UPDATES IN RED
TODAY — FRIDAY ROSE MASS for LIFE — 10 a.m. at St. Anthony’s in Nanuet. All are invited. (36 W. Nyack Road, Nanuet).
(1/20/16 @ noon) THE TRIP IS CANCELLED.
While it was unlikely the bus would encounter any problems on the way to the March, or maybe even coming home on the northern NJ to Rockland leg of the trip, our concern was the situation in the Washington, D.C., area. The National Weather Service has issued a blizzard watch for the capital beginning at noon, Friday. If the storm does, in fact, set in then, it could lead to a very dangerous situation on the roads getting home. Our contract with the bus company required us to make a decision today. Please check back later for more details.
- BLIZZARD WON’T STOP MARCH, BUT SAFETY CONCERNS CANCEL SOME TRIPS TO D.C.
Groups from Ohio, Virginia, and Michigan cancel; Illinois, Florida, and North Dakota are forging ahead to Washington - HOW ABOUT ROE V WADE-STORM? MARCH FOR LIFE TO GO ON IN D.C. DESPITE BLIZZARD
U.S. Park Police spokesperson: “As of this moment, it’s on. This is a First Amendment event, and if people want to come and demonstrate, we want them to be able to say what they have to say.” - PRO-LIFE GROUPS, LAWMAKERS DEMAND MEDIA COVER MARCH FOR LIFE
Last year’s march bout 200,000 to Washington, but despite the size of its peaceful protest, it received a total of 15 second coverage from the top three television networks. - MARCH FOR LIFE TO GO ON EVEN AMIDST HISTORIC STORM
WATCH THE MARCH AND NATIONAL PRAYER VIGIL FOR LIFE ON TV
Please try to check out the Eternal Word Television Network coverage on TV. It’s a wonderful production with excellent interviews and reporting — an inspirational, panoramic view of the day in D.C. The March will also be live-streamed from the March for Life website.
The Eternal Word Television Network will provide live coverage of the March for Life in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Jan. 22, starting at 9 am.
Rebroadcast at 10 pm; also Jan. 23 at 12 am and Jan. 24 at 9:30 am.
EWTN has scheduled other prolife films and shows this month. EWTN broadcasts on Verizon Fios channel 285 and Cablevision channel 135.
And if you need to know anything not covered here, please don’t hesitate to send an email to RocklandRTL@optonline.net or call 735-4379, 492-6709, 634-6885, or 425-1322 (para espanol). SEATS ARE STILL AVAILABLE!
MARCH for LIFE WEATHER REPORT:
Washington — BLIZZARD WATCH POSTED, STARTING NOON FRIDAY
Rockland — Increasing clouds, with a high near 32.;
Friday Night: Snow likely, after midnight
BUSES: We’ve chartered two buses from Rockland.
The buses are 55-seat luxury coaches from West Point Tours. They have lavatories.
THE TRIP: The date for the trip is Friday, Jan. 22, 2016.
The buses will leave from St. Augustine’s in New City and Sacred Heart in Suffern. There will be parking at both locations, so you can leave your car.
(1/15/16) We had to cancel one of the buses to the March for Life on Jan. 22. Now, one bus will make two stops. It will pick up marchers at Sacred Heart Church in Suffern and then go to St. Augustine’s in New City to pick up the rest.
Please note these new times:
5:20 am Marchers should arrive at Sacred Heart
5:30 am Bus arrives at Sacred Heart
5:45 am Bus departs for New City
6:05 am Marchers should arrive at St. Augustine’s
6:15 am Bus arrives at St. Augustine’s
6:30 am Bus departs for Washington, DC
If you know anyone who plans to go, please alert them to this time change.
The trip to Washington, D.C., takes about 5 hours, and the bus will stop at a highway rest stop on the way to and from the March (probably in Maryland) for a break.
You can bring food/drink on the bus, but bring a bag for your trash. We must leave the bus spotless. This is very important! Bring a snack for the March.
The bus leaves Washington, D.C., around 6 p.m., and we should be back in Rockland by 11:15 p.m. or so.
THE MARCH: In Washington, we’ll debark at the National Mall, easy walking distance to the Rally for Life, which begins at noon. March for Life Rally location has changed this year. Still on the National Mall, the Rally stage will be located just north of the Washington Monument. See the route map here.
Our two bus groups will rendezvous at the Rally and everyone will travel together for the rest of the day. We stay together as a group — everyone keeps an eye out for everyone else — keeping the big Rockland Right to Life “I ♥ Life” banners in sight. Each bus has a captain, a veteran marcher who will keep everyone together and to whom you can direct any questions or problems.
