| Boston March For Jesus 1995
Instructions for Van Drivers & Sound Operators:
Revised May 19, 1995
� Arrive at government center at 7:00am, May 27, 1995, and have on hand:
o Van or capped pickup with luggage rack & full tank of gas
o Your sound operator, if other than yourself
o A 'boom box' with AM radio and cassette player, with fresh batteries
� When you arrive you will receive a placard that identifies your van by
number (1-40). This is to uniquely identify your van, and to help us keep
track of your van's readiness. You will proceed through four stages of
set-up:
o Your van will be loaded with sound equipment
o The audio cables will be hooked up
o The power converter and cables will be loaded and hooked up
o The whole sound system is tested, the boom box will be tuned to 1510AM
At this point, the loudspeakers will be inside the van, along with a
carpet and plywood. The power for the sound system will be drawn directly
from the van battery with clamps.
� If you have been cleared as 'ready', and you understand where you should
park the van, and what you have to do when you get there, you can proceed
to your assigned location. Locations will be marked by numbers on the
sidewalk with chalk. (Refer to map on back.)
� Once parked at your assigned location, place the carpet and plywood on
top of the van to protect it from the speakers, if needed, and haul the
speakers on top of the van. Face one speaker 'up' the parade route, and
the other 'down' the parade route. If you have a corner location, be sure
to face the speakers down the streets used by the march. If you will need
assistance moving the speakers, be sure to inform your final test
technician before you leave, so that a volunteer can be sent to help with
moving the speakers.
� Once your are set up, with the engine running, test the system to be
sure that:
o Your boom box is oriented for best reception of WNRB (1510AM)
o Both speakers are working
don't wait until 10:00 to test, because by then it will be too late to fix
it. If you can't fix it, don't worry, a technician will pass your
location before the march begins. We will give you a phone number you can
call to reach the sound team at government center, or try CB radio channel
14, or send a volunteer that knows your van number and location to contact
a sound technician at government center.
� At 10:00am, with the engine running, begin playing WNRB, loud enough to
be heard clearly 100' away. Walk halfway down to the next van to be sure
it is loud enough. If the WNRB signal goes bad, switch to tape.
� After the last marcher has passed out of the range your location, turn
the system off, and remove the speakers from the top of the van. If you
need help with the speakers, stay put and a volunteer should be around
soon to help.
� Return to government center, where your equipment will be unloaded.
If all the march equipment has been returned and checked off, you are
done, and can go enjoy the praise rally at the Boston Common. A parking
space can be reserved for you at the government center during the rally.
Important Rules to Live By:
Do NOT turn on the sound equipment unless the engine is running, as this
will quickly drain your vehicle's battery.
Do NOT attempt to move the vehicle with speakers on top. They will fall
over, and the results would be very costly. If the vehicle is to be moved
for any reason, the speakers must be removed first.
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| Last year, the vans were moving. The theory was to group about 250
people behind each sound van, so that the march parade was alternating
sound vans and people. This was the most that could be accomodated with
the power available in the van (about 400 watts) and two PA loudspeakers.
(In parctice, the group sizes varied widely.)
There were 7000 people last year, and we still needed about 30 vans.
This year, the city officials have requested that the vans be
stationary, if possible, in order to prevent the possibility that a
mistake by a van driver could lead to injury of the group ahead of the
van. Apparenly this was a problem in a similar kind of parade held
several years ago in the city.
It was reported at Saturday's volunteer meeting that, now that (from
what I heard) the march has been endorsed by the Cardinal, we could
reach 14,000 this year. You would think that at least 0.3% of those
might want to volunteer a van to the effort!
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| I *think* the Boston march route is now finalized.
We start at City Hall Plaza, proceed south on Cambridge St, which turns
into Tremont St., turn right at Park St., Left on Beacon St, and march
in front of the state house, the seat of government for Massachusetts,
and symbolic of our need to pray for our civil leaders. The State House
is just about the center of the march. We turn left again onto Charles
St., going around the Boston Common, and left again onto Boylston St.,
and turn into the park itself for the rally at the corner of Boylston
and Tremont.
The march is about one mile long. You don't need to be a marathon
athelete to walk this one.
There are plenty of "T" stops near the march. If you pop out of the
"city hall plaza" stop on the green line at 10:00, you will pop up
right into the middle of the kick-off. If you are coming in on the red
line and don't want to bother changing trains, you can get out at Park
St. and wander 1200 feet from there to City Hall Plaza.
I still need a few more volunteers. We have a couple of vans that come
without drivers, so we could use a few people that are willing to sit
with the vans and turn the sound on and off, and we still need about 10
more vans to complete the route.
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