We gathered this morning at the gazebo in Wolcott, the town where we had stayed last night. We were joined by local friends and newcomers, including a Vietnam Veteran who had heard about the March and joined in. Wonderful to see him comfortable enough to join our morning circle.
A beautiful day to walk, walking thorugh the countryside, the orchards and lilacs. And a dancing palomino entertained us as we walked past a farm.
A couple of people from the Buddhist Peace fellowship in Rochester joined us. The Peace Fellowship is one of the March sponsors.Sean Kessler also joined the March.
We had lunch in Red Creek. Watermelon and sandiwches. And leftover birthday cake from the day before.
We were numbering about 30, purple flags flying.
It is powerful to be walking along, talking with people. People driving by were tooting horns constantly, even in this somewhat conservative area. This is good news, and an indicator of how many share our concerns.
– Peg Gefell
PEACE WALK TO FORT DRUM
Sunday – May 11, 2008
We planned to meet at the Presbyterian Church in Wolcott at 9:00. Everybody was off in people’s homes and arrived late. About 10:00, We gathered, packed the truck and headed for the gazebo to have our morning circle. We celebrated our wonderful hosts and the new walkers who joined us for the day or just until the end of town. Ory was with us in his stroller and Roland at 79 on his bicycle. Kathy gave out beautiful yellow rose corsages to the mothers in the group and Vicky had composed a new marching song to the tune of When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again. She felt that our first song wasn’t zippy enough to march to.
We headed out through Wolcott across the falls and up the hill. More people joined us as we headed out of town. A couple joined us whose son saw us as he was coming home from college. The family knew Kathy and Peter and a wonderful reunion ensued. We headed out to Route 104 and Mary Beth couldn’t believe that we were really heading east, but after several locals reassured her, she relaxed. There were no homes on the route so the walkers who were used to interacting with lots of people along the way didn’t have their job to do.
Rick showed up with his van and there was lots of discussion about where to park and how he could get ferried back to the walk. We could on only use the Blossom View van because it had the lift for his wheelchair, but other peoplel were needing the van. We finally got everyone back to church and left Rick’s van there and he rejoined us. He decided to ride at the end of the walk and accompany the walkers who were now meeting people out working in their yards. Everyone was awed that we were going the whole way to Fort Drum. After we told them about our mission, we invited them to the festival on Saturday. We stopped in Red Creek by the Mill Pond for lunch. As we walked into town, the town seemed so poor and almost abandoned. Several women greeted us,; they were working on clearing glass so they could have the pots removed to put on Main Street. Kathy talked to some vets, who said “this war has got to end. Somme people are getting rich on it, but we’re getting poorer.”
Roland rode ahead as we neared Fair Haven to check on the height of the hills ahead. Just as we entered Fair Haven, we stopped to take a group picture. It took a while to get posed, since we had to carefully avoid the poison ivy which bade us welcome to Fair Haven. Everyone was situated and the photographers poised when the property owner came out and ordered us to leave immediately. We hurried to take the pictures and just when we had scrambled over the rocks to the road, the owner changed his mind and said we could stay as long as we wanted as long as we didn’t leave anything behind.
Some of the host people came out to meet us and see what we needed. A young man stopped and gave us power drinks.
When we walked through town, the streets were torn up for new sewers. We headed to our host family, formed our circle and introduced everyone. We sang our new song and headed for a wonderful dinner. The van headed back to the city; feet got soaked and sewn and transportation issues were discussed and resolved.
As the night wore on, we discovered that our gear was locked in the truck and we had to find Frank and get the sleeping bags out. We laughed a lot, talked a lot and shared so many stories.
Mary Beth Gamba
2 responses so far ↓
1 Irene S Feltner // May 12, 2008 at 8:54 am
I followed the Rochester marchers to the Root Cellar with the PIA group for the Thur. evening event. The speakers were awsome. On Fri. I caught up with them in Sodus with the Raging Granny Group. Sat. I searched the marchers out just outside Wolcott. I honk-honked them on and visited with Vicki in the sag car. Sun. I met up with the marchers in Red Creek at lunch. Tobey(my dog) and I marched for a couple of miles. There was a photo opt for the moms on the march as it was Mothers Day. There were people out in their yards and in cars showing support and one man brought out some drinks. I was honored to be a small part of such a noble effort. I hope to see the folks in Watertown. So far the western group is doing well. Their spirits seem high even as their energy being a little drained. No doubt that will improve as they begin to strengthen with each mile. isf
2 Kay // May 12, 2008 at 7:40 pm
It was an honor to walk with the group on Mother’s Day - even if only for a short time. I heard Kathy interviewed on Oswego NPR radio station on Monday. Great work!
Kay
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