A priest at St. Mary’s Church in Tiffin, Ohio this morning told me he believed people in the Pro-Life Movement should have a fund to offer a woman in crisis pregancy substantial amounts of money (“Like $20,000,” he said.) — to keep their baby… We then drove to Fostoria, Ohio where I was inteviewed by reporter Tim Soster of the Review Times. Our Sarah, 9, and Joseph, 8, sat in on the interview. At one point in the interview, I said the children were participating in a “great social experiment.” That is, they were being raised without television because it is currently too corrosive and can lead to “brain atrophy.” I said story telling and reading excercises the mind because the listener or reader has to picture characters, envision plot development, and so on. The kids then jumped in and told Mr. Soster about one of the more current stories I told them around a campfire in Peebles, Ohio. It was the story of the little purple people from “Planet Zig.” [Don’t think I’m not going to try to get to the bottom of this UFO thing when I get into Office — not to mention opening Area 51 to the public.]… On a more sober note,
10/4/05
In Marion, Ohio today we did a whistle-stop event in the downtown area. Holding a banner that reads: “Average Joe” for President — imagine that!, we waved to passing motorists and passed out flyers to people on the street. One man said he was suprised at the New Orleans response time given how fast, say, the world responded the Indian Ocean tsunami… We then headed up back road Rte. 231. We stopped in tiny Wyandot, Ohio to pass out flyers to people in their yards there, then headed on to Sycamore, Ohio. While updating this journal in the library there, a group of youth approached and asked for autographs (A front page story about the campaign had run in the local newspaper today)… Then this evening I was invited to a Volunteer EMT Squad meeting at Sycamore’s Fire Department building. For the better part of an hour, squad members got quite animated as they talked about their opinions about a variety of issues. One woman, for instance, said she believed there was too much study pressure on youth in school today. She said it was her opionion this was leading to things like: more youth depression, even suicide. I explained part of our educational platform called for an easing of competition in the schools, and much more student volunteer work out in the community (as is starting to be generated by the relatively new school “Service Learning Projects”). I added that I wanted our children learning as much about helping others, as they do learning about math, science, English… Note: Earlier in the day, we had stopped back in Nevada, Ohio (pop. 800). There I met Bill Morgan, who was the former (and only ever) “Village Marshall” in Nevada. Hired by the village council, he was an officer for 20 hours a week, and for the other 20 hours he was the entire Maintenance Dept. That is, when he wasn’t patroling, he was plowing. During the winter he plowed snow. In the summer he patched streets,mowed cemeteries, the park, and so on. “Bill is the last of his kind, a real ‘Andy of Mayberry,”‘ Seneca County Sheriff’s Sergeant Scott Lantz told me. Sgt. Lantz said in his 22 years on the job in Nevada, Marshall Morgan only wrote: three tickets! Sgt. Lantz explained Marshall Morgan’s continual presence in the community was enough to quell crime considerably. And even though the marshall didn’t write a lot of tickets, he gave a lot of sort of informal (yet stern) warnings. Sgt. Lantz said as a youth growing up in Nevada, he once ran a stop sign just before getting to his home. Recounting the story with a smile, Sgt. Lantz said he’d already walked into his home and through a couple rooms when Marshall Morgan opened the front door and marched right in behind him. “They put those stops signs up for a reason!” The marshall scolded. No ticket was needed, the scolding apparently left enough of an impression. [This represents small town Community Oriented Policing at it’s finest, and we believe it shouldn’t be ‘a thing of the past.’]
10/3/05
I was interviewed by The Daily Cheif-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio today. I told the reporter in the first 100 days as president, I’d start a drive to: end world hunger. “Our adminstration would be one that would not be so much prosperity-oriented, as helping oriented,” I said. Note: There is little in the way of big box stores in the outskirts of Upper Sandusky, and as a result, there is a quite vital downtown business community here with a tremendous amount of diversity. Note: We then traveled to Marion, Ohio where we got some bagels at Mama’s Cafe downtown. A plaque on the wall there reads: “Home is where you can say anything you want — because no one listens to you anyway.”
10/2/05
We happened across the Creston (OH) Carving Festival yesterday. Thinking it was going to be a laid back, quiet Saturday afternoon thing, we went to the park to see some hand carved pieces, some knife carving demonstrations, etc. Silly me. Each of the artisans were: “chain saw artists” and “chain saw sculptors.” The loud whir of 25 chian saws all going at once was, well, maddening — yet a good metaphore for our modern society. Here we are burning more fossil fuel, amidst a frenzied rush to produce as much as we possibly can, as fast as we possibly can… Today we traveled to Nevada, Ohio (pop. 800) where we met Ellen Walton who onws EJ’s Market downtown here. This small grocer has kept the market going the past nine years, in the face of encroaching Wal Marts and other chain groceries. Ellen said she is an evangelist for small business, but said many of the small stores in Nevada’s downtown have now closed — and been turned into apartments, and the like. Ellen said she is also concerned about outsourcing of American Jobs. She said Upper SAndusky’s AO Smith that employed her husband (and makes all sorts of small motors) has moved most of their operation to Mexico and China. Ellen said the plant used to have 800 workers, it now has: 15… We then went to Nevada’s Park for an afternoon baseball game with our kids. While at the park, I met Seneca County Sheriff’s Sergeant Scott Lantz. He said his Department utilizes as much prisoner labor as possible. That is, prisoners help fix up county offices, do maintainence at the park, mow isolated township cemeteries (including fixing up deteriorating head stones), and work for a number of charitable organizations. In return, the prisoners generally get a day off their sentences (usually they are in on misdemeanor charges) for every day worked. It’s a win-win situation which makes sense, I believe, common sense.
