November vigils 2012

[Brian]

We missed Roberta on the corner for this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil -- not just because her presence would have given us a lucky 13 total participants -- but the festival in Colorado looks like a hoot online in the link she posted elsewhere. For Roberta, here's the roster in order of appearance:

• Anni
  
• Jeanne
  
• three teenagers
  
• Nancy
  
• Brian
  
• Bruce
  
• Terry
  
• Jim
  
• Nick
  
• Louisa
  

Anni arrived with Roberta's sign bag before 5:30, and Jeanne soon joined her. Nancy, two girls and a boy on skateboards and I showed up simultaneously around 6. The kids hoisted signs for half an hour. Jim's son Nick held a candle while waiting for a pizza. Sometimes, we could hear a band playing down the block for the third week in a row to promote the shopping park.

Since October 2011, we have compiled, printed and posted every one of the Pentagon's press releases announcing each week's military deaths at www.defense.gov/releases during our vigils. Everyone is welcome to register and log in on the board to view this PDF attachment:

Attachments:

[Sharon W]

Henry and Nancy were at Broadway & Brand when I drove up to park about 5:30 and Varaz had joined them by the time I got to the corner. Moe joined us shortly before 7 for a total of 5. One lady stopped by to chat but she didn't hold a sign so I guess she didn't count. We directed a lost shopper over to the Target store too!

[Brian]

Although it didn't rain as predicted, nine stalwarts were cold at this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil. Yet the traffic on the sidewalks and streets was just as brisk. Even the counter protesters returned after a six-week absence, although they left 20 minutes before we did. Almost everybody seemed to feel good after the election -- and perhaps the shopping park association's autumn promotion is drawing more people.

Before I got to the corner, two 17-year-old pedestrians stopped in all earnestness to ask: Where was the war that we were protesting? Roberta and Anni told them about Afghanistan and showed them our weekly posting of the death announcements by the Department of Defense:

Attachments:

[Sharon W]

It was just Henry, Nancy, Bill and me at Broadway & Brand last night and we left half an hour early due to the extreme cold (for So Cal) and a lack of pedestrians. With the early darkness it's hard to see if the people in cars are looking our way - makes it more difficult to get eye contact and positive responses.

[anni]

We've also noticed the light traffic (if almost non-existant) after 6:30pm. I prefer candles to signs in the darker seasons. It's appropriate to our Vigil cause and it looks better/warmer to passers by. Also "highlights" our thoughts for the fallen soldiers.

[Brian]

Because of my job, I miss half of the 90 minutes that the Montrose Peace Vigil occupies on Fridays, yet every week it seems, somebody walking by asks me about our purpose on the corner. After nearly seven years, at least we've become approachable. Despite the clear messages on our signs, some seem perplexed that obvious lefties like us are opposing Obama because of his war policies. Many more ask about the counter protesters: Have they given up? And what had they been protesting anyway?

This week, a couple stopped to thank us for being there every Friday. The wife had held a sign with Montrose Peace Vigil circa 2008. The husband had gone to high school with one of the men named on a plaque on the nearby Vietnam War memorial, a hippie who got drafted but spoke out against the war until he could not speak anymore. He said that his friend would be standing with us too if he had lived.

All of the honks from the passing cars, trucks and buses were for the nine of us, since no counter protesters showed. Anni posted this week's Defense Department announcements of four deaths in Afghanistan along with the Army's monthly suicide report, as seen in this PDF attachment:

Attachments:

[Sharon W]

It was just Nancy, Henry, Bill and me again this week. Henry was handing out information about the crisis in Israel/Gaza but we left Broadway & Brand early, around 6:30 pm, due to rain.

[Brian]

Glendale Peace Vigil starts half an hour before Montrose Peace Vigil every Friday. Since I had the day off, Anni and I were able to be on the corner of Brand and Broadway in Glendale at 5. A young woman stopped to ask me how long we had been there opposing war. Speaking for the Glendale stalwarts and knowing their history, I told her 2002. She thanked me, saying the public still obviously needs reminding a decade later. The real appreciation goes to Henry, Nancy, Bill and Sharon, the Glendale Peace Vigil contingent on hand when we drove north to join Montrose Peace Vigil for an hour.

The shopping park association blocked off Honolulu Avenue at our intersection for a Christmas concert that attracted hundreds of pedestrians and restricted the vehicle traffic on the streets. Great weather and good spirits led to many more interesting conversations with strangers. Montrose Peace Vigil had a nice turnout too. The number of participants at Ocean View and Honolulu so far this month:

• Nov. 2 - 12
  
• Nov. 9 - 9
  
• Nov. 16 - 9
  
• Nov. 23 - 12
  

As always, we posted our weekly compilation of the Department of Defense's death announcements:

Attachments:

[Sharon W]

Thanks for boosting our numbers, Anni and Brian! There were a lot of shoppers going by and Henry ran out of his handout on Israel/Gaza and had to start distributing his back up material. Nice warm evening to work to end wars.

[Brian]

The rain from a weeklong series of storms bypassed the Montrose Peace Vigil this Friday, and we're hoping that continues Saturday when we march the Peace Train along with Glendale Peace Vigil for the third time in the Montrose Christmas Parade. The humidity is keeping the temperatures relatively comfortable, so lots of folks were out driving, walking and maybe even shopping. This month, we were joined by four spontaneous participants, all of them on Nov. 2. So thanks to our many stalwarts, friends, relatives and semi-regulars who came to the corner -- some of them every week:

• Nov. 2 - 12
  
• Nov. 9 - 9
  
• Nov. 16 - 9
  
• Nov. 23 - 12
  
• Nov. 30 - 11
  

November's average weekly attendance rounds to 11 participants, the same as October but one more person than in September, August and July 2012, when the average was 10. In November of both 2011 and 2010, it was 12.

Our printout of the past week's death announcements by the Department of Defense was damp when I removed it from the light pole at the end of the vigil. Here is a perfectly dry digital attachment:

Attachments: