Average Joe Buckeye Blitz cont. In Peebles, Ohio, our ‘almost First Lady,’ Liz, met with Joanne Brockhoeft. Mrs. Brockhoeft home schools her children with a quite innovative, international curriculum that exposes them to a variety of customs and cultures they might not otherwise hear about. In addition, Mrs. Brockhoeft regularly reads her children newspaper articles about contemporary affairs in other countries. On a Fox News morning show in Cleveland, I said my administration would push for a U.S. Department of Peace — with inititiatives like Mrs. Brockhoeft’s being considered in each of our homes.

We then took the Brockhoeft and Schriner children for a hike on a nearby section of the American Discovery Trail, which is the only coast-to-coast hiking trail in the country. (We would have done the whole trail, but, well… not enough potty stop locations.) From Peebles, we traveled to Franklin, Ohio, for a whistle-stop. There we passed out literature and viewed this absolutely fabulous town mural featuring local scenes from the early 1900’s. I then wrote a letter-to-the-editor of the Franklin Chronicle here that lauded the mural (not to get votes, but because I meant it). The letter also noted Liz and I are running as “concerned parents,” and one of the things we are most concerned about is mounting violence in society and it’s affect on children. And I noted Franklin Township’s: “No Abuse at Home,” a new Ohio Justice System program, seemed a step in the right direction for cutting down on the incidence of domestic violence.