First we wanted to plant our own feet on the Earth to express our strong desire to avoid a military attack on Iran. This worked out very well and we created a delightful feeling of solidarity and satisfaction while receiving lots of honks and thumbs up from westbound drivers and passengers.

Second, this was a media event. Thanks to the hard work of Maud Easter as media outreach person and Marcia Hopple as billboard arranger extrordinare and media spokeswoman, we got coverage on Channel 13 on Thursday evening, in the Friday Times Union, and Marcia was interviewed briefly by Mark Dunlea on his WRPI radio show, "Capitol Report" (91.5 fm from 4 PM to 6 PM Thursdays), and on WROW. The truly empowering fact was that we"made our own media." Even though it wasn't yet "drive time." hundreds of cars drove past us (and the billboard) in the 3/4 of an hour that we were present there.

Third: We wanted to call attention to the actual physical billboard and relate it to real people within the community who care enough about the people of Iran to be standing out on the sidewalk in front of a vacant, grassy lot containing a billboard.

My own assessment was that we did very well on all counts and that it would be good to have another vigil in the same location during the 5 PM to 6 PM drive time between now and mid-June.
Peacemaking can be fun!