The next day at the mountain-bike race, Auda was joined by Mollie Elkinton dressed as Sally, the Cheat Mountain salamander. Blackie and Sally, both threatened species in the Blackwater Canyon, attract a lot of attention, and people love to have their picturers taken with them. Bob Coffee was also busy at the race, pushing for petition signers. In the afternoon, Scott Frame and Tom Skergan continued gathering signatures, and Tom even put on the squirrel costume. Almost everyone we approached wanted to sign.
People are visibly shocked when they see photos of the logging in the canyon.
Volunteers helped next at the United Methodist Annual Conference in Buchannon. We helped and got help from fellow MFSA members Andy Ragland, Jeff Allen, Linda Ann Ewing, John Taylor, David Schumate as well as Larry Gibson and Janet Fout. One-hundred twenty persons from the Conference signed the petition. We handed out leaflets at the dining hall, and made the delegates very aware of the plight of Blackwater Canyon. The Conference voted to suspend the rules and let non-delegate United Methodist John Crites, owner of Allegheny Wood Products, speak.