THE COURIER-JOURNAL, MONDAY, MAY 26, 1986
Millions join hands to start fight against hunger in U.S. Despite frantic efforts at end, gaps remained across nation Staff Photo by Bill (People lined up along U.S. 51 north of Wickliffe yesterday as part of the "Hands Across America" observance. More than 64,000 people in Kentucky participated in the national event. Associated Press Millions of volunteers extended hands to the hungry, the homeless and each other yesterday, joining Hands Across America in a broken line over mountains and plains, through pockets of poverty and to the porch of the White House. "This is just the beginning," lead organizer Ken Kragen said in New York. "When today is over, roll up your sleeves and go out to work in your community. We have to move from the big event to the person on the street." The line was thick with people, swaying to the strains of "We Are the World" and holding clasped hands aloft, at its terminals in New York and Long Beach, Calif. In other other places, -and-white ropes and ribbons substituted for humanity. "I'm here because I'm making history," said Bobby Conner in Clinton, Clinton, Ky. "I wouldn't miss it for the world." Organizers had said they needed more than 5 million people to form the chain, and hoped to raise $50 million or more for the hungry and the homeless. Despite frantic work up to the final minute, not all the gaps were closed by 3 p.m. EDT when the line formed. Based on estimates provided by local organizers, at least 4.9 million people participated yesterday. Marty Rogol, the executive director for USA for Africa, the parent foundation for Hands Across America, declined to estimate how much money was raised or how many people participated. "It may take as long as most of the summer" to find out, he said in Los Angeles. "It's not going to solve the problem, but it will call attention to it," said Eileen Williams, a participant in Chicago. "I hope the money is spent in worthwhile areas and not administrative fees." Kragen, president of USA for Africa and the force behind last year's "We Are the World" recording for African famine relief, said corporate contributors, led by Coca-Cola. See MILLIONS Back page, col. 1, this section.
Kentuchians bridge the gap Continued from Page One - river bottoms, participants used ribbon to stretch the links in the chain. As of late last week, the Kentucky effort had raised about $85,000. But Jackson said much more had been raised In the last week as callers from Kentucky were referred to a national toll-free toll-free toll-free telephone line to sign up and make pledges. Jackson said that the bridge could not be closed until just before the event, making it more difficult to get people across it. That may have been responsible for short duration of the chain in normally uncrowded downtown. In Wickliffe, a town of 929 people and the county seat, gridlock ensued several times between noon and 2 p.m. Central Time. Activities centered at the intersection of U.S. 60 and U.S. 51, where celebrities gathered and where the rock band Brady and Hollye, a brother and sister originally from Wickliffe but now based in Memphis, Memphis, played everything from Patsy Cline to the Pretenders. :J. E. Blanks, of rural Wickliffe, had never seen so many people In the town. "We've had picnics and rodeos and carnivals before," the 80-year-old Blanks said, "but nothing like this." Malcolm Groome was one of several several celebrities to attend the event. Groome, who said he lived in the Louisville area for three years in the 1950s and attended St Matthews Elementary School, plays Patrick Ryan on "Ryan's Hope," a television soap opera. He was involved, he said, "be..."Photo by John Flavtll. Participants sang "America the Beautiful" as line ran across the suspension bridge links of the "Hands Across America". Between Cincinnati and Covington, Ky.cause it's such a worthwhile cause to do something to benefit ... people cut from the social programs. It's a good solution for hard economic times." Alice McDonald, state superintendent of public instruction, also came to Wickliffe, saying that the event will be "a great lesson" for schoolchildren, who will remember it because it was fun. Other dignitaries and celebrities scheduled to participate at various points along the Kentucky chain were Les Dawson, secretary of transportation; David Boswell, secretary secretary of agriculture; U.S. Rep. Carroll Carroll Hubbard; former governors Julian Julian Carroll and John Y. Brown; Brown's wife, Phyllis George; actor Peter Fonda; country singer Mel McDaniel; and Miss Kentucky, Jackie Jackie Taylor. By midmorning, Bardwell was well prepared for the onslaught of cars and people expected by noon. Calvin Larkins, who with his two brothers owns Brothers Restaurant on U.S. 51 in Bardwell, was preparing preparing the first of 1,000 hot dogs, while his brother Terry wired up the sound system for Night Shift a rock band he plays in. On the north edge of town, volunteers from the Carlisle-Ballard Carlisle-Ballard Carlisle-Ballard chapter of the Disaster Emergency Service were preparing hamburgers. They, too, were ready to sell up to a thousand. A street person in the skid-row section of Los Angeles carted his belongings past the "Hands" line. The national demonstration was designed to aid the homeless. Many stores along Bardwell's historic Front Street planned to open for the event and some merchants were dressed in old-fashioned clothing, clothing, said Katherine Hendrickson, who works in the Suzie Q dress shop on Front Street. Fire Chief Kenneth Rowland was giving last-minute instructions to a dozen volunteers from the Bardwell Fire Department, who were going to help with crowd control. "We're trying to anticipate what'Il happen," Rowland said. At the Carlisle County Courthouse in Bardwell, Billy Joe Arnold, emergency emergency program director, was preparing preparing for a radio check of the 31 DES volunteers he had in Carlisle County and the 20 volunteers he was to oversee in Ballard County. "We've got to keep traffic moving," moving," he said. "They'll want to bunch up, and we've got to spread them out."
The Courier-Journal
(Louisville, Kentucky)
26 May 1986, Mon • KENTUCKY EDITION
