Man to take people’s concerns to Obama

By Sarah Arkin

Published: November 10, 2008

BJ Hill walked through Danville on Monday, his latest stop in a cross-country trek aimed at bringing people’s concerns to the next president.

Hill took his first step in San Francisco in March, equipped with a backpack, tent and a notebook, and will end up in Boston before the year is over. On his way, Hill is stopping all across the country and asking people to write down thoughts, comments and concerns for the next president in his big black notebook.

“The idea is to have the opportunity to present these missives, from all across America, directly to the next president,” Hill states on his Web site, http://www.walkamerica2008.com.

Hill said he’s heard a range of concerns from coast to coast.

Over the summer, Hill said people were extremely concerned about gas. In the Midwest, he said people expressed the desire for conservative fiscal values in government, and as he’s crossed into the Bible Belt, he’s heard a lot of people encouraging the next president to keep Christian moral values in the White House.

Hill said he usually walks between eight and 12 hours per day, which amounts to about 12 or 13 miles. His backpack weighs between 35 and 50 pounds, depending on the climate.

As Hill walked north across the Virginia border into Danville on Monday, he was on his seventh pair of shoes. He doesn’t accept rides, and said he usually tries to find a couch to crash on or a yard or a church where he can pitch his tent.

Hill is a teacher and most recently taught special education at a public high school just north of Boston. Hill said he would like to teach history when he finishes his journey.

However, this isn’t Hill’s first walk for a cause. In 2006, he made a similar plod through his home state of Massachusetts, delivering messages to Gov. Deval Patrick.

He met with the governor for 15 minutes, shared some of the messages and traded stories about the same places they’d been. The book was stored in the Massachusetts gubernatorial archives and he’s hoping that this current notebook might be kept somewhere in Washington.

Hill said he plans to make it back to Boston by December and he’s already working with some of his local elected officials there to get in touch with President-elect Barack Obama.

Hill said he’s determined to get his message to the newly elected president.

“Once I got that first message on the Golden Gate Bridge, I knew I had to make it,” Hill said. “It’s too much responsibility.”

He added, “The president wouldn’t want to meet the guy who almost made it across the country.”

Contact Sarah Arkin at or (434) 791-7983.