20 Years ago - Hand Across America, were you there? (1 Viewer)

[Bryan X]

I just realized, this May 25th, it will be 20 years since 'Hands Across America'.

I participated with some friends and we were positioned along a state route in Western Ohio. I remember looking to my left and right down the road, and as far as the eye could see was a line of people holding hands. Pretty cool.

I would have been 16 at the time. How time flies. Did anyone else here participate in Hand Across America? If so, where were you positioned and what do you remember?

 

[David Blair]

Man I must be getting old, I had completely forgotten about that. Back then I was 12 and my family traveled to Lexington, Ky to join in.

 

[StephenA]

I was almost 7 at the time and remember a bit about it, but wasn't part of it.

 

[David Williams]

I would have been 9 at the time and I have no idea what it was about. I guess it wasn't very newsworthy at the time in my neck of the woods (Anchorage. AK), since we were outside of the lower 48 states. I'm still puzzled when I hear references to it in shows like The Golden Girls. Did people actually make a human chain from coast to coast?

 

[Bryan X]

For the most part, yes. They got around 6-7 million people to participate. Enough people to form a chain from coast to coast if it were a straight line. But the line meandered to hit major areas so there were breaks in it.

I was in a rural area and it was a very cool sight to see an unbroken chain of people holding hands disapearing into the horizon on both my right and left.

This was all part of the USA for Africa organization who also put out the song 'We are the World'.

http://www.usaforafrica.org/legacy/hands.htm

 

[Alf S]

Nope

 

[Grant B]

Pretty sure I was drinking Beer at the time..... and it's pretty damn hard to hold hands when you have a beer in one hand.

Maybe a shot in the other

 

[Jay H]

Well, I was around 20 years ago but I don't think they could really use me, my hands are kind of small... I'd be lucky to get a hand across anything longer than a PBJ sandwich, let alone, America.

Jay

 

[Bob McLaughlin]

I recall news reports that in some areas out in the middle of nowhere they had to use ropes instead of people's hands. I feel bad for the people who had to stand in the desert sun.

 

[Chu Gai]

As I recall, after expenses, not much money found its way and it remains to be determined how much of that found its way to people.

 

[Grant B]

So what was the money for?
Was there some meaning behind this besides spreading cold germs across the country?

 

[Bryan X]

http://www.usaforafrica.org/legacy/hands.htm