What a sight!  A swarm of red rock activists greeted President Obama last week on the University of Colorado Boulder campus with a sea of bright yellow Protect Greater Canyonlands signs.  Standing several rows deep on a raised hillside with signs aloft, the group – and its enthusiasm – was impossible to miss!

With a collective yelp of frustration, however, this devoted group watched the motorcade approach and then – apparently due to a last minute surprise decision – detour around to another part of Boulder to visit a pizza parlor!  Who would have known?

Still, as many of us have learned, persistence often pays off, and it did in this case.  A few hours later, after his speech on campus, the President and his motorcade drove right past this fantastic showing of support for protecting Greater Canyonlands.  And he couldn’t have missed the message echoing from sign to sign.

Plus, two creative activists loaded their signs on to their bikes and again intercepted the motorcade on its way to the airport, reinforcing our message!  President Obama was waving and looking right out the window, and as the only demonstrators on site they were unavoidably visible.

The banner brigade also caught the eye of the media!  While they didn’t end up running an interview with Arnaud Dumont of Coloradans for Utah Wilderness, the banner brigade did get a few seconds of screen visibility in this story: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/30946994/detail.html

A big thanks to everyone who turned out!  Great work!

This banner brigade is the fourth and largest “bannering” effort in Colorado.  Our goal is to continue showing up with our bright yellow signs whenever President Obama visits the state – which he is already scheduled to do again on May 23 in Colorado Springs.  So if you live in Colorado and would like to be on our list of potential banner brigaders, let us know: sign up by clicking here or send an email to terri@suwa.org.  It’s a great way to capture the President’s attention and have some fun!