The Albuquerque Tribune du lieu suivant : Albuquerque, New Mexico • 2

Hie Albuquerque Tribune Monday May 26 1986 People Gaps didn't From The Afeacialed Prow stop millions from joining Hands Frederick "It was wonderful just wonderful" Peter Borisenko of St Petersburg Fla said he hitchhiked 30 miles from Little Rock to join the line at Friendship Ark the opportunity to stand up and be counted for something you believe in that feeling is rare" he said Organizers estimated they needed 54 million to cover the entire distance through 16 states But the line was thick at both ends and in several cities and thin on the prairies and deserts Gaps were covered with ropes and ribbons In Wichita Falls Texas the line had to wind through town instead of a straight stretch because so many people wanted to join in event spokeswoman Carol Edgar said Ilam radio operators estimated 620000 people lined up in the Lone Star state though bright red rope helped fill some gaps across the prairie now can say we held the country joked Don Rhodes program director for the Waco (Texas) Boys Club In rural County Md Clyde Grossnickel used three prize bulls to help fill the line and attracted so much attention that could hardly get our arms the 71-year-old fanner said There were five weddings in the line two killer whales and one penguin not to mention Mickey Goofy and Pluto on line at Disneyland The main event also inspired spin-off hand-clasping for charily across the country from Alaska and Hawaii to the International Peace Garden ND and Hampton NI1 At Arkansas Hospital in Little Rock at least 15 patients many in wheelchairs or casts joined hands in the lobby "This sounds corny but there was a feeling in the air knowing that people were linked up 4000 miles across America" said Phillip Zeni of Little Rock who helped direct activities outside Hospital were people out there with tears in their eyes there were people out there laughing at the top of their lungs He said the line was the beginning 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 Hands Across America still has to count up the money it hoped to earn $50 million or more and then figure out how to spend it The organization said 90 percent would go for innovative self-help projects for the needy "If anyone had any doubts we hope they now know a success" said Marty Rogol the executive director of USA for Africa who said it may take all summer to tote up the contributions Hands Across America at first asked everyone in line to donate $10 but in the rush to fill the line organizers gave envelopes to late-comers and hoped they would come through with some cash The event brought out celebrities and politicians kids and a few people past the century mark the wealthy and the destitute President Reagan lined up on the White House grounds and protesters queued up outside The reach of Hands Across America could not match its grasp but gaps in the cross-country line didn't stop the millions who turned out from having an awfully good time Some were moved to tears Local organizers estimated that upwards of 49 million Americans joined in the effort on behalf of the hungry and the homeless on Sunday and except for two people overcome by the heat in Arizona no one suffered anything worse than disappointment about breaks in the line between New York and Long Beach Calif figures are somewhere between 6 and 7 million people actually participated yesterday" top organizer Ken Kragen told "Good Morning today were events going on in every state It wasn't just on the line I mean as far away as Guam and Japan Americans participated Germany in the other direction: And every single state in Florida there were 15 different lines" Event draws 60 homeless in Skid Row LOS ANGELES lAP) Among the tens of thousands linking hands Sunday for the down and out in California only a few dozen cared to stand where the neediest live But their presence gave a little boost to one homeless resident of Skid Row will show street people that there arc people who care out there" 19-year-old Jeff Lee said as he stood outside the Union Rescue Mission Lee says he is unable to find work or afford an apartment of his own lie said he tried calling his parents but they understand been trying to go out and get a job but no one is really hiring They say I need more training" Lee said About 60 people lined up Sunday for Hands Across America at 6th and Main streets the heart of Skid Row while a different line of homeless men grew' in front of the Union Rescue Mission Many had heard about the nationwide drive to help the homeless but most had their own day-to-day survival in mind will help" said Nana Dadson 40 of Hands Across America but he declined to join in "I prefer to go to church" said Dadson who clutched a Bible One hundred men sleep in beds at the mission each night with room for an additional 560 who may sleep sitting up said John Frost a mission administrator It costs about $3 million in donations to run the shelter for a year Frost said adding that he hopes the mission will receive part of the proceeds from Hands Across America behind it 100 percent" he said About 60 people held hands in a stretch that turned the corner at Main and 6th From Tribune wires Former king's son graduates in NM Fortner King Constantine of Greece was on hand in New Mexico to watch his son Pavlos graduate from the United World College of the American West in Las Vegas and hear an address by Armand Hammer who founded it Hammer speaking at a news conference Constantine later said he did rot know if a second summit be- 1 tween the United States and the' Soviet Union were possible Gorbachev be pushed around" said Hammer XX who has close ties with the Soviet Union and returned recently from Moscow is the best Soviet leader since Lenin" Grads hear Cosby The Cosby Show will probably ignore the pregnancy of Phyli-cia Rashad who plays the mother of a brood of five on the No l-rated television senes says Bill Cosby Cosby who ad-dressed the Meharry Medical College commencement in Nashville Tenn after the ceremony that he did not know how to deal with a baby on the show "I think Cliff will just look over at her from time to time" Cosby said raising his eyebrows in surprise Royal stamps debut British stamps featuring Prince Andrew and his fiancee Sarah Ferguson will be unveiled for the first time outside the United Kingdom at the Ameriplex stamps fair in Chicago officials said