As they made their way across the muddy path to the billboard this morning, several NC Tea members held flags in both hands so motorists on southbound Interstate 95 could see them.

A honk of the horn acknowledged the flags were seen. “It means they think the same thing. It says I love America,” said Pat Croisetiere, coordinator of the Roanoke Valley Tea Party Patriots and a member of the NC Tea Billboard Committee.

The focus of the trek, however, was to show off the new billboard, which northbound motorists near Enfield can see.

The billboard doesn’t promote a candidate but it does send a message asking Americans to vote and reclaim America. “It means we’ve had enough of big government and regulations. Taxes are out of control,” said Carol Wheeldon, chair of the billboard committee.

Waiting for a motorist to come by.

There are 15 billboards throughout the state, she said, and two mobiles, one which will be used in Charlotte during the Democratic National Convention and one in Raleigh for the University Sports Games.

Conservative in their politics, the group is working to return the state and nation back to the Constitution, Wheeldon said. “It’s been happening for years,” she said of the shift, probably dating as far back as Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt. “If you look in college textbooks, you won’t see much about the founding fathers or the Constitution.”

Dee Parks said NC Tea raised $60,000 for the billboards. Wheedlon, she said, drove more than 5,000 miles just to scope the perfect sites for the signs. “We were that dedicated to finding the best places to put them.”