene, New Hampshire.

 

I told a reporter for the Brattleboro (VT) Reformer newspaper that it is important that citizens fight big chain stores clustering on the outskirts of small towns and, often, closing down the small Mom & Pop shops that keep the downtowns vibrant. Brattleboro (pop. 14,000) was named one of Americas top 10 cities in 1995.

 

Gave a talk at the Village Community Church near Keene, New Hampshire.  Afterward, youth group coordinator Richard Castaine told me he'd recently brought in a representative from Compassion International who told the youth about a woman in the Third World who drowned her two children in the sea, rather than watch them die of starvation.  The Keene youth group kids started selling their cars and getting jobs after school to help.

 

During an interview with the Bangor Daily News, Liz said that we've become a society that values material wealth above emotional health.

 

I gave a talk in Rockport, Maine and talked with Fr. Eugene Gaffey in Camden, Maine.  He had formerly been at the St. Francis Apache River Reservation in Arizona. He said "God orchestrated a coming together at the beginning of our country to mix the best of both cultures. That didn't happen," he said, "because of greed."

 

Traveling south from Maine, we talked with with John and Louise Mathews in Newport, North Carolina. They had just adopted an 11-month old baby girl from China. She had been abandoned in a bus station, because of China's One Child Policy.

 

In Beaufort, North Carolina, we passed out campaign cards on the street and were interviewed by the Beaufort Gam newspaper. In Morehead City, I did a spot on the Straight Talk radio show.

 

In North Augusta, South Carolina, Liz and I did a Christian television show. The host asked how we met and we told a pretty romantic story, as these things go. Dazzled by the story, she then asked: "And you've lived happily ever after?" I looked at Liz, then replied: "We have our days." Liz didn't smile.

 

We met with environmentalist Reed Armstrong in Beaufort, South Carolina.  His group had successfully blocked the development of three tiny coastal islands here. We were later interviewed by the Beaufort Gazette.

 

Our last stop of this tour was Savannah, Georgia. We did a downtown whistle-stop event and ended up on the front page of the Savannah Morning News. The story started off that most presidential candidates show up in big, shiny black limousines, and the like.  Not us.  And so it goes...