GfP Newsletter - January 2008

Dear GFP member and friend (maybe you'll join this go around)

2007 : It's history
2008 : It's up to us

Our protests, our demands, our tax money, our votes will determine the future.

I said 2007 was gone, but it cannot be forgotten. It never will be, because some terrible things occurred for the first time, and some terrible things continued, and some never happened at all. But, more importantly, some good things happened and should be recognized.

Finally there is a strong possibility that a woman or a black man might become president!

Despite the lack of media support, the demand for impeachment grew phenomenally. (I have found Kucinick and Wexler the strongest advocates.)

Death by legal injection was abolished in New Jersey, and the issue is being studied in a number of other states.

The old slogan "Think globally; Act locally" took on greater significance in the USA and in many other countries, where local peace and justice groups flexed their muscles, pressured their representatives, and got results!

Grandparents for Peace members were wonderfully active throughout the year. They worked with and gave financial support to state and national organizations, including ACLU, the Florida Coalition for Peace & Justice, Amnesty International, Southern Poverty Law Center, Global Network against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, Veterans for Peace, the SOA Watch, the Baracoa-St. Augustine Friendship Association, and more.

GFP members in St. Augustine frequently attended City and County Commission meetings, worked with and gave financial assistance to PPJ (People for Peace & Justice), CIA (Citizens in Action), the St. Francis House (for homeless), Betty Griffin House (for abused women), Council on Aging, the Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity, PUSH (People United to Stop Homelessness), and more.

Together with PPJ and Vets for Peace, we held 1st and 3rd Saturday morning anti-war vigils all year long at the foot of the Bridge of Lions. We held several special events in the Plaza, including Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Tax Day and Constitution Day.

Representing GFP, I went to Miami to attend a Florida Coalition event, an art exhibit of a fabulous anti-war mural by Vietnamese artist, Anna Huong. I was thrilled to see the same mural later, this time at the University of North Florida, in Jacksonville. I represented GFP at the Florida Coalition Convocation in St. Petersburg; at a Pax Christi gathering in Gainesville with Bishop Gumbleton; at several Wage Peace events in Jacksonville, at Bridges Across Borders in Gainesville; at the SOA, Ft. Benning,GA, where I walked and wailed with hundreds of white-kerchiefed Grannies and my beautiful wounded baby doll.

Finally, at a fitting end-of-the-year gathering at Crooked River State Park, St. Marys, GA, some of us sneaked off to Cumberland Island (to visit the Carnegie estate and see the wild horses), but returned in time for the communal banquet. Some 50 or 60 peace activists came from N.E. Florida and Georgia to share their food and stories. This was followed by the traditional candle-lit walk to Kings Bay Naval Base, home to some dozen vicious Trident Submarines.

Personally, in January I had 10 glorious days in Hawaii (I loved the lava); then there were a few difficult months until I recovered enough to visit Bruce and Mary Beth for a busy week in Maine, followed by a lovely week with Elderhostel at Campobello, Bay of Fundy (where I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the summer home of Eleanor and FDR (both of them have long been my heroes) exploring the lighthouses, seeing whales, and meeting the residents of the community. I always recommend an Elderhostel vacation. I went again to the Peanut Festival in Plains, GA, and again enjoyed Jimmy Carter's Sunday School lesson. This year, though, either his health or his security guard prevented his playing the traditional baseball game: but he threw the opening pitch.

It's fun living in St. Augustine. Lots of concerts (the pier, the plaza, the college and home concerts) Lots of art and archeology. I work Mondays at the Candle Shop, I tape oral histories of the clients of the Council on Aging on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Wednesday and Friday afternoons I play duplicate bridge. Sundays I go to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, which has interesting programs, a good Social Concerns Committee, and feeds us fabulously on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.

The year 2008 is off to a great start. Together with PPJ and Vets for Peace we did a die-in on St. George Street one Saturday, and put up a clothesline with Bush's Dirty Laundry on another. We plan to host Anne Feeney. We will be participating in the MLK events. This week we will launch our Peace Scholarship Competition - 500Words = $500. The essay theme is from Michael Franti's song: "You can bomb the world into pieces. You can't bomb it into peace." We are helping plan Earth Day, April l9, and the Gamble Rogers Music Festival in May.

Which brings me to a reminder that dues are due. $l5 for an individual, $25 for a family.

Checks should be made out and mailed to Grandparents for Peace, 21 Village Las Palmas Circle, St. Augustine, FL, 32080. Thanks in advance.

Perhaps you would like a financial report before writing your check. Here goes:

Opening balance, Jan. 2007 $161.69
+ Dues & Contributions l,685.00
- News letters, donations, misc. 1,539.40
Closing balance, Dec. 2007 $ 307.29

Commitments: $50 Earth Day, $50 Scholarship Fund. $25 Anne Feeny, $50 reserve fund.

If anyone of you wants a detailed itemized report, don't hesitate to ask. Transparency is the name of the game.

2008! Make it a good one. For yourselves and for every living creature, every where.

Peg