10/6/04

Average Joe Buckeye Blitz cont. Talked with Phil Zeber, owner of the Rock Creek Country Store in Rock Creek, Ohio. He’s had the store for almost three years, but can’t get a bank loan because he’s just barely breaking even, he said. It’s a Catch 22, he went on, because the bank loan would save him some $400 a month. I then entered into a debate with one of the regulars at the Rock Creek Cafe next door. (The group meets most mornings here and calls themselves the ROMEOS — “Retired Old Men Eating Out”.) In response to a question about what I’d do about terrorism, I said I’d work to fight it at it’s roots. That is, as kids grow up seeing no way out of poverty in the inner cities here, some join gangs. The same with some of the kids in the Third World, only there some ‘gangs’ are called: “terrorist cells.” I said to fight terrorism at it’s roots, you have to get more humanitarian help into the Third World. “Why would you want to help them,” one man shot back. And the “debate” ensued… (And unlike the nationally televised Debates of late, I had more than two minutes to answer.) Later in the day I met Rita Linehan. Fascinating story. In order to help a diocese in El Salvador, the family decided to do a fund raiser to get a priest there a 4×4 vehicle to traverse the highlands. They ended up raising money for five vehicles! What’s more, the family’s initiative sparked 10 sister church projects between the Youngstown Diocese the the Diocese of Chaltaenango in El Salvador. (Light ‘one candle,’ and look what happens.)

10/5/04

Average Joe Buckeye Blitz cont. Did a series of whistle-stops along Lake Erie in the Northeastern part of Ohio. In Conneaut, I was on WWOW’s Louie Free Show. In talking about the environment, Mr. Free said that by letting what some might consider an ‘unimportant species’ go extinct, could that, in reality, disrupt the whole eco-system chain and, ultimatley, throw everything off? Good question. In Jefferson, Ohio I interviewed two high school Juniors involved with a course on “Service Learning.” The course has them volunteering in the community with things like: A Buddy Walk for Down Syndrome children, painting the high school stadium, walking dogs at the Humane Society… I told the Ashtabula Star Beacon newspaper that we’d like to see one-third of the American curriculum (K-12) being volunteer work out in the community because: “I want my children learning as much about helping others as they do about math, science, English…” In Ashtabula, I also met with Rita Sarell who has a rather prolific (large posters, and so on) Pro-Life display in the window of her computer firm downtown. A picture in the News Standard newspaper the next day showed myself talking to Mrs. Sarell — with the display in the background. When I asked Mrs. Sarell if she was worried about the display hurting business at her store, she said. “Oh, it’s not my store. It’s God’s.” After talking to Mrs. Sarell, I had also told the Ashtabula newspaper that I recently heard in Nazi Germany, while adults and children went by screaming and wailing in box cars toward the Concentration Camps — many of the churches turned up the organ music to: drown out the sounds. And, I continued, isn’t that what we’re doing now in American society? That is, metaphorically, we’re turning up the music (pre-occupation with entertainment, sports, obssesive work patterns, and so on…) — while these little unborn babies (4,400 a day in America) go down the tracks to their deaths.

10/4/04

Average Joe Buckeye Blitz cont. Did a whistle-stop tour down Rte. 224 through the interior of Ohio yesterday, stopping in Nova, Sullivan, Lodi, Willard… At the end of Mass at a church in Willard, the parisioners (as they do every week), read a: Prayer for Peace. Part of it reads: “God… cleanse our minds of retaliation and help us to be instruments of Your peace.” Note: We propose a U.S. Department of Peace that would, for instance, exponentially increase things like Peace Corp. help to the Third World. If we became more proactive about building peace and social justice, we believe tensions would diminish in kind.

