We are in motion for our next “Back Road Tour…” Heading west along Rte 6 (the first coast to coast road), we stopped in the small town of Ligonier, Indiana. This is the home of the Indiana Historic Radio Museum. Dedicated to the history of radio, there are some 400 radios on display here — a few dating back to 1899. It was noted in the museum that on Oct. 27, 1920, radio station KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania received the first commercial license. Their first show was a few days later on Nov. 2. They broadcast the election returns of the Harding-Cox presidential race. It was estimated some 1,000 ham radio operators picked up that first broadcast. Note: Earlier in the day, at New Haven, Indiana, I saw a motivational poster with a picture of an open road. It said: “It’s about the journey; not the destination.” Apt words for our campaign.
6/14/05
Just before leaving Ohio, the family and I helped an organic farmer in Bluffton hoe a field of beans. Hard, sweaty work. But clean, good work. More than a few times while out in the field, I’d look up to see a pick-up truck going by with a chemical sprayer on the back. I’m sure we looked much the anomaly out there with our old-fashion hoes. Nevertheless, the farmer said in a small radius around his place, another farming couple had both lost their lives to cancer recently, as had his brother who farms just the next field over. He said the chemicals leech into the groundwater and get into the wells. And, he explained, some of the chemicals sprayed, never make it to the plants or the ground — but rather become air born. “It’s kind of like breathing in second hand smoke,” he lamented. Note: These chemicals are not just hazardous to the farmers. David Orr, who is head of the Environmental Science Department at Oberlin College, has written that the chemicals (pesticides, herbacides…) in our food supply, are creating “chemical cocktails” in the systems of the general populace these days, which is leading to all sorts of disease, including cancer.
6/12/05
We took a side trip to Bradford, Ohio where we met with Tim Axe who has just bought a 14 acre farm, his first. He has replaced a chemically sprayed soy bean field out front with a natural pasture where he will graze sheep and goats. In the back, he is taking a small stagnant pond, rejuvinating it and turning it into a “natural pond.” And over the weekend, the family and I helped Tim put in a couple organic, raised bed gardens. Tim sees the land as a ‘sacred trust’ and he is doing all he can to be the best “environmental steward” possible because, well, he believes that’s how God would have it.
6/10/05
Went to Bluffton, Ohio’s Farmer’s Market (“…with an emphasis on organic”) today. I talked with Ray Person who recently bought a 20-acre farm on the outskirts of town. Eight families from Bluffton regularly go out to tend to a large organic garden, chickens and some pigs. They’ve also converted an old garage to a “Summer Kitchen” and the families can together there, and so on. Ray, who is a theology professor at Ohio Northern University, has bought the farm, primarily, for environmental stewardship reasons. It’s his way of combatting some of the urban sprawl (by keeping the land rural) and it helps connect these other families much more with the land, God’s growing cycles, etc. Note: Bluffton High School’s marquee had a bit of writing for the graduating class of ’05: “Do not follow where the path may lead, but go instead where there is no path — and leave a trail.” Kind of sounds like the theme of our “back roads” campaign.
6/8/05
We are back in Bluffton, Ohio, our old hometown. Last night I talked with a local farmer here who is switching his 60 acre farm to organic for “environmental stewardship” reasons. He told me before he would spend, on average, between $3,200 to $4,000 a year on fertilizer and herbicides. And although the fertilizer and herbacide would increase his yield a bit, he estimates he’s only losing about $1,000 a year on these transitional crops (he nets about $8,000 to $10,000 annually on the 60 acres of beans and corn) before his farm is “certified organic.” And in the current market, he stands to make considerably more when he has the organic seal. However in the interum, he said losing $1,000 a year is a small price to pay to know his family, and his customers, are eating healthier — without all the toxic chemicals. Note: There is a picture of a woman working on her small subsistence farm in Australia as an aid worker approaches to help. She looks up and says: “If you’re coming to help me, then you’re wasting your time. But if your liberation is tied up with mine, then let us work together.”
6/7/05
We stopped in Yellow Springs, Ohio (pop. 4,000). The town is dotted with “NO SPRAWL” signs. Chamber of Commerce volunteer Joan Horn told me a developer had recently bought a tract of land on the outskirts of town and had plans to put in a strip mall with a Kinkos, and a number of other stores. (All Yellow Springs’ businesses are currently located downtown.) Many of the residents, who believe in the concept of Decentralism in general, maintaining the integrity of their downtown specifically, and keeping things as ‘walkable’ and cyclable as possible — dramatically rose up with these loud, yellow yard signs and a barrage of letters-to-the-editor of the town paper. The developer backed off. Note: In an article about “Getting Fit” in the current Time Magazine, it was noted: “The average Amish man takes 18,425 steps a day, and the average Amish woman takes 14,196. A typical American [not counting those in Yellow Springs, Ohio] takes: 5,000.”
