WOMAN PLANS CROSS-COUNTRY WALK FOR CAMPAIGN REFORM.Byline: Michael Coit Daily News Staff Writer After wearing out a pair of hiking boots and dozens of doubting friends and relatives, 88-year-old Doris Haddock is set to begin a cross-country trek Friday, literally in the wake of the Tournament of Roses Parade The Tournament of Roses Parade was established, and first held, on January 1,1890, in Pasadena, California, eight miles (13 km) northeast of Downtown Los Angeles. Rooted in tradition, this parade is broadcast on multiple television networks, watched by upwards of one . The retired shoe company secretary - nicknamed Granny D Granny D (born Ethel Doris Haddock, January 24, 1910) is an American politician and liberal political activist from the state of New Hampshire. Noted for her colorful character, warm personality, and advanced age, Haddock famously walked across the continental United States - left the woods and ponds of southern New Hampshire New Hampshire, one of the New England states of the NE United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts (S), Vermont, with the Connecticut R. forming the boundary (W), the Canadian province of Quebec (NW), and Maine and a short strip of the Atlantic Ocean (E). last week for sun-baked Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, to generate support for her cause: campaign finance reform Campaign finance reform is the common term for the political effort in the United States to change the involvement of money in politics, primarily in political campaigns. . Emboldened em·bold·en tr.v. em·bold·ened, em·bold·en·ing, em·bold·ens To foster boldness or courage in; encourage. See Synonyms at encourage. Adj. 1. by decades of political activism, the energetic and effusive ef·fu·sive adj. 1. Unrestrained or excessive in emotional expression; gushy: an effusive manner. 2. Profuse; overflowing: effusive praise. Haddock believes she can make people pay attention to an admittedly dry issue. Yet Haddock acknowledges her bold adventure is drawing greater notice. ``It's of interest to people because I'm old,'' Haddock said. ``God has been very good to me to make me as healthy as I am at my age. I'm always outdoors.'' And that will be the case when she celebrates her 89th birthday somewhere along state Highway 62 in the San Bernardino San Bernardino, city, United States San Bernardino (săn bûr'nədē`nō), city (1990 pop. 164,164), seat of San Bernardino co., S Calif., at the foot of the San Bernardino Mts.; inc. 1854. County desert Jan. 24. It will be part of Haddock's 11-month dose of the great outdoors, if all goes as planned and she manages to complete her planned trek from Pasadena to the nation's capitol. ``It's really wonderful here now, and then I will go south . . . then follow the Rio Grande Rio Grande, city, Brazil Rio Grande (rē`  grän`dĭ), city (1991 pop. north in April when all the birds are out. I have to avoid the snowy areas,'' Haddock said. ``I've seen it all. My husband and I used to have a VW bug. We would start Friday night after work and would crisscross the country, always camping.'' Relying on her feet for this 2,730-mile trek, Haddock will follow mostly smaller state highways, including sections of historic Route 66 and some frontage roads along interstates. As she makes her way across California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia and Virginia, winding up in Washington, D.C., where she hopes to present signatures gathered along the way to congressional lawmakers from New Hampshire. Haddock is counting on well-meaning people to provide food and lodging. Aiding her trek will be the latest in layers of outdoor clothing and sturdy yet comfortable hiking boots donated by a New England sporting goods outfitter. There also are the corset corset, article of dress designed to support or modify the figure. Greek and Roman women sometimes wrapped broad bands about the body. In the Middle Ages a short, close-fitting, laced outer bodice or waist was worn. By the 16th cent. with steel supports for her back and steel support rods in those boots. ``I am working with a very old body. I just add more armor,'' she joked. ``I'm trussed like a turkey.'' The wear on her body from training with daily walks since March - and the prospect of venturing into rural outposts - concern her two children, eight grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren. ``For a long time, I was just sure it would never take place. Like a lot of crazy ideas, I thought it would die on the vine,'' said Ken Haddock, her son and neighbor in Dublin, N.H. He was driving his mother on Interstate 95 in Florida Interstate 95 (officially the William B. Singer Expressway in Florida)[2] , the main Interstate Highway on the east coast of the United States, serves the Atlantic coast of Florida. It begins at a partial interchange with U.S. on the February day when she spotted a man walking along an empty stretch of the busy freeway and started wondering about taking a long walk. The man suggested she needed a cause - and a lot of training. Beginning with 2-mile daily walks, Haddock was walking 10 miles a day within a month and steadily improved her time to about four hours. Then she thumbed a ride with a passing motorist one day who told her the story of the Peace Pilgrim. Mildred Norman covered the United States seven times before her death in 1981. She began in 1953 when the Korean War Korean War, conflict between Communist and non-Communist forces in Korea from June 25, 1950, to July 27, 1953. At the end of World War II, Korea was divided at the 38th parallel into Soviet (North Korean) and U.S. (South Korean) zones of occupation. was raging and U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy was seeking out alleged Communists and sympathizers. ``She believed if you had peace in you, it would spread throughout the world,'' Haddock noted. Wearing a distinctive broad-brimmed straw hat featuring turkey, owl and crow feathers, and a wraparound Wraparound A financing device that permits an existing loan to be refinanced and new money to be advanced at an interest rate between the rate charged on the old loan and the current market interest rate. sign proclaiming her ``campaign reform'' message, Haddock figured walking in the parade would be a great spot to draw attention. But Haddock must settle for glances from people remaining on the route after the parade ends about 12:30 p.m. Friday. She won't get the national television audience she hoped for because the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association denied her an entry. Tournament of Roses officials did not return calls to the Daily News for comment. Haddock accepted the setback and instead decided to start near the end of the route at Colorado and Sierra Madre boulevards after the parade passes. She will go north on Sierra Madre and east on Foothill Boulevard, ending her first day in Azusa at the home of one of a growing band of supporters. Helping arrange some of her stays is Cynthia Paskos, a Hollywood relative who met Haddock when Paskos' brother married one of Haddock's granddaughters eight years ago. ``I thought she was just a corker cork·er n. 1. One that corks bottles, for example. 2. Slang A remarkable or astounding person or thing. corker Noun Old-fashioned slang , just this little bundle of energy,'' Paskos said. Her son will keep in touch by cellular phone. His family also has set up a toll-free number, (800) 298-2182, and a World Wide Web site, www.grannyd.com, so people can keep track of Granny D's progress. ``I am a gung-ho supporter of her doing this, mainly because so many people have told her not to,'' Ken Haddock said. ``I believe the people who make progress for us are the people who are crazed. You can't send an 88-year-old woman in the desert without thinking that. But there's a difference between crazy and insane,'' he said. ``She's not your typical grandmother.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Haddock |
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