10/2/04

Average Joe Buckeye Blitz cont. *Note: WE NEED DONATIONS TO KEEP GOING RIGHT NOW! IF YOU CAN HELP, PLEASE CONSIDER IT. THANKS. (Schriner Election Committee, P.O. Box 15, Bluffton, Ohio 45817). Yesterday was just a great “backroads of Ohio” day on Rts. 68 and 235. A few vignettes: I was interviewed by the Xenia Daily Gazette in the morning, then headed north to Yellow Springs where I stumped on the main street there. Barber Greg Hasser said his shop had been broken into twice, once after he even installed metal bars on his back window. “Those guys (presidential candidates) are talking about protecting our borders… and I can’t even protect my back window,” he half smiled. In St. Paris (pop. 2,000 “…counting the dogs and cats”), Tom’s Varsity Barber Shop owner (my day for barbers) Tom Roush has the place filled, absolutely filled, with sports memorabilia. He said his favorite is a basketball former Indiana University coach Bobby Knight had signed for him. I then went to Rosewood, Ohio and talked to the Rosewood Grocery and General Store owner about supporting local business. After putting up a flyer in Rosewood (my response to the million dollar adds), I headed to DeGraff, Ohio where a man playing the ukelele on the main street there, stopped playing, looked up and hollered “Go Joe!” In Quincy, Ohio I talked to Sue and Bill Weiskittle, who had just returned from a trip to Marion, Ohio to see the “Moving (Vietnam Memorial) Wall.” Bill had been in the service and said to me that the news media seldom focuses on the good things that are happening in Iraq, like the kids going to school, the women having more rights… The Weiskittle’s daughter told me she’d seen a piece about our campaign on Channel 7 News out of Dayton and wanted to wish me “luck.”

9/30/04

Average Joe Buckeye Blitz cont. I headed south to Wapokeneta, Ohio (hometown of astronaut Neil (“One small step for man…”) Armstrong. I called the editor of the Wapokeneta newspaper when we got to our whistle-stop location downtown and said we had just: “landed.” Clever, huh? Then it was further south to Piqua, Ohio where I talked with retired teacher Larry Hamilton, who taught Social Studies and African American studies. I told Mr. Hamilton that our platform calls for a curriculum shift to many more cultural studies (African American, Native American, Hispanic…) to promote more understanding between cultures so we can build a more close-knit national, and global, community… This afternoon I gave a talk at the University of Dayton to Student Government and Political Science students. I started by saying it had either been a choice for me between participating in the presidential debate tonight in Florida. “…or coming here to talk with you. And, well, here I am.” John Strano, one of the students coordinating the event, said: “Did you want me to call Florida and have them remove the third podium Mr. Schriner?” After the laughter subsided, I gave a talk on our Education Platform (see www.voteforjoe.com / what joe stands for). Afterward, a reporter from the university’s Flyer News asked what motivated us to keep on. I said Liz (my wife) and I feel like we continue to make a difference… “one town at a time.” Note: The Greenville, Ohio Daily Advocate newspaper ran a front page story on the campaign today. Staff writer Nathan Eagle started the story with: Common sense. Noun. 1) The unreflective opinions of ordinary people. 2) Sound and prudent, but often unsophisticated judgment. (Merriam Webster).
Joe Schriner. Noun. 1) The 2004 presidential candidate that sees the future of America with a common sense philosophy. [I liked that.]

9/24-29/04

Average Joe Buckeye Blitz cont. Did a circle tour of Grand Lake St. Mary, the largest inland lake in Ohio. We appeared on the front pages of St. Mary’s and Celinas newspapers, then headed to Coldwater where I stumped with the regulars at the Main Street Cafe there. The reason I remember it was the Main street Cafe is because I am just now looking at a pen that says: “This pen has been stolen from: Main Street Cafe, Coldwater, Ohio.” Busted. Owner Pat “Buck” Rosenbeck had given us a free dinner as a campaign donation (great food). And as the campaign donations continued, Tim Axe in St. Mary’s then put a new rotor on the van and some steering aparatus “idler arms.” But I couldn’t stay ‘idle’ (sorry), and we headed further south to St. Henry’s where we were met by a reporter from Indiana who wanted to shadow us for the day. At St. Henry’s, I stumped at Fishmo Restaurant and owner Matt Stelzer told me the end zone sign (still working) he has out in front of his place is from the old high school stadium. “I only post the score if St. Henry’s wins,” Stelzer smiled. “People feel like I’m rubbing it in if I post a losing score.” And although it looks like we are still losing, I’m not one to give up. So we then headed to Greenville, Ohio, where we were interviewed by the editor there. He asked about practically all my positions in, perhaps, one of the most indepth interviews I’ve had recently. Then we headed into Cincinnati the next day where I gave a talk in a theology class at Xavier University. I talked on the economy: I said if you’re shopping at Wal Mart (K-Mart, Target…) for the cheapest prices — “you could be destroying families in Mexico.” I said after the North American Free Trade Agreement passed, the Mexican government stopped subsidizing the small family farmer in the interior of Mexico. The farmer and his family(s) then moved to the border to work in the factories that had gone up after NAFTA. (The government had needed a work force for all the factories.) Trouble is on a recent research trip to Juarez, Mexico we learned: the Mexican farmers, the wives… get a phenomenally low $3 a shift, so some parents are working two shifts, living in cobbled together shacks and their children are roaming the street. “All because we want stuff cheaper,” I said. “Does any of this sound spiritual?” I asked the theology students. And while I could tell I didn’t have all their votes — I did have their intention.

