Archive for the ‘News’ Category

Roy Bourgeois to Speak in Fairbanks!

Roy Bourgeois will Speak at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at 7 pm on Wednesday, August 14

Roy Bourgeois is the founder of the School of the Americas Watch and is a former Roman Catholic Priest expelled for his support of Women’s ordination. He was a Nobel Peace Prize nominee in 2010.  His talk is entitled “The Struggle for Justice and Equality in Modern Times,” and is cosponsored by Call to Action Alaska,  an organization of progressive Catholics, and the Alaska Peace Center. Continue reading

Tanana Valley State Fair, 2013

Booth Sitters Needed for our Booth at the Fair

The Tanana Valley State Fair is coming soon.  Booth set-up can start as early as July 29th and the Fair opens on August 2 and runs through August 11.  Volunteers are needed both for setting up our booth in the Borealis Pavilion and for staffing it while the Fair is running.  There are 3 shifts per day and we would like to have 2 people present at each shift if possible.  The shifts are 1) noon to 3pm, 2) 3pm to 6pm and 3) 6pm to 9pm (note this will be 10 pm on Fridays, Saturdays and the final Sunday). Please contact Heather Koponen and Alan Batten at info@alaskapeace.org if you are able to help.  This is our best chance of the year to make ourselves known and present our ideas to the Fairbanks public. Besides, you will get a complimentary ticket to the Fair!

Introduction to AVP

Introduction to the Alternatives to Violence Project

Tuesday, 18 June 2013, 6 to 9 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 4448 Pikes Landing Road (across from the Princess Hotel)

The Alaska Peace Center, Chena Ridge Friends Meeting, and the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship invites you to join us for an introduction to AVP (Alternatives to Violence Project).

Carroll (Haggard) Boone is an AVP Facilitator who just returned from being on a Friends Peace Team in Katmandu, Nepal. Carroll grew up in Fairbanks and is a graduate of Lathrop High and UAF!

AVP was started in 1975 when inmates at Greenhaven Prison (NY) asked the local Quakers to design a non-violence workshop that could be arranged inside the facility. The resulting workshop was so successful that it spread to communities throughout the US and internationally. AVP is used in prisons, war zones and other places of conflict to offer peaceful outcomes to violent situations.

If possible please RSVP to Carrie at 750-1049 or chugny@yahoo.com so we can have materials ready for you. For more information check out the AVP website at http://www.avpusa.org/.

First Annual Sunday Sharing Peace Feast, June 2

Come help us celebrate the First Annual Sunday Sharing Peace Feast at Pioneer Park on Sunday, June 2 from 1 pm to 5 pm

Alaska Peace Center volunteers will be hosting this event at the back picnic area (the Wilderness Pavilion) off the Peger Road parking lot (by the river). Dick Farris will cook his famous barbeque chicken and ribs!  We are asking people to bring something to add to the potluck like: chips, bread, salad or desserts. Please also bring your own cups, plates and utensils as we want to encourage Earth care by not providing plastic or Styrofoam products.

This will be an opportunity to share ideas and interests on the issues our Peace Center should target in the future with the APC staff.  We encourage those with a passion for peace to get involved at the personal level to make a difference in our own community.

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Meeting and Potluck 24 April 2013, 6:30 pm

This evening I picked up a small package from the Post Office. On opening it, I was delighted to find an assortment of vegetable seeds that I had ordered for my garden. Immediately my thoughts turned to the joy of seeing new life germinate and with loving care grow, flower and produce healthy fruit. The cause of peace is like a garden. It needs constant proactive loving care to bear its fruit of health and happiness for all.

Unfortunately, I have not been a good gardener for the Alaska Peace Center. It is starting to wilt, looking sad, in need of new energy and loving care. I am stepping down as chairman to allow this to happen. I will be happy however to lend a hand to whoever steps up.

We will be having a potluck / meeting at 6:30 on April 24th hopefully to initiate this fresh start. Bring your ideas, dreams, and energy and share them with us. If you are interested in taking on the job of gardener of peace maybe you’re the one to take this on.The Alaska Peace Center is located in room 203 the College Mall (3535 College Rd.) upstairs from the Fuji Restaurant. The potluck will start at 6:30 PM with meeting beginning around 7:00.
Love,

rob mulford

For more information write to info@alaskapeace.org.

