“I grew up in a political family,” road captain Max MacDonald said. “I have politics in the blood.”
Last Thursday, July 3, the team stopped at La Fogata Mexican Restaurant in Nappanee to meet with residents and add to their number of registered voters.
With a senator for a dad and a Vermont state representative for a grandmother, MacDonald cannot help but relate things back to politics.
“It started out as a pipe dream just to cycle across the country,” he said. “But you come to the realization that you have to fund it somehow.”
So, with the help of his mom, he commissioned a team of ambitious college students and two drivers. The trip would last 47 days and cover 1,800 miles. They left Monday morning, June 16 at around 8 a.m. from Middlebury, Vt. Their itinerary covers six major cities, including Buffalo, N.Y.; Cleveland, Ohio; Chicago, Ill.; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Omaha, Neb.; and Laramie, Wyoming.
Interlaced among the major cities, the team has made stops in between 30 and 40 smaller towns and cities.
With an RV to escort them, the team bikes to each location, stopping at local diners, restaurants and other eating establishments, where they continue to register voters. At night, they pitch their tents at local campgrounds, awakening bright and early the next morning to begin again.
The team also has a home captain, Averill Earls, who is in charge of arrangements for campgrounds, etc. and who will meet them in Laramie for closing ceremonies.
After voters fill out the forms, the team sends them in to the proper officials.
“This is a fantastic way for some of Vermont’s brightest and most engaging young minds to be involved in the political process,” Cabot Creamery Cooperative senior vice president Roberta MacDonald said in a press release. “Their efforts will help raise voter awareness and will help engage more people in the political process. That’s something of which we can all be proud.”
Roberta MacDonald is Max MacDonald’s mother.
The students represent Saint Michael’s college, The University of Vermont, Lyndon State College of Vermont, Johnson State College and Middlebury College, all in Vermont.
At the time of the Nappanee event, the cyclists had not run into too many snags. However, team member Megan Newhouse had a scary story of her own to share. The troop was cycling through a small town, when a large dog ran up and bit her.
“I see it start running to the end of the road,” she said. She braked to avoid hitting the dog, and it returned the favor with a nip in the arm.
The team called the authorities, who looked into the matter and confirmed that the dog was healthy and up-to-date on all of its shots.
As they approached Nappanee, the weather threatened thunderstorms, but nothing hit until they were safely encamped.
More information on the Great American Voter Trek is available at
www.votertrek.com .