9/23/04

Average Joe Buckeye Blitz rolls on… The Springfield, Ohio News Sun did a big feature spread on the campaign yesterday and noted I had a map of Ohio pinned to a wall in the van dotted with circles of “cities, villages and townships” I’d visited. (And there are a lot, so far.) The Urbana Daily Citizen also ran a piece yesterday with the headline: Joe Wants to Win Ohio. Which I do. And to that end, I then met with David Parker in Urbana who is a member of the Shriners (no relation). By collecting cans, his group has raised a phenomenal $400,000 in the past 13 years so disadvantaged children can get help at Shriner’s Hospitals all across the U.S. I then headed north to West Liberty where I risked serious injury climbing up on a washing machine at the downtown laundromat to hang up a campaign flyer. I took another flyer to Subway Restaurant there and, playing off their current slogan, I wrote on the flyer: “Eat Fresh and Vote Fresh.” (I would like to reiterate once again, I am doing all this without paid consultants.) After this advertising inspiration, I headed further north to Bellefountaine, Ohio. After being interviewed by Joel Mast, the editor of the Bellefountaine Examiner, I met with the former mayor of Bellefountaine to discuss urban renewal issues. Our campaign calls for “decentralism.” That is, rejuvinating small town downtowns all across the country. Then it was off to Dunkirk, Ohio’s (pop. 887) Dairy Freeze where all the employee t-shirts say they: “SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM.” And I was ‘screaming’ for joy (actually more like smiling a bit) when they offered to hang one of the flyers up right by the order window. It’s my belief if you can carry Dunkirk… you can carry the country.

9/21/04

Average Joe Buckeye Blitz cont. In Springfield, Ohio this morning I talked with John Polley, 18, a used tire shop manager. He walked with a limp and said his knee “was hurting bad from lifting sem-tires.” But he had no health insurance and was hesitant to get his knee checked. I told a Springfield newspaper reporter later this morning that in Grand Junction, Colorado we researched a hospital run by doctors, nurses, town people doing intakes, janitorial work, and so on… all on a volunteer basis — so people like John could get help. (It’s called the Marrilac Clinic.) Dayton’s Channel 7 News also arrived just as someone was scolding me about parking in a handicapped spot (by mistake). And you think Bush and Kerry are experiencing public relations problems… Springfield’s Paul Campbell thinks the country isn’t so much experiencing PR problems, as it is “business problems.” That is, he said, “if you had a business that was in as much debt as the U.S. Government, well…,” he threw up his hands. I then headed to South Vienna, Ohio where a guy on the street said to me: “Bravo! Fighting the big boys!” I then went to W. Jefferson where Michael Tyree, who owns a small flooring business, said he gets disconcerted at times with local people driving 40 miles round trip to Columbus to look for cheaper prices at Lowe’s. What people don’t factor into those low prices is: gas money, time wasted (that could be spent on family, community) and added pollution to the atmosphere. It was then onto Mechanicsburg, Ohio where I put up a flyer in the window of a Christian bookstore called: Heavenly Touch. And we’re hoping the campaign gets a ‘heavenly touch’ (read: loaves and fishes story) soon. But in the interum, I then drove to Urbana, Ohio where I was interviewed for the better part of an hour by a reporter there. I then went into the New Family Table Restaurant where I stumped with the customers and passed out flyers. In addition, I interviewed owner Brian Waller who said his employees consist of: his wife, step son, mother-in-law, neice… In working together, Brian said it has brought them closer together as a family — just like he used to feel with his brothers and sisters growing up on a small family farm in western Illinois. Note: In a recent Guest Column in The Advocate (Newark, Ohio), Kathleen Pipes wrote: “this year I will write in a candidate of my cholde, Mr. average Joe Schriner. And I urge you to do the same. I am voting to make a statement: “We want to take back our country.”‘

