The Udall Legacy Bus Tour Comes Home

On Aug. 3rd, our bus rolled into Tucson. Home. Not home to any of the riders -- but home to Mo and the Udall Foundation.

Andrew Lee (Scholar '06) leads the welcoming cheer (Photo by Tom Spitz)

And it was definitely a homecoming. We arrived to the loving welcome of the Udall Foundation staff. Not only were we received with open arms -- but also a full on cheer. The cheer on Friday was surpassed only by the cheer the following day from all the 2007 scholars led by Andrew Lee (Scholar 2006) in front of the Foundation's HQ in downtown Tucson.

The end of the tour coincided with the 2007 Udall Scholar Orientation -- the annual gathering of all the recipients of the Morris K. Udall Scholarship. It was an appropriate place to end the tour considering that it was two years ago at this same event that the idea of a big 'ol bus tour was first kicked around.

The energy at Orientation was infectious. It always is. Udallers, as we saw on the tour, and were reminded of again in Tucson -- are incredibly passionate, caring, and engaged. The "small talk" during Orientation is often about organizing a campus, researching a problem, or tackling policy issues head on. I always find it's such a recharge -- which was a great way to end our Tour.

The official finale of the tour included remarks from Carol West (Tucson City Councilor), Ramona Grijalva (who read a message from her husband, Rep. Raul Grijalva), Terry Bracy (Chair of the Foundation), and Anne Udall (Mo's daughter and vice-chair of the Foundation). After Bret, Jen, and I spoke about some of the most memorable moments of the trip we moved into the building where, amidst the mingling, there were photo and video slideshows showing images of the past two months.

Anne Udall speaking at the finale event in Tucson (Photo by Tom Spitz)

The photos and video -- as good as they are -- can't capture the tour fully. This blog can't do it either. Nor do they do a good enough job thanking everyone who made this tour possible: the Udall Foundation Education Team, the many alumni who helped plan stops, and the many friends who opened their doors to a traveling group of public servants. But we hope that all of it - stories, photos, and video -- have been able to convey at least a little bit of those thanks and communicate what the Udall Legacy Bus Tour was.

Thanks for riding with us!

By: Eli Zigas

P.S.
(Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more video posts ...)

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A note from the EJ Roundtable

One of the participants in the Environmental Justice Roundtable Discussion who expressed his viewpoints strongly at the Bay View Hunters Point event was Francisco DaCosta. He has a webpage which elaborates on his feelings of what is going on in the neighborhood at: http://www.franciscodacosta.com/

By: Eli Zigas

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Udallers Enjoy a Local Burger in Kansas

Fast food made with local ingredients. Not exactly what I was expecting in Kansas. But – hey – Lawrence surprised me for a lot of reasons.

Not least of which was the Udall love shown by all the alums who came out. Laura Adams (Scholar ’05), Trisha Shrum (Scholar ’04 & ’05), Ben Champion (Scholar ’00), Matt King (Scholar ’06), Dustin Jensen (Scholar ’06 & ’07), and fac rep. extraordinaire Sue Lorenz all made it out to the oh-so-cool restaurant Local Burger.



After eating our delicious meal, Hilary Brown, the owner of Local Burger, joined us and shared the history and motivation behind her restaurant. Amazed at the power of good food to improve her health (not to mention the better flavors), Hilary set out to create a restaurant that would offer no-frills local food at affordable prices (similar to the Farmer’s Diner out in Vermont). Her restaurant continues to turn a profit and has a very strong following (including the folks at Sustainable Table who recommended the joint.) She even helped produce a Morgan Spurlock-esque documentary called “Localize Me.”

With full bellies and an inspired mind – all I could think as I made it to the KU dorms was “Why didn’t I make it to Lawrence earlier?!”

By: Eli Zigas

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Alumni Meet-Up Chicago

Ariel Diamond (Scholar '04) opened her home to the crew and fellow alums Shoshannah Lenski (Scholar '05) and David Corson -Knowles (Scholar '02). It was nice to have a home cooked meal!

Good food, good times!

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In good company

We'd like to be able to claim that we're the only tour on the road addressing public service, Native American, and environmental issues. But we'd be lying if we said so. (First green certified motor coach, however -- not a lie).

Two weeks into the tour, we've got empathy for all the other folks out there doing the same kind of thing we're doing. So here's a shout out to those other bus tour crews!

• The Big Green Bus -- Dartmouth students spreading the good word using veggie biodiesel in a tricked-out school bus.
  
  
• Crossing the country in a bike is way more impressive than doing it with a motor. Ride for Climate = hardcore + inspiring.
  
