War, Costly... Peace, priceless

Dear Friends,

There were 12 of us gathered to vigil, including two women from the Duxbury Vigil who joined us after completing their own, which runs from 11 to 12, Saturdays, in the area of the Post Office in Hall's Corners. They invite us to join them, any time, before our vigil. Some of us are planning to attend their next First Friday Peace Potluck at the Duxbury Unitarian Church in February. More details later.

After our vigil we had some very good conversations and meetings of the mind. Some of us adjourned to the Bella Piazza, (the nice little Irish-Italian restaurant whose owner has welcomed us before) to continue the dialogue on our aims and methods. The three of our members most in favor of a "stronger" message were present and agreed to temper their signs. Sharyn Bessie participated in the Vigil today with a beautiful new sign reading "War, Costly....Peace, priceless". Would that governments could negotiate as peacefully!!

All in all. it was a nice, productive day. Our friend from "Support the Troops" was at his station.

Hope the weather is as favorable next week. See you then.

Ted

Vigil Report, January 21, 2006

Dear Friends,

We had 14 vigilers out on a mild, but blustery day. Our ranks included a mother with her two year old, who happily wore her own little peace symbol, two new members, and also three members of the Duxbury Vigil group, who came down to join us. Would those of you who have contact with them please forward our thanks and appreciation.

All went well, and reaction was overwhelmingly positive and supportive, with only three hecklers that I saw. Support the Troops group had one man at the Post Office.
He is always there and we respect his dedication to his cause.

Thanks to all of you who turned out. We hope the weather will continue to favor us. If any of you who can't make it on Saturday have managed to find another group, please let us all know about it, to spread the good news.

Hope to see you next week,

Ted

Vigil to present Sunday Service at First Parish Church

Dear Vigil Members -

It is confirmed that the Plymouth Vigil for Peace is invited to present the Sunday service on February 26, 2006 at l0 AM at First Parish Church in Plymouth. It will feature the reading by Ted Curtin of Dr. Howard Zinn's essay "After This War".

We hope that as many of our members as possible will attend the service, and invite others as well.

We will need volunteers to assist in the following ways:

l) Four women to present petitions on behalf of Women Say No to War, in
their effort to obtain 100,000 signatures by International Women's Day
on March 8, 2006, when US and Iraqi women will deliver the signatures
to leaders in Washington DC and women around the world will deliver
them to US embassies. This will be done during the fellowship period
following the service. Perhaps Heidi can provide us with pink peace pins
for these women to wear.

2) A creative person or persons to make a banner to hang on the lectern in
the church....to read, simply, "PEACE".

The church has a small but marvelous choir which will offer appropriate music and the congregation will sing "Gonna Lay Down my Sword and Shield".

We are grateful to Rev. Sarah Clark and the First Parish congregation for inviting us to present this service in their Sanctuary.

PEACE
Ted

Vigil Report, January 6, 2006

Dear Friends,

Ten of us turned out on a beautiful, clear, but cold noontime for our first vigil of 2006. Thanks to all of you, including a few new members! Hope we see more of you in the weeks to come. Saturday noon seems a very good time for us - increased visibility, more traffic, and some sun to warm our chilled bones.

We are truly sorry that Saturday is not a good day for several of you regulars. Perhaps, as some have suggested, you might band with others in the same situation to keep vigiling at another time and day. Contact like spirits via the group address.

The response was overwhelmingly positive, with many waves, toots, peace signs and thumbs-up signals. Only two hecklers, both young men referring to 9/11. A veteran rolled down his window to state his agreement, and a son of a recently returned Iraq veteran told us his whole family agreed with us. "Support our Troops" had one man at the post Office corner.

Comments received from members about:
1. The nature of our signs - should they be more apolitical, stressing peace, steering away from confrontational statements that might invite heckling?
2. The quiet nature of our vigil - some think we should talk and provide information.

All of you are invited to comment and discuss these questions.

Irene Caldwell attended the Peace and Justice potluck meeting at Duxbury last night, and plans to make a report to all vigilers about ideas advanced and discussed there. Sounds interesting.

Hope we see you at noon next Saturday Jan. 13.

Ted