Vigils in May 2020

[Brian]

The day before this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil, Los Angeles County entered the yellow tier, the least restrictive pandemic category, meaning that most businesses can now operate at half their maximum capacity.  Foot and wheel traffic at the intersection of Ocean View Boulevard and Honolulu Avenue has been close to the pre-pandemic normal for weeks.  I didn't expect to see more people out this Friday after the doubling of indoor capacity because few restaurants ever filled up in the before times, and many stores in Montrose have always closed at 6 p.m.  I have to wonder if the popular restaurants in the next block would have been able to fill every table anyway as long as there are people like Anni and me who aren't ready to chance it yet.  That said, we miss Portobello's, which survived the pandemic.

Eleven regulars participated this week, including Mike, fully vaccinated and back on the corner for the first time since March 2020.  Mike was such a welcome sight that everybody recognized him immediately despite his mask, sunglasses and hat.

Since October 2011, we have printed and displayed every Defense Department news release announcing the deaths of soldiers, sailors and airmen in our many ongoing military operations. The Pentagon reported no uniformed U.S. casualties in the previous seven days.

[Roberta]

I think Jeanne’s tottlin’ choo-choo would make a lovely addition to the logos, should I register us?

glendalepeacewalk.wordpress.com/register-your-organization/

[Brian]

That sounds great, Roberta!  For background, here's the Glendale Peace Walk webpage with the logos by sponsoring organizations on the bottom and details about the May 23 event in between:

glendalepeacewalk.wordpress.com/

[Roberta]

I registered us and will see about an actual logo, using vigil name and Jeanne’s artwork. I trust all have noticed at the website that registering means we commit to coming to the peace walk, Sunday May 23rd, 1:30pm, starting at the Glendale YWCA, 735 E. Lexington.

[Brian]

As the pandemic recedes, we're having more great conversations with passing pedestrians who want to stop and talk.  A year ago, the sidewalks were often empty in every direction.  This January, when the hospitals were full, people rushed by with a quick word or wave.  The nice weather at this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil resulted in more rolled down windows, so we had brief shoutouts with drivers.  Except for the guy who shouted "Biden is senile," all were positive and supportive.  I thought he said "Brian is senile" but Bruce and Anni corrected me.  I'd say Brian is getting hard of hearing.

Eight regulars came to the corner.  Most of the time we split into two groups, not because of social distancing -- which we frankly haven't observed for months -- but to achieve greater visibility.

In the previous seven days, the Department of Defense reported no military deaths in Operation Freedom's Sentinel in Afghanistan, Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria or in any of the many other U.S. operations underway around the world.

[Sharon W]

Sorry we missed joining you last night. An old friend from northern California was visiting and we forgot to let you know we weren't going to make the vigil. I'm definitely hard of hearing, might have to admit to creeping senility too!

[Brian]

It was breezy and cool for this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil, with a temperature of 70 degrees at vigil time.  This week, we had enough participants to spread out with our signs on the three dirt patches and the concrete bench along the wide corner, which contains the Vietnam War memorial.  Jim gets there around 5 p.m. and Roberta's been arriving before Anni and I show up at 5:30, so most of our vigils lately are two hours or longer.

Twelve people participated including Nick, who returned to the vigil after a long absence because he had a job that required him to work late on Friday.  I didn't recognize Nick, perhaps because he wore a mask, sunglasses and a hat or maybe because it's been so long.  I haven't mentioned the names of everybody who attends vigils in my weekly reports, but I ran a search of Nick on the message board to see who popped up.  Could this be the same guy?

Aug 3, 2018 23:00:33 GMT -8 Brian said:

Nick, who remembered us from his job across the street from our vigils at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in 2006-7, stopped to talk for awhile, more than a little surprised that we were still at the intersection of Ocean View Boulevard and Honolulu Avenue.  He now works with developmentally disabled adults while keeping up with social justice issues.

I'll find out the next time Nick visits. I had a wonderful time talking to him about everything from his activism to silent movies.

For the third week in a row, the Pentagon reported no U.S. casualties.

[anni]

Five Montrose Peace Vigil regulars participated in the first annual Martin Luther King Jr. Peace March in Glendale on May 23:

montrosepeacevigil.proboards.com/thread/1217/23-glendale-peace-walk

[Roberta]

Cool picture, thanks for taking/posting Anni! Someone posted others on the YWCA’s FB page, excellent ones of Nancy, Brian and Jim, without masks, which I sent (I hope I sent!) to you on Messenger. Correction ... with masks also.

[Brian]

Katherine Terrien and fans during the Montrose Peace Vigil on May 17, 2019.

After seven months, Katherine Terrien returned to the corner with her guitar and ukulele, singing great cover tunes and her own wonderful songs, at this Friday's Montrose Peace Vigil.  Katherine, who's  been coming to Montrose from the South Bay for more than three years, was voted Best Entertainer by the Crescenta Valley Weekly.  She came back last October after missing eight months because of the pandemic.  Then Covid cases started spiking again, so the city ruled that street performances again weren't allowed.  Katherine kept checking with the city's license bureau until she got the paperwork clearing her to return just three days ago.  With her excellent PA system, she still sounds delightful through a mask.

Vigil attendance has been picking up, thanks to the vaccines.  The average number of participants in May is the highest since August -- and only one peacenik less than our historical average:

• May 7 - 11
• May 14 - 8
• May 21 - 12
• May 28 - 12

This month's weekly average rounds up slightly to 11 participants, after averaging 10 in April, 9 in March, 8 in February, 7 in January and December, 8 in November, 10 in October, 9 in September, 11 in August, 10 in July, 14 in June, and 10 in May 2020. Twelve had been our average attendance for many years before the pandemic.

No U. S. military deaths were reported in the previous seven days.

Every year, the shopping park association has hosted a Memorial Day observance at the Vietnam War memorial on the corner -- but not this year.  Vigil stalwart Bruce attended every ceremony since 1991, including the scaled down observance last May.  Other regulars have participated since Montrose Peace Vigil started there in 2006.  The lack of a ceremony isn't stopping Bruce -- who is a professional horticulturist -- from bringing another basket of living flowers inside a pot of earth to place in tribute to the men who served and died in Vietnam along with a card designed by Jeanne from Montrose Peace Vigil.  Bruce will plant the flowers on the memorial site the next day, as he always does.