Thanksgiving Feast for Ban Bus in Pro-Ban Vermont
(Burlington, Vermont: November 27 & 28, 1997) While Americans sat down for the traditional Thanksgiving Day feast, the Ban Bus crew pushed on from Maine to Vermont in a six hour drive. A big Thanksgiving dinner was waiting for the Ban Bus in South Burlington, Vermont - a first Thanksgiving dinner for many of the Ban Bus campaigners.
On November 28, the ban bus crew started the day with press interviews with local television and print media at the Church Street Church. This was followed by a formal presentation. Bread and Puppet, a Vermont based street theater group, started the event with their show to call for a ban on landmines.
The Ban Bus thanked Senators Patrick J. Leahy and James M. Jeffords and Representative Bernard Sanders for supporting legislation banning antipersonnel landmines. The Ban Bus saluted Senator Leahy for his leadership role, both in the USA and internationally, on the landmine ban.
The Ban Bus is an advocacy initiative. We are now striving to achieve a ban on cluster bombs by the end of 2008. Our immediate mission is to build strong support for the Oslo Process in countries through Europe, conducting a 10 000 km journey from the Balkans to Oslo.