Local Women Plan Bus To D.C. March

By LIBBY CUDMORE

ONEONTA

This year, Butternuts Valley Indivisible won’t just be marching in the third annual Women’s March for Women Jan. 19 in Washington, D.C.

They’ll be marching for everyone, said Amy Pondolfino, who is organizing the local contingent.

“We’ve got children in America who spent Christmas in cages and abusive camps along our border,” said Pondolfino. “We have the March For Our Lives and #MeToo.

“The Women’s March is one of many, but it encompasses a lot of issues, and they all intersect.”

This will be the local group’s second trip to D.C. for the march, starting with the inaugural march in 2016. In 2018, Indivisible joined the march in New York City.

“We heard some great speakers in New York City,” she said. “Someone spoke on disability, another spoke on #MeToo, and there was a wonderful Jewish woman
who spoke. It was a good cross-section. The challenge is that so many issues are important.”

Speakers for the 2019 Women’s March have not yet been announced.

This year, the bus will board at 11 p.m. Friday, Jan. 18 and make stops in Sidney and Binghamton before driving overnight to D.C.  Tickets are $80, and reservations are being taken at BVIndivisible@gmail.com or (607) 267-0493

“We found a Waffle House two blocks from the National Mall that takes reservations!” said Pondolfino. “Or if you don’t want breakfast, you can go watch the sun rise over the monuments.”

The speakers will begin at 10 a.m., with the march itself beginning at 11 a.m. There will be activities throughout the afternoon. Or, Pondolfino said, participants are welcome to visit museums, which are free, before meeting at the bus at 6 p.m. to travel home.