10/1/05
We traveled south to Seville, Ohio where we stopped to have breakfast at the American Heritage Restaurant. The walls were a cornucopia of, well, American Heritage. There was a picture of a 1932 Plymouth convertible Coupe, price: $595. That’s right, five-hundred and ninety five dollars. There was also of Babe Ruth Red Rock Cola, price: 5 cents. That’s right, 5 cents. There was also a poster for the competition, “Ice Cold Nehi (pop)” and 17 cents a gallon gasoline. (Seems like a distant dream these days, huh!) And, among many of the other pieces, was a sign that said: “Spitting on the Sidewalk Prohibited. Penalty! $5 to $100.” I couldn’t help but wonder how you’d differentiate between, say: a $5 spit, and a $50 spit, and a $75 spit…? Note: On the wall at the American Heritage Restaurant was also the following saying: “Everyone is entitled to my opinion.”… We then traveled south on Route 3 to Creston, Ohio, where I interviewed Robert Moeller, a volunteer with the Salvation Army here in this small rural town. Each Saturday morning some six volunteers pass out food and clothing at a small storefront. Moeller, who has volunteered with the Salvation Army the past 20 years, said they average serving about 400 people every month — on a budget of $9,000 a year. The organization is subsidized by area churches, a Service Club, a Community Club, and private citizens. Moeller said what probably pains him most is seeing the number of single mothers coming in because of “divorce or desertion.” And wouldn’t you know, the next person that came in this morning was a single mother of four children. She was in her mid-30s and had children that ranged from about four to 10-years-old. She said she was on Welfare and would soon begin with the “Ohio Works Program.” She said she was confident she would have a job soon. Reciprocally, I couldn’t help but think, yeah, she’ll have a job, but what about the diminished amount of parenting time with the kids? If kids are shorted emotionally, they often grow up angry — and we see more violence in the streets. Or they grow up feeling empty inside, and reach for alcohol, drugs, sex… to fill the emotional holes inside. Maybe we should change our paradigm on this one and have an “Ohio Mom’s Program” to, through a series of creative initiatives, help keep these mothers in their homes with their children, learning more parenting skills, and the like.
9/29/01
Spent yesterday working on a third book about Bluffton, Ohio titled: America’s Best Town 3. Some say it would be hard to write one book about a town of 3,877 people, much less three. However, Bluffton merits it. If there was ever a place that was in line with our platform of what a town should be — social justice wise, environmental stewardship wise, community building wise… — it would be Bluffton. [For more on the other books about “America’s Best Town,” see the home page of this site.]… Stopped in Bowling Green, Ohio today where I talked with Mike McMaster, Education Coordinator for the Wood County Historical Center & Museum. On the property is an old Infirmary, also known as the “Poor House.” In the early part of the 1900s, McMaster said the poor, the sick, the elderly, the mentally ill… were all housed in an old brick building here — as they were in most counties across the country. I marvel at how far we’ve come since those days in helping these various populations in America. Besides being a journalist, I am also a former licensed social worker. And I have seen, first hand, some of the counseling sophistication that has developed to help the mentally ill, as an example. Comprehensive drug and alcohol treatment, state of the art psychotherapy techniques, and so on. Granted, we can always get better in each of these areas; but my hat is off to the many working in their various fields to help: the poor, the sick, the elderly, the mentally ill…
9/27/05
We’ve traveled to Findlay, Ohio where we had some electrical work done on our motor home. Carl Stein at Traucht Electric here donated his time to replace a spent cylinoid and rewire a master thingamabob, or something. (Our Joseph, 8, then spent the rest of the day trying to take the old cylinoid apart — grease and dirt everywhere.) Carl is a quite active member of the Knights of Columbus, that is when he’s not giving eight-year-olds spent cylinoids… Note: In Traucht Electric’s lobby there was the following saying: “When you don’t know what you’re talking about, it’s hard to know when you’re finished.” [My wife Liz has occasionally made similar comments in relation to some of my speeches.]… We then went across town to the “Sign Shack” where we put some new signage on the “average Joe” mobile.” My wife Liz put on the big vnyl letters to: “Back Road to the White House Tour.” When she finished, I said our next step should be to put a megaphone on the roof to play the “average Joe” theme song over as we drove into a town. She said: “Good.” Several years ago, she wouldn’t have said “good” — but rather she would have blushed, and said something to the affect of: “Do you really think that’s a good idea, honey?” She’s actually become quite the campaigner of late… As we were finishing up at the sign shop, we met Terry Redick, owner of “Terry’s Drive-In” in nearby Arlington, (pop. 800). He saw the signage on the motor home and asked about it. “I’m running for president as an independent candidate.” His immediately reply was: “I once fed President Clinton.” Terry said in 1995 Clinton was running for re-election and made a “whistle-stop” in Arlington to give an afternoon talk at the town park. Terry catered (chicken, cole slaw, potatoes and “the best homemade ice cream”). He said afterward, Mr. Clinton and his daughter Chelsea were walking toward the train and picked up a couple box lunches before he boarded. The train then started down the track, stopped — and began backing up. When it stopped, a secret service man motioned for Terry to come forward. He explained President Clinton had tried the chicken and ice cream, said it was the best he’d eaten anywhere in the country, and wondered if he could: get some more. Terry said this made Associated Press stories all over the U.S. the next day. And in the following months, people from Michigan, Indiana and southern Ohio would travel to his small place in Northwestern, Ohio (“…with coolers”) to get some of Terry’s chicken and homemade ice cream.
