New Jersey Group Seeks to Support Bush & Troops
A New Jersey group seeks to put up billboards in Northern New Jersey. Read more about their effort here. (PDF)
Billboard patriotism
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Wednesday, April 30, 2003 |
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Photo by: ELIZABETH LARA/HERALD NEWS  From left, Patti Vaclavicek and Justin and Ana Scher with computer printouts of the billboard message they envision. |
CLIFTON - Even as Operation Iraqi Freedom is winding down, a city group wants to broadcast its support for President Bush and U.S. troops from the highest billboards.
Brothers Darren and Justin Scher, Justin's wife Ana, and Patti Vaclavicek are raising money to rent billboards that will read, "Support President Bush and our troops." The four were motivated by the anti-war movement and wanted to show servicemen and women that there is strong support for the military operation.
"They're the reason we're able to sit here and talk in our nice house with our two dogs," said Ana Scher, 26. "People go overseas and fight for us."
Her 27-year-old husband, a technology project manager at an investment bank, said the four grew close after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He escaped his office in the north tower of the World Trade Center by running down 40 flights of stairs.
"At one point, we didn't know if he was coming home," Ana Scher said, cradling the couple's 5-month-old son, Kyle.
The high school sweethearts are close to Vaclavicek and social studies teacher Darren Scher, both 23. Darren Scher said he and Vaclavicek aren't getting married yet, but they, too, grew close after Sept. 11.
To show their renewed patriotism, Darren and Justin Scher got matching tattoos of the American bald eagle with the U.S. flag etched into a wing.
The four are raising money to rent space on several billboards in Passaic County. Similar efforts have been undertaken in Kentucky, New Mexico, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and California.
The Clifton group took to the streets with letters, and sent messages to the media. Vaclavicek even elbowed her way to Governor McGreevey to hand him a flier.
The four handed out letters at rallies in support of U.S. troops, and the response was very positive, Vaclavicek said.
"Those kids over there are so young - just 18 or 19 years old," Darren Scher said.
"I can't even imagine being in their position," Vaclavicek said.
Vaclavicek and Ana Scher, who do the accounting, said the group has raised $2,200 toward its goal. Justin Scher checked with several advertising companies, and the best price was $5,000. The four said they would like to put up more than one billboard. One possible choice is on Route 46 in the city.
For information about the fund-raiser, visit the group's Web site, http://www.supportourtroopsbillboard.1afm.com
NEWS RELEASE
March 7, 2003
Grassroots billboard campaign to show support for President Bush and troops spreads across the country
LOUISVILLE, Ky—Billboards with this message of support for President Bush and American troops are springing up from coast to coast. The bipartisan grassroots campaign, which started in Louisville, Kentucky, has sparked similar efforts in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, California and New Mexico. Organizers say residents in several other cities are in the process of organizing to follow suit.
One of the latest efforts is headed by a group of Roswell, New Mexico, mothers who are mobilizing for the troops. Leading the effort is Carrie Hollifield, a mother of two and a daughter of a Vietnam Veteran. Hollifield still remembers the pain her father felt upon returning from Vietnam and wants troops to know they have the support of a majority of Americans. “I don’t want service men and women to come back to the humiliation, pain and disrespect our Vietnam Vets experienced,” says Hollifield.
Hollifield got involved after listening to a caller on a talk radio show. That caller was Ted Jackson, a partner in The Commonwealth Group, a governmental affairs firm, and owner of English Emprise, a marketing company. Jackson says he started this effort in response to billboards in Louisville and across the country bought by Peaceroots.org promoting “peace is patriotic.”
“This is our response in our community to a vocal minority view opposed to President Bush. This is also a call for people to take a similar stand across the country,” Jackson says. That’s exactly what is happening. Jackson, established a website, www.supportpresidentbush.net, which provides free artwork for anyone to use for similar billboards across America.
The moms in Roswell have raised enough money for two billboards to be erected this week. At least one billboard will also be unveiled this week in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Two billboards are in the works in the Rockport, Texas, area. Five billboards will also go up this month in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
For more information, you can contact Ted Jackson at (502) 499-8978. Carrie Hollifield can be reached at 3930 South Brown Road, Roswell, NM 88202 or brownbrosranch@dfn.com info@supportpresidentbush.net
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-7/1049527878144440.xml
Sign language to bolster the cause
Clifton brothers' campaign would have billboards backing Bush and greeting troops as they return
Saturday, April 05, 2003
BY ANA M. ALAYA
Star-Ledger Staff
As the battles rage in Iraq, the war over public opinion is being waged on American soil, and Justin and Darren Scher are going on the offensive with their message.
Upset that anti-war and peace groups are getting so much media attention, the two Clifton brothers have launched a campaign to raise funds to post a patriotic message of their own on several billboards in northern New Jersey: "Support President Bush and our Troops."
The idea is twofold -- to send a message to the public and to send a welcoming message to the troops when they come home.
"This is a way to voice our opinion," said Darren Scher, a 23-year-old social studies teacher in Paramus. "The left-leaning anti-war groups have been so organized for so long and the right is not getting their message across."
For Justin Scher, 27, his support for Bush's war against terrorism in Iraq is underscored by his experience on Sept. 11, when he escaped the crumbling North Tower of the World Trade Center after the terrorist attacks.
"We were pretty heavily affected on 9/11," said Scher, who works for Lehman Brothers, which was located on the 39th and 40th floors of Tower One. "People are scared and they want terrorism stopped. Our president is obviously doing the right thing."
Justin Scher's wife, Ana, said she is disheartened by what she views as a dip in patriotism since the months after the attacks, and the apparent waning of the public's support for the war on terrorism.
"I think people are forgetting the sense of betrayal and fear," Ana Scher said. "We were attacked in our own country. People who are against the war are talking about casualties. Well, we had more than a thousand casualties."
The billboard effort was spearheaded by an active Republican in Louisville, Ky., Ted Jackson, who wanted to counter the pro-peace effort in his town. His campaign has sparked similar efforts in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, California and New Mexico.
The Schers began raising their own funds from friends and family and contacting billboard companies to rent space.They have raised several thousand dollars and need about $5,000 per sign. They hope to have the first one up in two weeks. One of the possible locations they are looking at is off Route 80 in Hackensack.
"We're hoping a lot of people see the sign and think about it," Darren Scher said.
In a letter soliciting funds, which they plan to hand out at a pro-war rally in their hometown in Passaic County this weekend, they write about the American troops: "These courageous men and women have been deployed around the world defending freedom with their lives. They have been doing so without welcome home parades or glamorous ceremonies, while many people at home enjoying their freedom protest and hold up signs not in support but rather in opposition. For this reason we need to act!"
Jackson, who is a partner in The Commonwealth Group, a governmental affairs firm in Louisville, raised money for a billboard in his town two months ago.
"This has provided an outlet for a lot of people who didn't know what else to do to show their support," said Jackson.
Jackson said he got the idea for the billboard after seeing a peace sign outside his office.
"So often, the more silent majority view oftentimes doesn't get involved in the way the minority view might," Jackson said. "I thought, why don't we do something visible to show there are people who support Bush."
Anyone who would like to contact the Schers about their effort can e-mail them at WeLoveOurTroops2003@hotmail.com
