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| Laura Mellor Weller took the airport bus from the Oberlin College Inn last month for the celebratory end of the march, where she met her mother and Mary Roebuck. |
Two Oberlin Students March with Granny D for Campaign-Finance Reform
MARCH 15, 2000--Ninety-year old New Hampshire citizen Doris Haddock--known to her great grandchildren and the media as Granny D--arrived in Washington, D.C., not long ago after 14 months of walking 3200 miles from Los Angeles. Her goal in walking, despite arthritis and emphysema, was to encourage people to contact their representatives in Congress and demand campaign-finance reform.
Two Obies encouraged by Granny D were first-year students Laura Mellor Weller, of Louisville, and Mary Roebuck, of Lancaster, Ohio. The two not only joined Granny D for a 140-mile leg of her trek during Winter Term, but they also flew to Washington several weeks later to finish the march and stand with her on the steps of the Capitol.
"Mary and I were in or near the front of the line the entire time. It was wonderful to see Granny's flag at the front, and there were two thousand people streaming behind it. The back of the line was like a roar of thunder--we had started off with about a thousand people, but as we went through K Street, it snowballed.
"People were hanging out their high-story windows with homemade banners, and we all stopped and waved and screamed. There were bag pipers, tin bells hit with metal sticks, noise makers, bull horns, signs, stickers, buttons, hats--plus a pack of raging grannies who quite politely battled the police who bullied us at the capitol steps, arrests, songs, sunburned faces, sunny skies with puffy clouds--I was so proud."
At a post-march party, which the Oberlin students helped set up at St. Mark's Episcopalian church, participants heard several speeches, including an inspirational gospel speech, says Laura. "So many other things happened--it was just amazing.
"And, sad. Granny walked her last mile with the Capitol building looming in the distance, but she made it--from making a pledge 14 months ago when almost no one paid attention, to two thousand people screaming and applauding in her support--four thousand feet matching her diligent feet."
Laura and Mary continue to be involved in Granny D's promotion of campaign reform and urge supporters to contact their representatives in Congress by letter or Granny D's online petition.
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| Mellor Weller joined Granny D at the head of the march in the Allegheny Mountains January 10. |
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