By 9am this morning people were busy setting up 100 tables of literature, Latin American Crafts, and Fair Trade Coffee to keep us going. The morning begain with the arrival of the Living the Dream March that walked from Montgomery, AL. All morning buses and vans and cars brought people from across the country to Ft. Benning. A beautiful sky was occassionally marred by the helicopter that flew over the base and the rally. The Rally went from 11-5pm, with music and speakers. The Puppetistas put on a great show as they paraded up and down Ft. Benning Road. This is a very participatory event, with hundreds marching in various costumes, beating buckets to make music that makes you think they're a marching band. People kept talking about how many more people were here today than are usually here on a Saturday. In the evening we heard Eric LaCompte of SOAW staff say they estimated 18,000, the largest number who have ever attended the Saturday rally. Lots of people who have never been here before have come. At the same time it feels like a reunion for many others.

There were even more workshops tonight, the evening ending with a 2 hour benefit concert with Holly Near, Llajtasuyo, Emma's Revolution, Tao Rodrigez-Seegar and many more.

 Joanne Sheehan & Patrick Sheehan-Gaumer