6/6/05
We’re in Peebles, Ohio, where we are staying with some friends for a few days. Our Sarah’s pen pal Leah Brockhoeft is here. They are both nine-years-old and have recently started a: “Club.” The Club is focused on “What Kids Can Do To Help The World.” (Quite a leap from when I was nine and the “Club” was in a tree house where we talked about bicyles, baseball and how to keep girls out.) Leah had recently put together a handmade booklet she sent to Sarah. The booklet included magazine pictures and captions of tsunami victims in Indonesia. It also had a plan Leah had devised for raising money for the survivors. She was doing extra things around the house, like mowing the grass, weeding the garden… to make money for the cause. Shortly after we arrived, Leah and Sarah also made a lemonade stand and raised a considerable bit more for Indonesia as well. Note: The Brockhoefts are not only teaching their children about helping the disadvantaged, they are also teaching them about a gamut of moralistic issues. One being “modesty in dress.” One afternoon the kids went swimming in a small, inflatable back yard pool. For a swimsuit, Leah wore a light, rubberized dress that came down to her knees and snapped in the middle. Leah’s mother Joanne told me she had ordered the dress from a company called: “Wholesome Wear.”
6/5/05
We stopped in Mt. Hope, Ohio a couple days ago. And yesterday the campaign had us intersect with Gene Enz of Mt. Joy, Ohio. (Notice the ‘optomistic’ tenor, hope, joy… [sorry]) Anyway, Enz is a farmer who told me he would like to see less government programs to help the disadvantaged, and more “people helping people” programs at a grassroots, local level. We then went to Peebles, Ohio where we learned there is an organization here in Adam’s County (as there is in other parts of the country) called: “Love Inc.” This is a non-profit that networks those in need with local churches, and individuals, who can help. As an example, Joanne Brockhoeft, who participates in the program here, said someone might have an unexpected medical emergency, and need funds; or a family might have had another child, and needs a bed; and so on… I couldn’t help but think this is the kind of program Gene Enz would like to see more of. Note: This part of the campaign swing has taken us through a lot of rural farm land with a lot of “hokey moo cows.” Meant to be pronounced: “horsey moo cows.” That’s our two-year-old Jonathan’s name for: horses. (Don’t ask me how he came up with this apparent cross breeding idea. But we think it’s kind of cute.)
6/3/05
We have launched on our next tour, first stop: Mt. Hope, Ohio (pop. 2,000). Author Gene Logsdon has called Mt. Hope the best town in Ohio. Why? Mt. Hope is Amish, and for the most part: sustainable. That is, the main modes of transportation are buggies and bicycles. Because of limited (and non-polluting) mobility, local people have to rely on local people for the “stuff of life.” Farmers grow for the local people. A diversified group of small “Mom & Pop” shops downtown provide: clothing, shoes, hardware, food… again, all the basic stuff of life. With everyone reliant on everyone else, common sense would say the people here are quite close. And they are, according to Daniel Troyer. Daniel is an Amish woodworker with Homestead Furniture, who grew up in Mt. Hope and lives in a home with his family, right next to his parents. The Amish place a tremendous premium on family, as they do on community — as opposed to unbridled upward mobility. Dan expalined, for instance, the Amish here have an insurance group with a rather unique fund. People in the group put one day’s wages into the fund, every month. Daniel said this is an expression of care for one’s neighbors, and a way to ‘insure’ that no one goes without help.
5/30/05
Memorial Day: In Memorial Days past, our family has gone out to local cemeteries to honor those who have fought for our country. Yesterday, we met with a group of Catholic Workers on Cleveland’s near west side who, quite regularly, “fight for peace.” They are non-violent, opposed to war, and quite vocal about it. What’s more, they work stridently for more social justice, worldwide, to help diffuse some of the tension that leads to war. For instance, yesterday I interviewed Sr. Catherine Walsh who is with the Catholic Workers in Akron, and who had come out to Cleveland for the day. She supervises an Hispanic Catholic Worker House in Akron and said several years ago she had taken in a woman who had come here from the Honduras. A natural disaster had destroyed this woman’s home. A single mother, she left her three chidren with a sister, traveled north through five countries, and entered the U.S. illegally (with the help of “Coyotes”) to earn money so her children could eat and have another home. Sr. Catherine said the woman worked at a back breaking job for meager wages in a tire company (her arms often black and blue from all the lifting), all to take care of her children…. And we’re worried about these people being here? We should be looking at this as a tremendous spiritual opportunity, to help.