Vigils in September

[Brian]

Fifteen is a good number. The first vigil of September beat our average attendance on the corner since I started keeping track ten months ago. Maybe later this weekend I'll write about how great last night's gathering was and why. I'll start this thread with statistics.

I ran the first weekly vigil turnout on this message board on the Friday after Obama was elected. Needing a standard, I count anyone who holds a sign or a flag or plays a musical instrument. Twice I included folks who laid or sat on our air mattress when we paid tribute John and Yoko's Bed-Ins. These are the monthly averages:

• Nov. - 16.5
  
• Dec. - 13.6
  
• Jan. - 14.0
  
• Feb. - 14.5
  
• Mar. - 15.2
  
• Apr. - 12.4
  
• May - 16.2
  
• June - 14.5
  
• July - 14.3
  
• Aug. - 11.5
  

The average attendance is 14.3. But it certainly looked like more when you take into account all the people of goodwill who stopped to talk with us for a minute or even an hour -- appearing to be part of the vigils to anyone passing by.

[Brian]

I was going to write another screed about last Friday -- among the topics, wondering why the teenagers no longer join in yet we're seeing so many kids closer to kindergarten age -- but there's way too much of me already in this thread.

I'd rather be part of a discussion, if anyone else is interested, about our vigils: past, present and future. Maybe there is a critical mass for another Curveball proposed by Bruce recently. I forgot to ask Roberta about that or a special banner hanging the last time we spoke.

The board is available 24 hours a day. If you cannot make it to the corner, and you have Internet access, why not at least show up here? Let us talk.

[Roberta]

About the big peace banners, Bruce, Jeanne and I are the current regulars and Monday or Tuesday after work on the footbridge just east of the Alta Canada overpass is our regular haunt. (During school breaks we have been known to show up in the morning, but that doesn't work when Jeanne's school starts, which is real soon.)

So it is today at 5:30 pm, and our reasoning was to catch the heavy end of holiday weekend traffic.

Join us -- it is fun!

A "curve ball" would be great, I myself haven't heard any interest expressed, but that doesn't mean it hasn't been.

[Jeanne]

"I was going to write another screed about last Friday -- among the topics, wondering why the teenagers no longer join in yet we're seeing so many kids closer to kindergarten age -- but there's way too much of me already in this thread," said Brian

I think we can thank Paige for the presence of the wee ones. Some of those kids are enrolled in or "graduates" of the church preschool and think it's really cool to hang out and hold a sign just like Pastor Paige. It's great to see.

As for the teens? Good question. Do you think that they may be subject to the Obama dilemma? By that, I mean, they like him, so they don't want to protest.

[Brian]

Anni and I really enjoyed hanging out with Roberta, Bruce and Jeanne on the freeway overpass for Monday's banner display. Thanks for telling us about it, Roberta!

Sept 7, 2009 19:27:06 GMT -8 Jeanne said:

I think we can thank Paige for the presence of the wee ones. Some of those kids are enrolled in or "graduates" of the church preschool and think it's really cool to hang out and hold a sign just like Pastor Paige. It's great to see.

As for the teens? Good question. Do you think that they may be subject to the Obama dilemma? By that, I mean, they like him, so they don't want to protest.

The little kids are absolutely delightful. I have to wonder whether the teenagers -- who were frequent and enthusiastic most Fridays from the election until summer vacation started -- like Obama more now than they did last June. Let's see if they come back to the corner this fall. Their participation in the vigils might have been linked to adolescent frozen yogurt-eating patterns during the school year.

Anyway, I've been interested in doing something special after Roberta returns -- how about a post-vigil dinner on Friday, Sept. 25? Anybody else? If so, I could take names during the next two vigils and call some others who don't show up to give Roberta a good count for reserving the patio at Gourmet-a-Go-Go.

[anni]

Sept 7, 2009 23:19:29 GMT -8 Brian said:

Anyway, I've been interested in doing something special after Roberta returns -- how about a post-vigil dinner on Friday, Sept. 25? Anybody else? If so, I could take names during the next two vigils and call some others who don't show up to give Roberta a good count for reserving the patio at Gourmet-a-Go-Go.

I know this goes without saying, but I'm gonna say it anni-hoo; count me in, color me there!!!

[Roberta]

I'm in for a meal after the vigil on the 25th, thanks for suggesting Brian. I'm pretty much permanently in for a meal if another date turns out to be better!

The teenagers do seem to pop up on their own circadian rhythm don't they? I agree that school being back in session will help.

My take is to be thrilled and grateful that we are continuing to be a presence. Our numbers may be down currently, but the number and quality of conversations seem to be up.

Many, many thanks for carrying on while I'm out of town the next 2 Fridays, especially to Brian and Anni for bringing the signs, or whomever they may manage to fob it off on ;-)

[Jeanne]

I'm in for dinner, too.

I agree with Roberta, that our presence has endured and level of discussion improved.

[Brian]

Anni will be on the corner this hot-but-not-unbearable Friday evening by 5:30 with Roberta's exquisite bag of signs and a handful of flyers for the fundraiser this Saturday for the folks who used to live in Vogel Flats. For those far from our beloved foothills of Angeles National Forest, the fire that only threatened some of us in La Canada, La Crescenta, Glendale and Tujunga is still burning slowly deep in the canyons to the north and east, now 70 percent contained.

Sept 9, 2009 16:13:34 GMT -8 Jeanne said:

I'm in for dinner, too.

I agree with Roberta, that our presence has endured and level of discussion improved.

We have four confirmed for dinner at Gourmet-a-Go-Go after the vigil on Friday, Sept. 25 -- already, you know it's going to be great.

Jeanne said it best, and succinctly. While fewer people show up on the corner overall, I'm enjoying myself more every week talking with vigil stalwarts, one-time participants and pedestrians. Even the drive-by exchanges can be inspiring. How many times has someone stayed to talk after first telling me that he or she has seen us every Friday for almost five years? That I can't count.

Numbers alone do not concern me. I still read about these two wars. After the election, several of us agreed that even if Obama kept his early campaign promise to withdraw troops from Iraq within 18 months, we would still show up to stand for peace. With the poll numbers against having our troops in Afghanistan escalating along with the casualties and the cost -- human, budgetary and karmic -- I want to believe that more people will return to protest. And more often.

[Sharon W]

The Glendale Peace Vigil is sometimes only 4 or 5 people but it still makes an impact, I think.

You may get a visitor one of these Fridays: I suggested to Robin Goldsworthy that she come meet the vigilers if she was looking for a progressive voice for her new Crescenta Valley Weekly. www.crescentavalleyweekly.com/

She's the former editor of the recently closed LA Times Community Newspaper, the Crescenta Valley Sun, who launched her own paper last week.

Bill and I may join you for dinner on Sept 25th, too - after our vigil we sometimes go to dinner in Montrose or La Canada with another GPV member who lives in La Crescenta.