Intro to this message board

[Brian]

This is the latest page introducing the Montrose Peace Vigil message board to first time visitors. Guests are welcome to reply to any thread or create a new one -- you do not have to log in or register to post on this site.

An amateur video captured the Peace Train in the 2014 parade.

Every Friday for almost 11 years, we've stood on the corner of Ocean View Boulevard and Honolulu Avenue in Montrose, California from 5:30 to 7 p.m., demonstrating for peace as people walk and drive by us.  For the past six Decembers, we've marched down Honolulu with our custom built Peace Train while everybody stands or sits, watching us and the other participants in the Montrose Christmas Parade.

The 2016 parade will happen Saturday evening, December 3.  Click on the link below -- our 7th annual thread about the Peace Train -- for the rest of the year as we add posts reminiscing about past parades, planning this one and then reporting about our march afterwards, sharing photos and, hopefully, new videos too:

montrosepeacevigil.proboards.com/thread/582/peace-train-montrose-christmas-parade

[Brian]

From left: Jim, Bruce and Brian, as seen at the Montrose Peace Vigil on September 23, 2016.

The best way to keep up with the latest posts on the Montrose Peace Vigil message board: Bookmark the link below and check back weekly, at least. It's the only place where ten posts from different threads are displayed, with the most recent post first.  From there, you can click on the blue titles on top of each post to see the entire topic.

montrosepeacevigil.proboards.com/posts/recent

[Brian]

Some of the regulars who demonstrated at the Montrose Peace Vigil on October 28, 2016.

As the administrators of the Montrose Peace Vigil message board, Anni and I appreciate everybody who registers here.  Well, almost everybody.  Spammers flock to message boards like this, so we had to set up an approval process in 2013 to save us a lot of time and trouble removing them.  After you register, you might have to wait up to 12 hours, but often we are able to approve registrations within minutes.  You will receive an automated notification via e-mail to please come back and Log In.

A reminder to everyone visiting: Guests are allowed to Reply in any thread -- or to Create Topic in the six department indexes listed on the homepage -- without having to register.  For some reason, spammers don't post as guests anymore.  If they post spam, we delete it with two clicks.  Anni and I only censor spam, so feel free to add your thoughts or questions.

[Brian]

Six of the 17 peaceniks at the Montrose Peace Vigil on November 25, 2016.

The election may prove bad for the country, but it was great for turnout on the corner throughout November. Many of the new sign holders expressed a need to get out and do something. We averaged 18 participants per week, 50 percent more than our usual attendance of about a dozen.

Anni posts photos sometimes and I write brief reports every week in the monthly vigil threads that are listed here in the Montrose Peace Vigil Activities department, also accessible from the homepage:

montrosepeacevigil.proboards.com/board/2/montrose-peace-vigil-activities

As you can see on the first page of that index, the vigil threads (or Subjects) have become much more popular lately, including three months in a row with more than 440 views each. By contrast, the monthly threads last spring currently average only about 170 views each.

[Brian]

October 2007: Members of Montrose Peace Vigil at an antiwar march and rally in downtown Los Angeles.

Nobody could have known in January 2006 when Roberta took a stand against the war in Iraq by herself at the intersection of Ocean View Boulevard and Honolulu Avenue in Montrose, California -- Nancy was the first to join her minutes later -- that so many people would keep showing up to advertise for peace every week since. Over the past several years, Montrose Peace Vigil has consistently averaged a dozen participants each Friday.

This month in this new year, the wars still go on -- and Montrose Peace Vigil will begin our 12th year of uninterrupted vigils. If you cannot join us on the corner from 5:30 to 7 p.m., you are welcome to post on this message board, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

December 2016: Montrose Peace Vigil marked the 10th anniversary of the Healthcare Not Warfare campaign.

[Brian]

Members of Montrose Peace Vigil with grass under their feet again on January 27, 2017.

In December, the city replanted grass in Montrose Shopping Park after trying three drought resistant landscaping schemes since the old grass was allowed to die in the spring of 2015.  To see the previous installation, scroll up this page to my photo on November 25. For months, we had to line up on the dichondra strip next to the curb so we wouldn't harm the plants.  Now, we are still spread out on the big wide corner of Ocean View Boulevard and Honolulu Avenue, including the sidewalks, but more of us can gather again on the mound of earth in the middle to face the people passing in vehicles -- and each other.

For me, the new grass has made it easier to talk while holding my sign, which feels more valuable than ever each passing week as the world's landscape shifts radically.  For 11 years, I have always felt better after attending a Montrose Peace Vigil than I did before I got there.

[Brian]

There's so much to do between Friday's vigils.  Some of those activities are covered in the Policy and Politics section, one of the six departments on the homepage of the Montrose Peace Vigil message board.  Currently on the first page of the index, also linked below, you'll find a Subject that has reports and photos from the march in Hollywood for Measure H to fund programs for the homeless, along with another page evaluating candidates for Los Angeles City Council.  And the monthly "Links to activism" threads offer all kinds of actions, from local meetings to international petitions.  Go ahead and click on Reply to add your news and views in any thread -- or create a thread of your own.

montrosepeacevigil.proboards.com/board/4/policy-politics

[Brian]

We posted two Pentagon death announcements at the Montrose Peace Vigil on March 24, 2017.

Mike started the tradition of printing the Department of Defense news releases and posting them on the corner in October 2011.  He wanted to honor those who died in Afghanistan for at least 90 minutes each week, not far from the brass plaques naming local soldiers who gave their lives in the Vietnam War.  Anni and I still monitor the official DoD website for Casualty Releases:

www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases

After we display the news releases during the vigils, I post links to them in the monthly vigil threads in the Montrose Peace Vigil Activities section of this message board.  Besides Afghanistan, we're seeing more U.S. military casualties in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

Back in March 2012, we taped the death announcements on the flagpole in the Vietnam War memorial.

[Brian]

Jeanne, Roberta and Jim at the Montrose Peace Vigil on April 28, 2017.

In April. the vigils averaged 15 demonstrators each Friday.

The corner feels different lately. It's been months since somebody asked what wars we are protesting. More pedestrians are speaking up to express support and agreement, and more are stopping to talk.  Long time regulars are noticing more honks, waves, peace signs and thumbs up from the passing vehicles. And we're getting more spontaneous participants holding signs than we did before the election last November.

[Brian]

Young Hyke, pictured at right, demonstrates at the Montrose Peace Vigil on May 26, 2017.

This post marks the end of another introductory page.  I start these threads every ten months or so in the "Welcome to Montrose Peace Vigil!" section on top of the homepage.  That way, the message board always offers an overview of our recent activities for first time visitors.

It's easy to see all posts as they're added to the message board, since we average less than ten new ones per week.  Open the link below and check back every few days. It's the only place  where the ten latest posts from different threads are displayed on one page -- with the most recent post first.  If you want to read more about a topic, click on the blue title of the post to open the entire thread.

montrosepeacevigil.proboards.com/posts/recent