Potluck and Intro to NVC Class at Hidden HIll Friends Center Monday Feb 25 at 6:30

A few of us are interested in starting a new class in non-violent communication or NVC using Marshall Rosenberg’s teachings and books.  Some of us have already taken a class or workshop on NVC and have found the concepts very helpful.

For those unfamiliar with NVC,  basically, NVC sees our actions as coming from needs we all have that we are trying to meet.  NVC uses feelings and needs to connect more fully with others and to get everyone’s needs met.  These ideas have been used around the country and worldwide to help mediate conflicts.

There will be an introduction to NVC at the Hidden Hill Friends Center on Monday, Feb. 25 (Hidden Hill Friends Center is located at 2682 Gold Hill Rd.–look for the sign on the right side).  The potluck/introduction will start at 6:30 pm with food and program to follow.  All those interested, whether new or more experienced, are welcome.

If you can not come but want to take the class or have questions, please email me or call (contact info below).  We will be deciding on a night to have the classes to try to accommodate all who are interested.

For more information contact Carrie Farr at chugny@yahoo.com, 750-1049.

Potluck and Movie Friday, 4 Jan 2013, 6:30 pm

Alaska Peace Center/KRFF offices, 3535 College Rd, rm 203, upstairs from the Fuji Restaurant in the College Mall. Potluck at 6:30, Movies at 7:00.

We will be showing short films by two great Iranian artists:

THE HOUSE IS BLACK
The House is Black (Persian: تسا هایس هناخ , Khaneh siah ast) is an
acclaimed Iranian documentary short film directed by Forough
Farrokhzad. The film is a look at life and suffering in the Behkadeh
Raji leper colony and focuses on the human condition and the beauty of
creation. During the shooting she became attached to a child of two
lepers, whom she later adopted. It has since been recognized as a
landmark in Iranian film.

"The House is Black paved the way for the Iranian New Wave." -
Reviewer Eric Henderson

THE SCHOOL BLOWN AWAY BY THE WIND
Written, directed and edited by Mohsen Makhmalbaf, one of Iran's
leading filmmakers, The School Blown Away by the Wind (1996) is set in
the school for nomad children seen in Makhmalbaf's Gabbeh. In this
brief, humanist tale, an old man enters the improvised classroom to
revisit memories of his youth.

Flyer with photos

Ring In Peace on Armistice Day

Ring In Peace on Armistice Day

Friday, Nov. 11, 2011 @ 11:00 AM

Veterans Memorial Park, 700 Cushman Street (Next to State Building)

Bell and dovesWriter Kurt Vonnegut, a WWII Prisoner of war wrote: “…November eleventh, accidentally my birthday, was a sacred day called Armistice Day. When I was a boy all the people of all nations which had fought in the First World War were silent during the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of Armistice day, which was the eleventh day of the eleventh month.”

“It was during that minute in nineteen hundred and eighteen, that millions upon millions of human beings stopped butchering one another. I have talked to old men who were on battlefields during that minute. They have told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the voice of God. So we still have among us some men who can remember when God spoke clearly to mankind.” (Breakfast of Champions, 1973)

In remembrance of the universal sense of joy felt around the world when World War I ended,and in renewal of the call for world peace, a world-wide tradition of ringing bells on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month was observed for over 35 years.

Congress declared November 11 a holiday in 1938, ” …a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be hereafter celebrated and known as “Armistice Day.”

On June 1, 1954, Congress amended the Act of 1938 by deleting the word “Armistice” and inserting the word “Veterans”.

With rhetoric and patriotic symbolism have we been distracting ourselves from recognizing the majority of war’s victims?

Can we envision a world without war and still appreciate friends, family, and neighbors who have made great sacrifice?

Please consider joining us in ringing bells for peace. You have no bell to ring? Come anyway or be creative and make your own. This could be a great art project for children.

Maybe the best way we can honor our veterans is to focus on the original meaning of this day.

Download a flyer for this event.