From: lastrefuge.geo
To: againstslaughter@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, September 28, 2003 11:52 AM
Subject: [againstslaughter] Vigil Preparations

My flight got in late and Vicky met me at the airport to do the after midnight 60 mile drive back to her parents. Angela was busy with Tom and Jennifer coming in and making tons of posters for the next day to point the way.

Vicky and her cousin and I drove from where she lived to DeKalb hours before my coffee infusion kicked in and picked up the grab bags and other items to then meet with Angela at the park at 11 a.m. The pavilion was divided into several areas:
* A childrens' discovery area with grab bags, horse coloring area, face painting, and small talking area.
* A praise to horses area with the slideshow running on continuous loop and the Horses of the Wind playing next to it.
* Food and goodies area for those needing sustenance.
* Education and discussion area with all the wonderful handouts, Jennifer's special horse puppet and the purple ribbons.
* Screened off back area for the tapes of horse slaughter to be shown under supervision.
* Media area with different people able to answer questions, provide hard copy and tape to take back and get contact information. Also in the air we aired Tiff Bartlett's documentary film (CBS and Fox took my copies of it with them as well as the other tape).

Externally we had the horse corral, signs, and posters both on the street and up at the pavilion.

There were over 20 people ready to help there by 2:15 and the first guests started arriving before 3. Jamie, her husband, parents, and volunteers made the long journey in from Wisconsin and hopped right in to help.

Jennifer and Tom both had long drives as well and were incredible. Tom's corral made a powerful statement, we hung a sign on it that said "This empty corral is what America's future will be like if Cavel reopens...no more horses"

"Just say Whoa" on the long banner made a hit with several people as did the wonderful banner made by Vicky's sister and cousin. The posters made by Angela and crew went up around town and the HUGE signs in Gail's front yard had people stopping to see and talking about what was going on.

Carol