Schenectady Neighbors for Peace continues to be a strong activist group with many inspired, hard working members.
Truth in Recruitment
On March 13th, 4 members of our Truth in Recruitment group met with the president of the Schenectady school district’s board of education, another board member, and school lawyer to discuss how best to get our information into the school.
The school agreed to put AFSC and similar literature in the guidance office. There was also discussion about our having a table during career day. Most recently we received an invite to enter the school and present to the students of the Amnesty International Club. We continue to leaflet Truth in Recruitment literature on the sidewalk in front of the school every two weeks. We now wear large, brightly colored vests with large peace symbols to identify ourselves as Schenectady Neighbors for Peace members.
Peace Vigils
We continue with our ongoing two vigils a week in downtown Schenectady, and have added a monthly roving vigil that allows us to reach out to other parts of the county.
Roving Vigils
Our first roving vigil occurred on Apr 28 and was a big success. Our next roving vigil will occur in Niskiyuna on May 19th, as we march with Niskaunity, in the Niskaday parade.
Our June roving vigil will occur on June 9th at the invitation of Blown Away hair Salon during the Strawberry Festival in the Upper Union St Shopping District. This event will involve the gay and lesbian peace activist community. In the same vein, we will be marching in the Scotia Memorial Day parade on May 23rd. Of course we also participated in Albany’s March 18th, Remember the Fallen Walk for Peace.
Film Series
Another new regularly scheduled project is our film group. Films will routinely be shown at county libraries. Our first showing, Out of Balance, occurred at the Rotterdam Branch Library on Apr 17th.
Mark Twain War Prayer Group
The Mark Twain War Prayer group presented at the SICM Assembly, 1st United Methodist Church, and the Emmanuel Friedens Church during the past two months. This is an ongoing project. Please contact us with an invite to your venue.
Co-sponsored Events
Schenectady Neighbors for Peace co-sponsors other groups’ projects, including the Iran Working Group’s Scott Ritter event, a panel discussion about the Terror Trial, and the upcoming Jewish Community Center event featuring Miriam Ohevetel, an Israeli peace activist and singer-song writer. We will work to give balanced educational opportunities regarding the Israeli / Palestinian situation to our community.
We enjoy supporting other peace groups’ events, and loved the Peace Action 25th Anniversary dinner with Dennis Kuchinich. We were proud to have Mr. and Mrs. Kuchinich visit and speak at Arthur’s Market in Schenectady on the morning of the Peace Action dinner.