Vigils in July 2013

[Brian]

Most of the people on the street this holiday weekend appear to be vigil participants.

This Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil had 17 participants, thanks to the return of Edmond and Jenny along with daughters Erin and Grace. They brought with them another young family, who also held signs for more than half an hour -- instantly doubling our turnout on the corner while lowering our median age a few decades. Everybody got enthusiastic honks and waves from the light holiday traffic, and many thanks and comments from the relatively few pedestrians passing by. By the way, the weather was perfect.

Next Friday, July 12, when it could be a lot warmer, Montrose Peace Vigil will offer free lemonade in honor of Bradley Manning. Nicole is making the lemonade -- it was her idea -- and Anni is donating the ice and cups. Roberta will bring a folding table and donation jar for anyone who cares to contribute. All proceeds will be sent to the Bradley Manning Support Network.

Every week since October 2011, we have posted compilations of the Defense Department's news releases of the deaths of military personnel in Afghanistan during our vigils. In the past seven days, three more deaths were reported. You can register on this message board and log in to download a PDF of our post:

Attachments:

[Brian]

Although the lemonade did not show up, we had the table, cups, ice, three kinds of sparkling citrus water, cookies and Jeanne's phenomenal lemon bars on the corner for this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil in honor of Bradley Manning. We raised $108 to mail to Courage to Resist's Bradley Manning Support Network.

With the return of Jenny and her girls after dance class, turnout was strong again this week -- 15 people, ages 7 to 70, demonstrating for peace, the environment and Bradley. Anni will post a group photo soon.

The Defense Department reported one death in Afghanistan in the past week. Logged in message board members can download the PDF attachment of this page that we posted throughout the vigil:

Attachments:

[anni]

Jul 12, 2013 23:30:34 GMT -8 Brian said:

Anni will post a group photo soon.

As promised...a most adorable picture (missing Jeanne, Louisa and Anni, the photographer)

[Brian]

We missed Roberta -- all 18 of us on the corner -- at this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil. She's on vacation, but Mike was back from his. Most of the regulars showed up in good weather, neither as hot nor as humid as predicted a few days ago. Edmond, Jenny, Grace and Erin were back, as were irregulars Mark, Norm and Pearl. I also have to count the elementary school age girl who picked up the Bradley Manning signboard to display while waiting for the crosswalk light to turn green, getting a smile from her mom and cheers from us.

During the vigil, we posted a printout of the two-page PDF attached below -- this week's Pentagon death announcements followed by the Army's just released May suicide data:

Attachments:

[Roberta]

Hi all, I missed you too. Here we were in Amsterdam for several days:

www.sandton.eu/nl/amsterdam/

Yesterday we took a tram, train, plane, train, train and taxi and now are in our friends' apartment in Florence. More later!

[Brian]

I've been holding the big Free Bradley Manning banner every week since the end of April, but I do not remember anybody stopping to ask, "Who is Bradley Manning?" Twice at this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil, I was approached by curious teenage boys. At the end of the vigil, a man closer to my age came up to say that although he didn't think Bradley should be free, Bradley certainly has been treated horribly and unlawfully in custody. He concluded by thanking us for being on the corner and speaking out.

With Jeanne and Roberta on vacation and several other stalwarts absent, we had only seven regulars plus Mark, who's becoming a regular again. The participation totals for each vigil in July:

• July 5 - 17
  
• July 12 - 15
  
• July 19 - 18
  
• July 26 - 8
  

Rounding to the nearest whole peacenik, the vigils averaged 15 participants per week this month -- the same as June -- compared to 11 in May, 13 in April and 12 each in March, February and January this year. In July 2012, the corner averaged 10 demonstrators per vigil.

Attached below is the PDF that we posted of the deaths announced by the Defense Department this week:

Attachments:

[Roberta]

Yesterday I wore the vigil t-shirt all day throughout the Uffizi:

www.uffizi.org/

and again today as we take a bus trip out into the country-side to try to find Machiavelli's farm.

This past week we took a side-trip to this beautiful area:

www.cinqueterre.it/info.php

Thinking of you all!

[Jeanne]

Thanks for the report, Roberta. Hope all that beauty gives you comfort for the Baseball Blues. I hope the other museum visitors recognized that you are a beauty, especially in that shirt and that you are definitely not an object.

[Jeanne]

Alas, I will need to miss another week. I am back in town but have a faculty dinner and then an opening of the Faculty Show in the gallery at Creative Arts Group in Sierra Madre where we make the bowls.

My pieces in the show are communicating peace, I think. There are some peace mugs and a small gargoyle inspired statue of a poodle wearing a collar with peace symbols on it throwing a bowl on the wheel. It is called "Peace Potter Poodle."

I'll see some of you on Sunday at the bowl workshop. Thanks for standing for peace.

[Roberta]

Jul 31, 2013 12:50:54 GMT -8 Jeanne said:

Thanks for the report, Roberta. Hope all that beauty gives you comfort for the Baseball Blues. I hope the other museum visitors recognized that you are a beauty, especially in that shirt and that you are definitely not an object.

On our quick bus trip from the airport to the train station I was very curious about some beautiful, or at least cute, objects.

Then even more of them all over the place when we arrived by train into Trier.

Of course there is a website explaining it all:

www.elephantparade.com/trier-luxembourg/de/startseite/