Petals for Peace: Ops Center

I’m running out the door to a tax-day pro-peace demonstration.  But I wanted to throw up this information about “Petals for Peace,” which will start tomorrow.  I’ll just give you the basics from a quick e-mail I sent today (in blockquotes below).

For blogging help, I’ll be posting a diary here tomorrow morning.  I’ll also be posting one at Daily Kos at 8:00 a.m. EST / 5:00 a.m. PST.  If you are awake at that time, and you want to help out, the best way you can assist is to go to the Big Orange and recommend the diary right at 8:00 or so.  Maybe comment if you would like.  If it goes up on the big board, I believe this protest goes to a whole other level.
I’ve changed to early EST because I think the chances of getting up on the board are greater at that time.  Not any slight to the west coast bloggers.

If you can cross-post tomorrow’s diary anywhere, that is also a great help.

And by all means:  Mail, fax and phone in your flower orders on each and every day if you would like.  And let me know what you’ve done.  I’m making a list.  Checking it twice.  Etc.

Thanks to everyone who has signed on or will help in any way.

Here are the basics:

Petals for Peace starts tomorrow.  It runs through Friday.  Deliver one flower to Mike Rogers’ Lansing office (1327 E. Michigan Avenue) on any day you wish.  The office is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST.  With this continuing protest, we’ve let Mr. Rogers know that every flower he receives is another voice asking him to stop the war.  You can deliver in person (flowers are available for $1 at Bancrofts Flowers, just one block east at 1417 E. Michigan Avenue).  Or you can phone an order to Bancrofts at (517) 476-8606.

For those of you caught at the office, you can draw a flower on paper and fax it to Rogers’ Lansing office at (517) 702-8642.

Please pass this around to your friends, family and neighbors.  You can participate from anywhere.  We’ve had participants from as far away as Australia, Spain, Argentina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Oregon.  Send me an e-mail (tjayolson@hotmail.com) to let me know how you participated, and we’ll try to keep track of the number of flowers that have been delivered.  In March we delivered approximately 168 flowers.  We’re trying to top that this month.  So far we’ve had 74 people indicate they will be participating.  With some people giving on different days, and in different ways, we’ve had a committment to deliver 84 flowers so far.  So if you haven’t signed-up, we could use your help.

Some back-up plans, just in case (last month Rogers’ staff locked the office doors when they just couldn’t take anymore flowers).  If the doors are locked during regular office hours, some constituents have knocked on the door to ask why their Congressman’s office is not open, and have been allowed to deliver their flower in this way.  Or you might consider leaving the flower on the door handle, or on the stoop.  Last time they even provided a re-cycle basket oustside the door.  I think they re-delivered the flowers to the hospital.  So not only might you be able to protest the war, you might also get to brighten some deserving person’s day.

As for faxes, if he should shut down his Lansing fax, you might try his Washington D.C. fax at (202) 225-5820.