9/26/05
In Bradford, Ohio today, I interviewed Richard Brogden who was back visiting his mother here. Brogden currently lives in Israel and is pastor of the Narkis Street Congregation there. He said trouble continues to brew in Isreal, despite the giving of the Gaza Strip land back to the Palestinians a couple weeks back. Rev. Brogden said “right wing factions” in Israel feel the Israelis are making too many sacrifices with land concessions — like that of the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, he said Palestinian attacks continue as well… The day before in Vandalia, Ohio, I interviewed Bob Swab, who is a former Social Action Coordinator for the Cincinnati Dioceses. In speaking of Pro-Life issues, he said: “The man is never taken to task on abortion.” And not only should the man be held as responsible for a pregnancy, but the man should also receive counseling, and so on, just like the woman, he said… Swab also said it is ironic we are fighting terrorism abroad, yet we harbor the “School Of The Americas” (Ft. Benning, GA) here.
9/25/05
We traveled to Xenia, Ohio where I interviewed Tom Griffis who helps co-ordinate Habitat for Humanity projects here. He told me one of the Habitat house initiatives in Xenia the year before pulled together 12 churches to help. Besides making for the building of a quality house, this kind of church cooperative is excellent at getting dialogue going between people who wouldn’t ordinarily mix… In Xenia, I also interviewed Mary Howell who is the Secretary for St. Brigid’s “Partners in Education.” Parents involved with Partners in Education do creative fundraisers to help subsidize the cost of St. Brigid School field trips, new lockers, a track program, balls for the playground. In addition, Ms. Howell told me the school also has a seperate fund specifically designated for students needing help paying for tuition, for uniforms, and so on. Note: Several years ago, I gave a talk to an Education class at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. While at the class, I also learned about an alternative high school program in Rhode Island that included “teams” that would form around each student. The team would include parents, the school counselor, a teacher, a business person from the community in a field the student may be interested in, a neighbor… The team would meet each month to talk about the student’s progress, strategize about goal planning, and so on. Not only does the student get a tremendous amount of support, but this team concept helps get other people who might not necessarily be that interested in the town school system, interested. Everybody wins. Note 2: I threw out the first pitch at a St. Brigid Church picnic kickball game today — and one of the youth ‘kicked’ it for a home run. (I’ve yet to master ‘rolling’ a good curve ball.)
/9/24/05 (cont.)
We attended a conference on “Peak Oil” at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio today. The conference focused on the societal shift that needs to happen now that we’re now on the verge of peak oil production worldwide, and we are starting to move into a downward oil cycle. Put another way, speaker Pat Murphy echoed what many environmentalists are now saying: “The fossil fuel party is over.” Murphy, who is the Executive Director of Community Services, Inc. in Yellow Springs, called for much more of a phasing in of solar and wind technologies: “as soon as possible.” Murphy pointed out that during the oil crisis of the late ’70s in the U.S., Jimmy Carter had solar panels put on the White House roof. Ronald Reagan ordered they be taken down when he got in… Murphy also noted only 18% of the world lives in First World comfort, while much of the rest lives in staggering Third World poverty. He said we have become a country of ravenous “consumers” (energy, food, material goods…); while billions in the Third World live with less than the bare essentials in food, energy, shelter, and so on. He said years from now, our American society will be looked at as an abberation in regard to how we should really be living within the context of the global community. And Mr. Murphy added it is essential we become a society of “conservers,” rather than “consumers ” — as soon as possible as well… Berkley, California’s Jan Lundberg said: “The eco-system is on the ropes and the industrial world is in denial.” Describing himself as a “cultural change activist,” Lundgren said our society is going to have to “relocalize and contract.” That is, in the next era there will be a lot more local production for local consumption with food and goods, because peoples’ mobility will be curtailed significantly. [It was pointed out at the conference that an average food item in America now is trucked about 1,500 miles before getting to the table.]… Conference speaker Michael Shuman, from Maine, reiterated we must begin shifting to smaller, sustainable communities in which there is more interdependency. The author of the book: “Buy Local,” and an economist, Shuman proposes more incubators and mentorship programs to help small local businesses get started. He also recommends local citizens buy shares in local businesses to increase, even more, the local ties, etc.