Keith Fisher the British Post director of philately said Ameripcx was chosen for the unveiling Tuesday because all the major stamp-collecting journals are covering the show interest is tremendous" he said Saturday in a telephone interview from his hotel royal stamps are always extremely popular" Sexy book coming Former movie star Carroll Baker says written a steamy novel about Rome in the early 1970s sexy but a lot of it is based shall we say on a lot of things just heard about" was how she described A a Baker at the American Booksellers Association convention in New Orleans on Saturday Her novel is set in a time and city Baker knew well: she went there to get away from Hollywood a broken marriage and stymied movie career Two participants in the Hands Across America fundraiser walk down 6th Street in 79-year-old Willie McGee sits with his cart that carries his belongings Me Gee is helped by the nationwide effort Sunday Celebrities draw people to hold hands push a shopping cart full of possessions down the street Terri Garcia 21 came down from Fresno Saturday because she thought her participation would have the most impact in Skid Row is where they need it the most the most poor Ms Garcia said back Franco Harris strode alone into the road to stop it had to wait" he said afterward "This is too important If people find it difficult to give 10 or 15 minutes of their lives then their problem" No one argued Politicians were everywhere and even enemies were friends held hands with the Republicans It was wonderful" said US Kcp Barbara Mikulski D-Md who stood with her fellow candidates for the US Senate seat occupied by retiring Sen Charles McC Mathias "We had more of us there than had at a forum" Country singers Kenny Rogers and Lee Greenwood were at the Texas New Mexico lHirder Actress Shari Belafonte-IIarper was on the West Coast and her singing dad Harry Belafonte was on the East From The Associated Press If altruism draw enough Raquel Wvlch or Tony Bennett might do Dozens of celebrities from sluggers to killer whales to Mickey and Minnie were among the star-studded links in the Hands Across America chain you look beautiful today This is what about" Ben Yvrccn said from Umg Beach Calif one end of line that reached to the Atlantic Ocean in New York City Savvy organizers of the fund-raiser for America's hungry and homeless provided celebrities in some spots where they might not he homegrown Imported to Kentucky were Malcolm Groom and Christopher Durham of the daytime soap opera "Ryan's Hope" a great unifier a wonderful AP Lnerphoto the skid row section of Los Angeles while one of the many people than may be Charles McIntyre 63 who lives in the Hotel Cecil on 6th joined in after seeing a group of people gathering at the corner "I see this all day long he said aware a lot of people are less fortunate then I am If you rise above it you can become depressed" Brooke Shields held one hand in New York and one in New Jersey Hands organizer Ken Kragen joined the line in New York City "This is just the beginning" Kragen told the crowd at the finale df the event Shamu and Namu the killer whales with a little help from their trainers joined Ohio's 593-mile line in Aurora where the whales live at Sea World Seamour the sea lion and Coolie a baby penguin also took part For humans Ohio offered actress Celeste Holme magician David Copper-field baby specialist Dr Benjamin Spock and Sen John Glenn If baseball is your game Pittsburgh was the place Cincinnati Reds outfielder Dave Parker and five Pirates players joined hands with hundreds of Little Leaguers across Three Rivers Stadium before the Reds-Piratcs game ten Tomorrow and "Ron Can We Sleep at Your House?" Protest leader Mitch Snyder who for years has urged federal and local governments to spend more money on the homeless said the protesters were "not impressed that Reagan (came) out and (clasped) hands with someone because this administration's involvement in housing the homeless and feeding the hungry has been absolutely nil" The Secret Service sealed off Pennsyl vania Avenue and the sidewalk in front of the White House then opened two gates to allow 225 carefully screened participants inside the grounds to link hands with the the main line outside The presidential party was obscured 'from the protest by a cloth covered scaffolding erected for camera crews who photographed Reagan as he stood on the North Portico holding hands with two young boys Mark Bernier and Charles Waterhouse They were supposed to be joined with a line through downtown Los Angeles but there was no linkup with any such line at the prescribed hour While they stood in line some saw 79-year-old Willie McGee his bare shoulders hunched with effort and his knees popping through his shredded trousers said Groom who was in Clinton New York and California of course had many of the heavyweights Miss Welch and Vereen at the Pacific end Yoko Ono Helen Hayes and Lily Tomlin at the Atlantic But if you had hoped to grasp someone famous you may have been disappointed: Some celebrities held hands with celebrities For example Ms Ono was linked to her son Sean Lennon who was linked to Liza Minnelli There were folk singers Peter Paul and Mary in New York and Judy Collins in Tennessee and country stars like Chet Atkins And there were those wlio rely on more than song to persuade When traffic interrupted the line in Pittsburgh former Steelers' running of tlic White Huse staff raise their hands Reagan joins bands' line across the street a protest WASHINGTON (AP) President Reagan walked a few paces out of the White House to sing and join hands in the transcontinental human chain against hunger and homelessness then popped hack inside while across the street demonstrators rallied for more federal aid to the needy Dutsidc the White House more than 100000 people put the Hands Across America event on their Memorial Day weekend agenda in the capital joining hands Sunday in a line that stretched 25 miles across the federal district with concentrations around the Lincoln Memorial the Washington Monument and other landmarks More than 100 protesters gathered in Uifayettc Park across the street from the White House chanting: "We're fired up can't take it no more" and holding signs reading: "Hungry Today Forgot President and Mrs Reagan joined by daughter Maureen (far right) and families while fuming the Hands Across America line at the White House Sunday.