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We invited the candidates running for retiring Dennis Hastert's soon-to-be open Congressional seat to speak to us. Initially 6 of 8 agreed to attend; at the last minute 2 were unable to make it. We were eager to hear from the 4 that made it. Our congressional district has not had our views taken into consideration in many many years and it is exciting to finally have a voice in Congress, with 8 different people applying to us for the job.

We invited the local chapter of the League of Women Voters to be with us to register voters and give voter information. They did not register many voters (I've decided that it's because everybody there was already registered,) but they did talk with many people and I think their presence did a lot to express how serious we are about our role in government.

After hearing advance publicity for our event, the Enivronmental Law & Policy Center out of Chicago contacted us asking if they could have a table with us. They have done some very important work and we were very pleased to have them join us. They have been working with Geneva's municipal utility authorities on greener alternatives and also want to work with local environmental groups and individuals on greening our community as a whole. Many people stopped to chat with them.

A local car dealer brought out a 2008 Prius which got a lot of attention and they made an offer giving customers $1000 off if they mentioned Step It Up when they came in!

Our local Electric Car Association brought out an electric pickup truck owned by a gentleman developing a business selling conversion kits for refitting regular cars to become electric.

We also parked attendees' private high mileage and hybrids right in front of the event with small banners in the windows saying "Hey! I'm a hybrid!" and gave their owners stickers to wear saying "Ask me about my MPG." We ran out of room for them all.

The biggest surprise to me was the character and mood of the crowd. The April Step It Up was very much a rally; signs, people interacting with passing pedestrians and cars. This time, the only signs that were there were the ones we brought. The attendees talked to all the groups we brought in and gathered a lot of information rather than coming out to make a lot of noise about what they want done. But the main thing that I felt brought them out was to hear from the candidates. It was almost more of a debate atmosphere than a rally atmosphere. Not at all what I was expecting, but very valuable nonetheless.

The press coverage shook out very much the same way. We had good coverage, but despite giving a couple of long interviews, what ended up in the papers were stories about the appearance of a group of Congressional candidates. Again, not what you'd expect from a rally, but an encouraging sign that it's almost a given that we all care about the environment, no story there, but now what we want is to hear what our government is going to do about it.

One of my favorite parts was when a boy, I'm guessing 11yo at most, came up to me wanting to know why we didn't have an EV 1. I started to explain that there weren't any any more except 1 gutted one in a museum, but before I finished, he said "Yeah, I know, they crushed them all up." This kid knew all about it and was not happy about it. We talked for a few minutes and it wasn't until he walked away that I realized his age. I'll remember him for a long time.