OK, all you PATRIOTS (who were inspired enough by our cause to sign up for these updates), it's time to kick things into high gear, as the battle looms on the horizon! I was misinformed in my last update when I said that we still have some time to gather more (100K?) signatures – as I recently learned that the Town of Fishkill is nearing completion of its State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR, including the archaeological data), and will soon (no date yet, but earlier than we expected) be hosting the one-and-only (!?!) public hearing on this issue of tremendous importance, not only to our small town, but to NY state, and the entire country, as evidenced by the huge distribution (all 50 states, D.C., several territories, and 21 foreign countries!) of signers we have seen and been inspired by! We have received over 7400(!) comments from signers, and not uncommonly, people ask how they can help. The following is a list of possibilities, depending on where you live, the connections you may have to our area, and how much time or money you are gracious enough to commit to our cause. 1) We REALLY need more local signatures. While we obviously are very grateful for every single signature we receive; those that come from our local area citizens are probably going to carry a bit more weight with our ELECTED officials (no surprise, huh?). Therefore, anyone who lives in our area is especially encouraged to get their friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc. to sign the petition. But even if you live further away, I know from reading all of the comments that many of you grew up in this area, previously worked in this area, have friends who currently live in this area, etc. If you could contact those people you know who still live in or near Fishkill, and encourage them to sign the petition, that would be incredibly helpful! Another option for local-area citizens is to request a paper copy of the petition to gather good, old-fashioned hand written signatures. Despite living in an increasingly digital world, there are still many people who don’t have access to a computer, or aren’t comfortable using them for such purposes due to worries about scams, receiving subsequent spam email, etc. So if you are aware of such people who support our cause but would rather sign something physical vs. something digital, I would be happy to supply you with paper copies of the petition wherein the back side of the petition has room for 19 signatures. If you would like to receive such paper copies of the edition, please drop me a line at: trustee_groen@fishkillsupplydepot.org , and we can quickly work out a way for me to get some copies to you. 2) Host a “Stop Continental Commons” yard sign on your property. This is obviously just an option for people who live in or near Fishkill and own their own property. The 24”x32” blue-on-white signs are attractive and also list the website for our organization. This option is especially good for people who live on busy streets and want to broadcast our message to all passers-by! Again, contact me by email at the address given above if you are interested (and not to worry, I will install the sign for you wherever you would prefer to have it in your yard). 3) Call or write (email or snail mail) the Town of Fishkill to respectfully voice your opposition to the Continental Commons. This quick and easy action is very effective, and can be exercised by anyone world-wide. But please remember that these folks are the decision makers, not the opponent (that would be the recalcitrant developer), and we need to work with them in a civilized manner. Simply Google the Town of Fishkill Planning Board to get contact information. 4) Write a letter to the editor of the Poughkeepsie Journal. This is another fairly simple action that can be done by anyone world-wide. And in this case, it might be especially good to hear from people that live in other states or nations, as it would help emphasize to our local citizens and elected officials just how broadly this preservation effort is supported, and that while it’s a local issue, it’s also an issue of national importance! To submit such a letter, please visit: http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/opinion/2014/03/27/letter-to-editor/6979955/ 5) Make a tax deductible contribution to our 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. You can specify if the money is to go to our general fund (for public education and outreach, historical research, maintenance of archaeological and archival research projects, literature publishing, web maintenance, etc.), or to our Preservation Fund that was established for the acquisition of historic property. To make a contribution, please visit our website at: http://fishkillsupplydepot.org/donate.html . 6) Continue to share and spread this petition on all of your social media platforms. Regardless of where you live or where your friends live, the more signatures we get, the better, so please continue to help grow our already impressive foundation of support! Thank you so much for anything and everything you are able to do to help us in our noble fight to save the remaining Fishkill Supply Depot land and honor all of the myriad soldiers (the FIRST AMERICAN VETERANS) buried there! And by the way, if you have not seen the very informative pdf slideshow on our website, please click on the following, I think you will enjoy it!: http://www.fishkillsupplydepot.org/doc/FishkillSupplyDepot12.pdf Your humble servant, John C. Groen, Friends of the Fishkill Supply Depot Board Member