  
• Soon to be launching - Sustainable Table's Eat Well Guided Tour of America. Sustainable food -- and what appears to be a whole lotta pie :)
  
  
• The BioTour -- Exploring sustainable energy and American culture
  
  
• YERT -- your environmental road trip -- just launched eco-expedition

~~~

If you know of any more bus tours related to public service, environmental, or Native American issues -- drop us a comment!

By: Eli Zigas

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It's nice to be first .... green certified

Wednesday the sun rose over the green hills of Vermont – it was a good day for our coach to be green certified.

Amidst the stately campus the Udall Legacy Bus Tour’s motor coach – donated by Motor Coach Industries and operated by Lamoille Valley Transportation (which also received the certification that day) – had its three leaf certification unveiled. The cameras were rolling (check out the video) and the reporters had questions (read the article) and the crowd let out an ooh and an ahhhh… ok, maybe not the last part. But it was sweet nonetheless!

Dave Kestenbaum and Lisa Chase (Udall Fellow '99) unveil the Green Coach Certification
on the Udall Legacy Bus Tour motorcoach

The certification program and our tour were given well wishes by Vermont Lt. Governor Brian Dubie, UVM Provost John Hughes, Dean of the UVM Extension program, Doug Lantagne, Udall Fellow (1999) and director of the Vermont Transportation Data Center, Dr. Lisa Chase, and Senior Program Manager at the VT Transportation Data Center, Dave Kestenbaum.

As the certification ceremonies drew to a close, we drove out of campus with a camera team riding alongside us, trying to catch footage of the certification logo on our bus -- in motion!

By: Eli Zigas

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Why I Heart Vermont

The Farmer's Diner (which we got very close to)

Waterless Urinals in the Woodstock public restrooms

White church spires peeking out above dense green valleys (being Jewish -- church spires don't usually inspire me :)

Flyers for Sustainable Business seminars in the UVM dorms

Maple Creamee (a.k.a frozen yogurt blended with Grade B maple syrup) at Allenholm Farm

Lots of people who care about local food!

How can I not heart Vermont?

By: Eli Zigas

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Alumni Meet-Up Photos on Flickr

Bob's recently posted some photos from the alumni meet-ups on our Flickr page ...

Check out the DC photos from Stetson's




And the Philly photos from White Dog Cafe

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14 People Udallers Scrambling for Hotel Rooms in Manhattan

So there we were, in midtown Manahattan. Fourteen Udallers without hotel rooms. (It's a long story).

The owner of the Pod Hotel comes to us and says ... "I'm not a pessimist. In fact, I'm an optimist. Let me tell you... You're not going to find a hotel with availability for 14 people tonight."

Um.... bummer. Luckily, we did find rooms at the Jazz Hostel on the Upper West Side and our events in NYC have gone well (posts to come soon.)

But -- our internet access was restricted and thus, it's taken us a while to put up posts. In the coming days -- we hope to catch up :)

Definitely a Big Apple adventure and one that's given us a good story for the rest of the trip !

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Udall Legacy Bus Tour Gets a Capitol Send-Off

And we’re off! At noon on Capitol Hill – we got our first glimpse of the bus – and it’s a beauty.

A crowd of folks – including alumni of the Udall programs, family, friends, sponsors and others gathered to hear a series of send-off speeches from:

• Deputy Secretary of the Interior Lynn Scarlett
• Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT)
• Rep. Peter Welch (VT)
• Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (AZ)
• Rep. Raul Grijalva (AZ)
• Rep. Harry Mitchell (AZ)
• Rep. Nick Rahall II (WV)
• Rep. Mark Udall (CO) [Mo’s son]
• Dr. Anne Udall [Mo’s daughter]

Each successive speaker emphasized just how strongly Mo’s legacy is still felt on Capitol Hill to this day. And there’s also no question that energy independence and biofuels is an issue many of the members of Congress are focusing on in this session.

At the end of the event ... you could say the crew was pretty excited!

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Welcome to the Udall Legacy Bus Tour Blog

The Countdown Begins.

On June 12th, thirteen crazy Udallers are hoppin' on a ride so pimped out -- it would make Arnold Schwarzenegger jealous. We're taking our motor coach coast-to-coast highlighting people -- especially young people -- who are finding solutions to pressing environmental and Native American issues (full itinerary). And we're going to be documenting the whole trip -- with text, photo, and video -- right here.

We want you to join us; There are a couple of ways to do it

1. Join our email list. On the right hand navigation bar, a little bit down, there's an easy place to sign up for it. We'll be sending updates from the road with news from the communities we visit, links to stories about the tour, and links back to the blog. We promise not to flood your inbox (i.e. no more than two emails/week).



2. If you're tech savvy -- sign up for our RSS feed. See the button at the bottom of our blog or copy this link into your feed reader.



3. If you hate computers but love Mo & Udallers, just bookmark our site and keep checking back here: blogs.udall.gov
   

We also want your help spreading the word.

1. If you're on Facebook, MySpace, or have your own blog/website -- please link to us. The bookmark button at the bottom of our blog makes it easy.



2. Send your friends and family a link to our blog. We all know there are problems out there. Our tour --and blog -- will be highlighting some of the solutions.
   



3. And, if you really want to be our favorite person ever -- tell any reporter you know about our tour and point 'em in the direction of our media resources.

While we're posting updates from the road, we hope to get your feedback. At the end of every post there's a link that says 'comments.' Just click on that link to leave your thoughts. If you've got any suggestions for the blogs, drop us a line at : legacybustour@udall.gov

THREE WEEKS 'TILL KICK-OFF IN D.C.

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