9/20/04

Average Joe Buckeye Blitz cont. Gave a talk at a “Farm Festival” on Sunday at Dan and Nancy Kramer’s organic farm in Yorkshire, Ohio. I said one of the first things I’d do at the White House was tear out some of the front lawn and “put in an organic garden.” I said studies show farm chemicals (pesticides, herbicides, and the like) are creating chemical cocktails in people that are causing cancer, and other disease. I recently told Farm News Today that our agriculture platform would call for a dramatic shift back to the small family farm and things being grown naturally. In Mr. Kramer’s talk, he said national grocery chains are opening the door to mega farms and cruel treatment of animals (chickens, cattle…) on mass confinement farms. Mr. Kramer is an evangalist for the humane treatment of animals and the organic, small farm. And he has developed quite a model at his place… From Yorkshire I headed to Sidney, Ohio where I passed out literature downtown in front of the Spot Restaurant “The spot to be,” the sign says. (Not having an advance team, I took the restaurant’s word.) And it was. Afterward inside, I was greeted with a picture of President Bush waving in front of the restaurant, having gotten out of his tour bus for a moment. Close to the picture was a sign that said: George W. Bush Burger: $2.95. I asked the manager if I could hang a flyer on the bulletin board, and she said yes. But when I asked if they’d name, like, a toasted cheese sandwhich after me, well… Undaunted, I then headed to Tipp City, Ohio where I talked with Everett Hall, 64. He drives about town in a “road ready” golf cart, complete with a canvass shell and mini heater. He said he spends, at most, about $5 a month extra on electric. Later, I talked with Rick Sapolek in Huber Heights, Ohio. Sapolek’s company reconditions old golf carts and sells them for street use. He said the market would be better if towns added charging stations to, say, parking meters and created more room on the streets, and trails, for these. Our administration would push for more of this type of slower transportation (and slower speed limits)to make the roads safer for children and to cut down on pollution from burning fossil fuels.

9/18/04

Average Joe Buckeye Blitz cont. The whirlwind tour continues to roll on down Ohio’s backroads with stops in the last two days in Wauseon, West Unity, Bryan, Ney, Sherwood, Deshler, North Baltimore… While passing out literature at a Farmer’s Market in Bryan, I talked with two organic farmers who shun modern pesticides and herbicides because of their toxic affects. “Average Joe” platform point: “If we want to end cancer, we have to stop using things that cause cancer.” I then told the Bryan Times that I was running on a platform to: end pollution, make the country safe for children, and simplify the Federal Government. At John Weber’s Restaurant (their slogan: “Good Food, Mediocre Service”) in Wauseon, I sat in on a board meeting of the local Fellowship of Christian Athletes. FCA’s Rex Stump said there were 86,400 seconds in a day, and his goal is to get his athletes making the most of each moment, not just for their sports’ endeavors, but more importantly, for God. (One of the board members said he’d seen a Fox News piece about me the night before.) At Marty’s Restaurant in Ney, Ohio, owner (Who else?) Marty told me his plan for curbing unemployment would be to improve health care, for everyone. That is, he said if more seniors had affordable health care, they could retire earlier (and spend more time, say, with community service.) As they retired, it would open the door for more jobs. Made sense. Note: Tomorrow I talk at a Farm Festival in Yorkshire, Ohio.