People for Peace, Justice and Healing met September 24, 2005 at Assciated Ministries at 10:00 a.m. Present for check-in were Kyle, Colleen, Sheila, Katherine, Vivi, Karen, Mark, Sallie, and Scott. Discussion of march from Olympia to Ft. Lewis peace march on September 23 and newspaper article.

AGENDA

Conversation Cafe: Karen
Karen gave a brief review of Tuesday night's meeting -- attended by about eight people -- who discussed "what they loved about America." The Bill of Rights made a good showing as something Americans like about their country. Karen K. handed out sheets for people to indicate their interest in facilitating a C/C and quite a few people indicated an interest in doing so. Next Tuesday's question: "How can things be going so wrong with so many good people around?" There was a discussion of possible questions -- such as emergency funding -- arising from our recent natural disasters i.e. Hurricanes. C/C meets Tuesday evenings, 7:00 p.m. at the Mandolin Cafe just 3923 South 12th St..

There was also some discussion about sponsoring an event in (possibly) November that might, for instance, discuss preparation for natural (or other) "disasters." Tabled for future discussion.

Bill of Rights Day Celebration: Colleen
Colleen is leaving the country and Heather and Karen will organize the program for Bill of Rights Day to be celebrated at the History Museum auditorium on Thursday, December 15th as it has been for the last three years. Co-sponsors are the Bill of Rights Defense Committee and ACLU. Colleen and Karen met with Genevieve of ACLU and The Rebel Voices a singing-story telling group from Seattle will be part of the program which includes a public reading of the Bill of Rights. The working group welcomes people to help with distribution of event materials, co-hosting of the ACLU-Bill of Rights information table and choosing a speaker or panel of speakers. Sheila (with PJH members concurring) indicated an interest in hearing about "the relevance and importance of the Supreme Court to our ordinary life" and Sallie promised to contact two lawyers as possible speakers. Contact Karen at karenh@harborview.com if you are interested in helping.

Peace Marathon -- November 18 and 19: Sallie
Lucas Smiraldo called Sallie and asked if we were interested in sponsoring a 2- to 3-hour spoken word event during this Marathon which will take place at Mario and Frances Lorenz's Center for Spiritual Living on North Jay Street starting at 6:00 p.m. on November 18 and running through to 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 19th. We will do a vigil during their opening hours on Friday, the 18th. People who indicated an interest in appearing with the program were Sheila, Mark, Karen. Other names were mentioned as potential "entertainment" and will be contacted.

Counter Recruitment: Sallie
The group will be hitting the schools this week -- Tuesday at Stadium -- to host a table with brochures and information about alternatives to military service. The deadline for parents to submit forms indicating to the schools to NOT automatically submit their children's names as potential fodder, oops, contacts for recruitment is September 30. Karen asked if we will have the forms to hand out and Sallie will contact the schools and try to get the forms for the Counter Recruitment table. Sallie needs more volunteers for this event. Recruiters hit some schools as many as eleven times a month. If you can host a table at noon in one of the high schools contact Sallie at Associated Ministries. We are especially looking for college students to volunteer.

Citizen's Oversight Committee: Colleen
Colleen feels that going forward with the establishment of this committee is at a key turning point. PAWG position is helped by the inclusion in the cities settlement of the Brame family law suit by the cities' agreement to establish a citizen's oversight committee.

Chris Hedges: Sallie and Mark
Mark's Monday night UFPPC reading group will read Hedges book, Was Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning before Hedges's appearance on October 13 at UPS. Mark's group meets Monday night, Oct. 10, at 7:00 p.m. at the Mandolin Cafe, 3923 S. 12th St. Hedges, a New York Times reporter wrote the book after serving as a reporter in Bosnia. The event at Schneebeck Hall on the campus of the University of Puget Sound is at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 13th, and is free.

Fundraiser: Sallie
Tom Rawson will headline a fundraising event to benefit the Interfaith Camp, to be held Summer 2006, at the Antique Sandwich Shop on November 5, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for this event will be available next week.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Project Linus: This event, sponsored by Starbucks, is a blanket-making event for children at Mary Bridge Hospital. If you can tie a knot, says Starbucks, you can help make blankets. Events are held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. and feature lively music, tasty treats and drinks while making blankets on the following dates at the following locations: Oct. 3 -- Rainier Pacific -- 15th and Commerce; Oct. 4 -- UW Tacoma by the UW bookstore on Pacific; Oct 5. -- Old Town -- N. 30th; Oct. 6 -- Proctor -- 26th and Proctor; Oct. 7 -- Key Bank -- 9th & Pacific; Oct. 8 -- 6th & Pine; Oct. 9 -- Westgate -- 26th & Pearl; Oct. 10 -- Lincoln Plaza -- 38th St.; Oct. 11th -- Tacoma Mall.

Meeting concluded for members attending Peace Rally, Westlake Mall, Seattle.

Respectfully,
Karen