Between the giant pigs and the free ice cream, people were bound to learn something about federal budget reform.

On Tuesday, June 6, PrioritiesNH sponsored an ice cream social at The Pearl in Portsmouth. Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s, and Larry Korb, former assistant secretary of defense for President Reagan, addressed the need to reevaluate how the federal government is spending its discretionary budget, specifically in regard to Pentagon spending. Close to 200 people attended and sampled different flavors of Ben & Jerry’s, including Chunky Monkey and Phish Food.

“We’re here to educate and engage New Hampshire’s citizens,” said Steve Varnum, the campaign director for PrioritiesNH. “The ice cream gets people to the party.”

PrioritiesNH hopes to redistribute $60 billion from the Pentagon budget that Korb and others have identified as completely unnecessary funding for outdated weaponry.

“We’re still building weapons designed to defeat the former Soviet Union,” said Cohen.

PrioritiesNH hopes increased awareness on the part of voters and increased pressure on elected officials would put this $60 billion to use funding other programs, such as education, health care, international aid and job training.

PrioritiesNH is a project of Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities, founded by Cohen.

Outside the meeting, the Leftist Marching Band performed, and people were able to try their hand at the High Striker, a carnival-style game that tries to make clear the priorities of the federal budget. There were also three big pigs in attendance.

“I’ve basically stopped everything else in my life for the past two weeks,” said Kit Clews of Portsmouth, who has been driving the PrioritiesNH pig-mobile around the Seacoast, recently making an appearance at the State Democratic Convention in Manchester. The pig-mobile is two piggy bank trailers and one piggy bank van. The largest pig represents the Pentagon budget; the second pig represents the $34 billion spent on education for grades K-12; and the smallest pig represents the $10 billion spent on international aid.

The pigs were not built to scale, but even still, “since the pigs were made, the Pentagon budget has gone up,” Clews said. “The other two pigs would have to be even smaller.” After making appearances in Manchester and Concord this week, people can expect to see the pig-mobile cruising the Seacoast, driven by other PrioritiesNH volunteers.

Varnum felt the event was a success.

“We got a lot of people who are enthusiastic about our issue to turn out. Afterwards, a lot of people came up to me and said, ‘All right, you’ve got us. What now?’” Sixty-five new members have joined PrioritiesNH since the event.

PrioritiesNH does not have any definite plans at present, but hopes those interested in shifting federal budget priorities will take a degree of initiative.

“With elections coming up in the fall, we’re asking people to get out and start bird-dogging the candidates, and ask them very specific questions about their priorities on the budget.”

Varnum also hopes those who wish to get involved will help recruit community business leaders to PrioritiesNH’s cause.

“They’re the public messengers,” said Varnum of business leaders’ role in the project. “They can explain why this is important from a business-oriented perspective.”

PrioritiesNH has no upcoming events planned, but Varnum expects the fall will be busy. Appearances by Ted Turner and Jim Hightower are in the works, as is a possible federal spending priorities discussion featuring experts from around the state. Check www.PrioritiesNH.org for more information.