Speakers and performers at the Rally are announced here. They include presidential candidate Carly Fiorina and former NFL center Matt Birk.
Named to the Pro Bowl 6 times, Matt’s career culminated in February of 2013 in a Super Bowl win as a member of the Baltimore Ravens.
Following the Raven’s victory, Matt chose not to participate in the White House Super Bowl celebratory meeting with President Obama because of the president’s support for Planned Parenthood, a decision that received significant media coverage.
You can bring your own signs if you’d like. Tweeting from the March is encouraged as are postings to whatever social media sites you use. Please tweet to #marchforlife and @RockRTL (that’s the Rockland Right to Life Twitter feed).
Also, please take photos of your group and text to 201-739-4413. They will be posted to the Right to Life website (RocklandRTL.org) as soon as we receive them.
The March for Life begins at 1 p.m. and proceeds along Constitution Avenue, past the Capitol Building and ends at the steps of the Supreme Court. It is about 2 miles long. It’s an easy, flat walk down city streets.
Please be aware that there’s a lot of standing around. It takes quite a while to mobilize several hundred thousand people into a line of march. And it can be quite cold. While the march is not difficult, it’s not for anyone with mobility problems, can’t stand for long periods of time, can’t take the cold, or has any medical conditions that would make the effort inadviseable.
The group chosen to lead this year’s march and carry the big “March for Life” banner is the Catholic University of America. The Basilica we go to after the march is on the CUA campus.
AFTER THE MARCH AND DEPARTURE: The March ends at the Supreme Court Building. Because of the extreme congestion in the area, we meet our buses at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on the grounds of the Catholic Unversity of America, about 2 miles away.
We travel there together by shared cab or by subway (the Metro, about a 10 minute ride). Your captain will provide directions.
Metro directions: Walk to Union Station (a few blocks north of the Supreme Court Building). Take the Red Line and get off at Brookline, CUA. About .4 mile walk to Basilica entrance. Cost — $2.15.
Taxi directions: Tell the driver you want to go to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The address is: 400 Michigan Ave NE, Washington, DC 20017 Cost — around $15.
At the Basilica you’ll have a chance to rest and warm up; there’s a good cafeteria. You can visit this great church if you’d like, and there’s a 5:15 mass.
The buses leave around 6 p.m. — or as soon as those who have gone to mass are back — and we return to Rockland around 11:15 p.m..
ADDITIONAL COSTS: We’ll be collecting for a tip for the two bus drivers (please give a dollar or two). The cost of the cab, should you chose to travel that way, is about $15, which can be shared among the riders. The cost of the Metro ticket is $2.15? Personal purchases of food at rest stops, etc.
TICKET PRICE: The cost of a ticket is $30 for adults; $15 for students. All students high-school age and younger must ride with a responsible adult. Clergy ride free: that includes ministers, deacons, priests, rabbis, religious sisters and brothers (you must make a reservation, though).
If the cost is a problem for you, please call one of the phone numbers above. Through our ‘Adopt-a-Marcher’ program you may be eligible for a reduced-fare or free trip, courtesy of our donors. We want to make the trip possible for everyone who wants to go, especially families for whom the price of several seats could be a financial hardship.
SEATS ARE STILL AVAILABLE.
For more discussion of this policy, please click here.
HOW TO RESERVE A SEAT:
- Make out your check payable to Rockland County Right to Life Committee.
- Print out and complete the reservation form here — or on a sheet of paper, just provide:
your name
address
phone number (cell would be best)
email address (so we can send you updates and last minute instructions)
- Send the reservation information and check to:
Rockland Right to Life Committee
P.O. Box 9348
Bardonia, NY 10954
PAST TRIPS: If you want to see photos from past trips, just click on the links below. There are a lot more stories about past Marches on the site, so just use the Search box at the top of the home page to locate them. (And just so you know, the photos below are only from the years we’ve had our website. We’ve been marching to Washington for over 40 years, and hopefully,one of these days, we’ll find time to scan some of the photos from the early marches and post those on our site too.)
IF YOU WANT TO MAKE A DONATION: If you’re unable to make the trip but would like to support the cause financially, your donations will be gratefully accepted.
Your financial support might make the trip possible for someone or a family who can’t afford the trip — or help lower the cost for all. You can be a “bus angel” for $50. (We regret that donations are not tax deductible)
Please send donations to: The Rockland Right to Life Committee. PO Box 9348, Bardonia, NY 10954.
ROCKLAND RIGHT TO LIFE COMMITTEE 