SATURDAY, OCT 13, 2012 -- Ocean Beach, San Francisco
Thousands of people will use their bodies to creat a human mural spelling out "DUMP CITIZENS UNITED!"
Please arrive in the vicinity by 10:45 a.m. Helicopter overhead at noon sharp. Event finished by approx 12:15.
THE MESSAGE:
We will arrange ourselves in 100-foot tall lettering. Our aim is to stop the corporate takeover of our democracy and to overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. The National Park Service has okayed a “First Amendment / free speech permit” for up to 10,000 of us. (Our final message may be tweaked, depending on how many people register.)
OCEAN BEACH:
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Ocean Beach is a one-mile stretch of sand located at the west end of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The closest intersection is Fulton Street and The Great Highway.
SITE LOCATION:
This event will probably stretch out longer than any previous event. The message at Beach Impeach #2 -- IMPEACH NOW! -- stretched more than 700 feet. DUMP CITIZENS UNITED will stretch 1,200 feet.
The message will be centered approximately 200 yards north of the intersection of Fulton and the Great Highway, halfway between the Cliff House and the Beach Chalet restaurant (public bathroom in the Beach Chalet’s public lobby). A concrete sea wall runs along the beach, with short, numbered stairways leading down to the sand. The event will be centered near Stairway 12, and will stretch out from there, both north and south.
TRANSPORTATION:
-- If you can, please walk or ride your bike.
-- PUBLIC -- San Francisco's MUNI system serves Ocean Beach very well. Fares, routes, and schedules at
www.sfmuni.com. The #5, #18, and #31 buses all stop within five minutes walk (level) of the event site. The “N-Judah” streetcar line terminates a fifteen minute walk (level) from the site.
-- BY CAR — Ocean Beach has a huge parking area, but the southern portion will probably be closed on October 13 (to accommodate preparation for a surf contest the following day). Still, there is plenty of parking in the nearby areas -- up the hill toward the Cliff House, and also in the western part of Golden Gate Park. Parking should not be a big problem early on a Saturday.
BRING:
A blanket or tarp to lie down on while we await the helicopter. Water to drink. All of your friends and family (friendly dogs are also welcomed). October weather is usually great, but you never know. Check the forecast and dress appropriately. (CAUTION: This forecast is for "inland" San Francisco. Conditions at Ocean Beach can be quite a bit colder and breezier.)
BATHROOMS:
Rented porta-potties will be positioned along the sea wall at the event site. The lobby of the Beach Chalet building has great bathrooms. The nearby Safeway store has one small bathroom.
FOOD:
-- Several restaurants lie within easy walk of Ocean Beach. The Beach Chalet is a five-minute walk, the Cliff House is plainly visible up the hill north of the event site. Louie's Diner is a 60-second walk beyond the Cliff House. A large Safeway store is a five-minute walk from the site.
IMPORTANT DAY-OF-EVENT INFORMATION
7 A.M.
A group of volunteers (at least twenty needed, please and thank you) will spend the morning outlining the message into the sand. The letters will be at least 100 ft tall and 10 ft wide.
10:45 A.M.
Please arrive in the vicinity of Ocean Beach by 10:45 A.M. This will allow you half an hour to find parking (if you are driving), use a bathroom, reach the site, and pick your spot in the lettering. Volunteers will be handing out flyers with more specific, updated, day-of-event instructions. Please take a flyer, read it, and follow any instructions from volunteers.
11:15 A.M.
Please be ON THE BEACH NO LATER THAN 11:15 A.M. This will give us time to make sure the lettering is filled in evenly, so that images taken from above will look crisp and clean. Pick any spot you’d like (it’s fun to sit with family and friends), but if one of the volunteers asks for people to fill in a “thin” area, please be as cooperative as you can. We’re all in this together. This will be our biggest crowd yet (previous high, 1,500), so we’re asking for a slightly earlier arrival time to make sure everything gets squared away.
TWELVE NOON
Our (rented) helicopter and photographer are due overhead at noon sharp. Often, in the past, they have shown up on the dot — other times, a few minutes late. Please be patient. The actual photography portion will take approximately fifteen. At past events, people showing up half an hour late have been shocked to find that the event has ended and everyone has disappeared. Tardiness is not recommended.
POSTCARDS:
One image from the event will be made into a large-sized postcard. If you would like one of these postcards mailed to you, you MUST print your address onto a mailing label (provided at the event) and drop it into one of the POSTCARD ADDRESSES buckets that volunteers will be holding. We hope to have the postcards in your mailbox within a week.
MONEY:
The event is free. Its approximate $3,000 - $5,000 cost (helicopter, porta-potties, postcards, postage, printing, etc) is being fronted by San Francisco cab driver Brad Newsham. At past events, people have generously dropped enough money into the POSTCARD ADDRESSES buckets so that Brad has been able to break even. He greatly appreciates this.
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