New Hampshire, being a primary state, has been continually buzzing with Presidential candidates. Because of this and the goodwill of fellow out-of-state Department of Peace advocates, we have been hosting our own “guest workers” program. We have been aided by the expertise of five from Florida, one from Texas, one from Minnesota, and one from History (Mark Twain).

Perhaps their biggest impact has been to interpret our state Dept of Peace campaign logo onto some very day-glow and noticeable, safety green tee shirts that simply cannot be missed by any state representative or national candidate. They have helped us bird-dog and disseminate thousands of Dept of Peace cards.

Our shirts made their impacting debut at the town of Amherst, NH’s annual Fourth of July parade. This is a classic, old village parade with an air of Americana. It is a true red, white and blue affair complete with floats, bands and politicians.

To increase awareness of HR-808 and the Department of Peace, we created a nine-foot rendition of our state dove as a float. The dove was created with a chicken wire bodice woven with hundreds of recycled white plastic bags. Her wings were hinged so that she could flap and stir up our hope and determination for Peace as we made our way through town.

She was pulled by human power on a rolling skid to minimize our carbon footprint. We were led by a Peace Train of children (from our coordinator’s Peace camp,) all wearing their hand-decorated box cars. Their waves alone caught the crowd’s attention. They were followed by Mark Twain, who announced his candidacy for president on the podium with the likes of Richardson and Hunter, and a host of side walkers in bright green shirts!

Our walkers carried signs with messages of hope on one side and the Department of Peace and Non-violence HR808 on the other. It was a glorious and visually present day. The float was honored with one of the prized awards of “Most Original.” People, the judges included, were quite struck by it.

Much sharing of information happened following the parade on the Green where we tabled. We mixed it up with the politicians or their representatives and the crowds. We ended our day with a potluck picnic. (That said, we do not yet have the endorsement of either of our Democratic Representatives or our Republican Senators, but we’re working on it!)

Jan Grossman