Petals for Peace to Mike Rogers' Lansing, Michigan Office

[jeanarrett]

Please participate if you are able and pass it around!

I received this e-mail from the Livingston County, Michigan Democratic group:

Friends,

Please take the time to read this e-mail, as your participation is needed.
I won't ask much of you. But if many of you are willing to give just a
little, I believe that we can take this e-mail and build it into another big
success in our local anti-war efforts.

During our demonstration last week at Mike Rogers' Lansing office, regular
people in Lansing helped the anti-war movement deliver approximately 168
single flowers in a three day period. The message was simple and clear.
Stop the war. And if you could have seen Mike Rogers have to bend down and
pick-up the last dozen or so flowers that were dropped at this doorstep, as
he was leaving his office late Friday evening, you would understand that
this is a powerful way to send a message.

Because the protest was so easy, creative and successful, I want to continue
it into April. And I'm asking you to assist. It is easy. Follow the steps
below. I'm hopeful that we can deliver a large message to Mr. Rogers when
he returns to Lansing on Easter vacation.

Please take the following steps sometime between 9am-5-pm on any day between
Tuesday, April 18 through Friday, April 21:

1. If you are able, stop by Bancroft Flowers at 1417 E. Michigan Avenue in
Lansing. It is one block east of Rogers' office (1327 E. Michigan Avenue).
Ruth Leyrer, the owner, has kindly offered to sell us carnations for $1
during this time. Buy a carnation and walk it over to Rogers' office.

Deliver it to the receptionist, along with a message. Something like, this
is a gift asking Congressman Rogers to stop the war. I will deliver a
letter on Tuesday morning, so Rogers' office will understand the protest
(believe me, they understand it from our efforts two weeks ago). Be kind.
Both Ruth and the receptionist at Rogers' office have been very kind to us.
And don't think that Rogers does not have the power to help end this.
There are five bills in the House that could use his support and would help to
stop it. Four Republican decided to support HR 543 this week, which will
open a debate on stopping the war. Rogers can do this. We just need to
impress upon him how strongly we feel about this issue. And the "Petals for
Peace" are a great way to send the message.

2. If you are absolutely unable to deliver a flower personally (by far the
most effective form of protest) then try this. Call Bancroft Flowers at
[phone]. Ruth said she would waive delivery charges on any amount.
So I'm betting that she would take your order for one carnation over the
phone. But do stop by and deliver it yourself for maximum impact, if you
are able. If you are independently wealthy, you can always send a Rose
($4)or a bouquet. Any flower will do.

3. If you are absolutely unable to deliver a flower either personally, or
by phone, then try this. Draw a picture of a flower on 8 1/2 x 11 paper.
Don't worry about the art work. It is all good. Write your message of
peace on the picture. And fax it to Mike Rogers' Lansing office at
[phone]. Even if you do deliver a flower, you can still do this fax method
just for fun. I mean, I'm sure Mike will appreciate some faxed messages for
peace during his break.

4. Don't have a fax? Then draw your picture of a flower along with your
peace message and mail it on Monday, April 17 or Tuesday, April 18.
Here is the mailing address: U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, 1327 E. Michigan Ave.,
Lansing, MI 48912. Just because you've delivered a flower personally, or
faxed one, or both, don't let that stop you from sending one by mail.
I mean, you remember how much fun it was to get notes in the mail.
Right? At least those of you who lived before the e-age.

5. This may be the most important part. Print this off and give it to five
or ten of your family members, friends or acquaintances who are not active
and don't generally communicate by e-mail. Maybe post it at the water
cooler at work. Talk about it. You see, when you are working and you get
168 flowers in three days, that sends a strong message. But if you get
1,680, it is a whole other thing. And if you get 16,180, well, you might
just want to have a long talk with your boss about how sick people are of
this war.

6. E-mail this to every human being with an e-mail address. It doesn't
particularly matter if the faxes come from Flagstaff, Arizona. When we were
out there last week, there were bouquets delivered from Australia, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania and Oregon. A lot of people really want this war to
stop. And this has to be fun for the staff to see people from far away
moved enough to get involved.

7. If you have listservs, blogs, etc. Post this. If your friends have
listservs, blogs, etc., get them to post it.

8. If you know anyone in the media, let them know about this event.
Try to get some air/print time. Even if it is just calling in on local radio. It
is not too early to start. Give people some notice. I think the greater
Lansing area has over 250,000 people. If 1% of them are really sick of this
war, and get this message, that would equal 2,500 flowers of some kind.
That would not be too shabby. And from the horn honks last week, we know
that well over 1% of the people are really sick of this war.

9. E-mail me ([e-mail] ) and let me know what you are doing, or
what you have done, to further this cause. I ask this because we want to
keep some record of how big our efforts are. Rogers' office will not be
keeping a tally for the media. But we will. If you don't have e-mail, call
me during that week at [phone] and let me know. And by all means,
write me and let me know you got this and what you think of the idea.
From my recent experiences, I know that there are a ton of people who read this
GLNAWI mail who I've never met. But I want to hear from you on this.
Let us all be one very loud voice. And let us demand an end to the war.

10. Do all those things to spread the word on this protest that I have
forgotten. All those creative and community things the good people who read
this GLNAWI e-mail do. And thank you.

One last item. I met a young national guard soldier while picketing Rogers'
office two weeks ago. He is being deployed to Iraq in June. He does not
want to go. He delivered a flower. I feel personally moved to try and help
this young man avoid being put in a situation that will call on him to
possibly kill, or be killed, in this pointless endeavor. We must help him.
And the men and women and children in Iraq. It is imperative. So do not
think silly little things like this have no meaning. Together, we are
strong.

Thanks to all who took the time to read, and those who will participate.

Best,
Terry Olson