Peace Mow! : Activist Cuts a Wide Swath Across Country in His Grass-Roots Movement

Ben Garcia wants to “trim back” the nuclear arms race, so it made perfect sense for him to make his point by driving a lawn mower across the United States, even if it was de-bladed.

Garcia, 49, putt-putted his tractor-type mower to a stop on the cement of Olvera Street Plaza Wednesday, ending a two-month, 3,000-plus-mile journey during which he gave numerous talks promoting world peace and turned down “4,000 requests” to perform yardwork.

“Every major lawn mower company told me I wouldn’t be able to make it across,” declared Garcia, unbuckling his seat belt and stepping out of his specially fitted Ford Pinto seat. “None of them would sponsor me, except for one Briggs & Stratton dealer who gave me a new engine in Richmond (Va.) when I blew mine.”

Garcia, an Orchard Beach, Me., resort owner, said he wants to start a movement--grass-roots variety, of course--”of average Americans like me who can stop the nuclear arms race by speaking out. I call it WOOF, the World Order of Friends.”

His arrival here was cheered by wide-eyed schoolchildren who momentarily deserted their lunches in the plaza. A man lounging nearby asked, “When does the parade start?”

It resembled a parade of sorts: Garcia, wearing three “friendship” leis, astride his red, white and blue, flag-bedecked mower, trailed by a rented motor home and trailer that had accompanied him on his trip.

He said his long-distance mower--grass-catcher also removed--was designed by supporters in Slippery Rock, Pa., who race lawn mowers (but that’s another story).

Outfitted with an eight-horsepower engine (top speed: 35 m.p.h.) and specially designed gears, the mower was also equipped with all the required lights and signals as well as a Maine license plate, WOOF 86.

Garcia, who stayed off interstate highways, veered to his left after leaving home and hit Miami Beach before turning right and heading toward the West Coast.

“My wife Barbara left (the expedition) in Miami, but I met a man in a gas station who agreed to drive (the van) the rest of the way,” Garcia said. “She (his wife) rejoined me in Phoenix.”

Aside from losing one engine, Garcia also wore out five pulleys, was ticketed for driving too slowly near Austin, Tex., and suffered a minor fender-bender with a Jeep outside Twentynine Palms.

But he said the most suspenseful day was the first, when he ran out of gas.

“I had no idea how far I could go,” he explained. “The tank only holds a gallon and there’s no fuel gauge.”

Garcia described his reception along the way as “wonderful--people were very friendly.”

What’s next? After all, no one has yet pushed a lawn mower across the country.

“No more across-the-country stuff,” he said. “I’m going to drive the mower home and maybe make a museum for it.”

“I think people would be interested in seeing all the engines and parts,” his wife said.