Convoy Closing Ceremony
At the end of the cross country convoy adventure, we had one last press conference as our closing ceremony for the historic trip.
It was supposed to be held on the Elipse at the zero mile marker but weather concerns put us indoors at the Reagan Center. Outgoing Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta was on hand just as he was at our start in San Francisco. Since our whole trip really honored the vision of one man, President Eisenhower, who signed the law creating the interstate highway system we also had a special guest on hand.
She is Mary Eisenhower, granddaughter to President Eisenhower. Like her son Merrill, who travelled with us, she is very well spoken.
Mary spoke on a very personal level and said of President Eisenhower that if she had one wish, it would be to say one last thing to him. She says she wishes he was here to see the progress that’s been made on his vision.
You can hear Mary’s remarks here:
Mary Eisenhower Remarks (5 min MP3)
Domestic Fuel coverage and participation in the AASHTO Interstate 50th Convoy is sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.
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It’s the end of the convoy! Almost 3,300 miles in the Ethanol Truck.
I don’t know if every state will make a commemorative 50th anniversary of the interstate license tag but 28 of them have so far.
Group shots from the convoy have been difficult to arrange. Here we are in Emmitsburg, MD, getting ready to roll on into Washington, DC and the final ceremony this afternoon.
At numerous times along the highway over the last couple weeks we’ve had media interview opportunities.
One of the speakers at our Emmitsburg press conference was Merrill Eisenhower Atwater. Merrill gave a great talk.
We stopped in Emmitsburg, MD for a press conference on a bridge today. Actually they had a section of covered bridge for a back drop.
Only on an official semi-governmental convoy can you stop highway traffic and just wander around on it.
I’ll add audio to this post later but it’s getting too late to spend much more time on the computer here at our last stop.
Here’s the convoy group on our next to last day in Pennsylvania. I got in a shipment of EPIC, ethanol caps which have been in high demand.
While we were in Akron, OH one of our convoy participants received a big honor. Merrill Eisenhower Atwater was given the key to the city by
We really haven’t hit any rain to speak of on our convoy trip. That is until we crossed the Pennsylvania line this morning. It hasn’t stopped since then I don’t think.
After leaving South Bend, IN we trekked onward to Akron, OH. Our host was the
We got a real treat when we pulled into South Bend, IN. A crowd of people were out on the street to cheer and wave us in. It was the best public support display we’ve seen on the main convoy route.
Prior to leaving Tinley Park, IL we participated in a press conference that was organized by the Illinois Dept. of Transportation.