$10,000 Matching Grant Supports Peace Garden Project
MINNEAPOLIS – The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and the Peace Garden Project Committee have received an anonymous $10,000 matching grant for donations to the Peace Garden Project. Since 2004, more than $80,000 has been donated toward the installation of two unique features – the Spirit of Peace sculpture and a new Peace Bridge, to be located in the Lyndale Park Peace Garden near Lake Harriet.
The Spirit of Peace sculpture by Caprice Glaser will show several steps in folding an origami peace crane. A completed crane with outstretched wings will crown the bronze sculpture. A circle of 14 boulders with bronze instructional plaques was installed in 2005 to teach visitors the steps in folding an origami peace crane. Origami paper is provided for visitors who would like to fold a paper crane on-site. The boulders and planned Spirit of Peace sculpture are located on the upper eastern border of the Peace Garden.
The completion goal for the Spirit of Peace Sculpture is October 25, 2006, in time for Remember Sadako Day. Sadako Sasaki, a student from Hiroshima, died from leukemia, the "atom bomb disease," on October 25, 1955. She had folded more than 1,000 paper cranes to fulfill a legend that she hoped would grant her one wish – to run again.
The new Peace Bridge, designed by Kinji Akagawa and Jerry Allen of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, will feature Minnesota granites, Australian ipe wood and copper accents. Relic peace stones, gifts from the peace museums in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan will serve as cornerstones of the new bridge.
Donations of any amount are welcome and will be matched dollar for dollar. Your tax-deductible donation received before October 1 will help complete the bronze sculpture. Donors who contribute $2,000 by August 15 may select a word of peace to be inscribed at the base of the Spirit of Peace.
Donation forms are available at the entrance to the Peace Garden, online at www.minneapolisparks.org or checks may be mailed directly to: MPRB Peace Garden Project, 3800 Bryant Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55409. Visit the website for more information about the Peace Garden Project.
Anthropologist To Lead Full Moon Tour
MINNEAPOLIS – Bruce M. White, Ph.D., is a historian and anthropologist who has studied the history of Fort Snelling and Coldwater Spring, part of an area around the mouth of the Minnesota River known to the Dakota as Bdote Minisota, will be featured during the August Coldwater Full Moon Walk beginning about 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 9.
Participants are to meet at south end of Minnehaha Park in the pay parking lot off East 54th Street.
The outlet of Coldwater Spring is located on the former Bureau of Mines property, a piece of property that has been under continuous federal occupation since 1819, as a result of a treaty signed with two Dakota chiefs in 1805. The Department of Interior is currently undergoing an Environmental Impact Statement process to determine what to do with the property. Dr. White will talk about the history of the site and lead a discussion on the best ways to respond to the final Environmental Impact statement.
For more information, visit www.friendsofcoldwater.org or e-mail [email protected]
Gospel of Mary
ST. PAUL – A pre-publication reading of the novel "The Gospel of Mary According to Marg by the St. Paul author, Jerry Sedgewick, in association with live acoustic and Irish harp music, will be presented during two separate readings and performances at 7 and 9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 19, at Artists’ Grind, 2399 University Ave., near the 280/University intersection in St. Paul. The reading includes a multimedia presentation, live acoustic music by Joe Haus and Kay Miller and live Irish harp music from Andrea Sullivan and friends.
The novel features a young attorney who goes on a road trip to escape an increasingly difficult home life with his wife and newly born daughter. He is ostensibly going to a conference, but his real desire is to see an old flame. His trip is transformed by his first stop at a motel. Here he pulls a through-the-night conversation with a deceptively wise motel clerk named Marg, and by her take on "The Gospel of Mary," an account of a vision of Jesus by a woman named Mary, popularly suggested to be Mary Magdalene. Marg relieves the confused perceptions of the lawyer by the truth of Mary, and by her views on the Garden of Eden, Jesus, and the early Christian movement. The following morning the young father is left to consider continuing with his trip or turn back to work out differences with his wife.
For more information, visit www.rawlight.com/gospelofmary.html.
The Oneness Teachings
Are you ready to move from duality concsiousness to unity consciousness? A weekend retreat will be lead by teacher and healer Dee Ziegler on August 25-27 in Automba township in Carleton County, Minn. Ziegler will share a transformational process that comes from the spiritual guidance received during a period of 12 years.
This process has the potential to shorten the serious seeker’s journey into wholeness and oneness. In addition, the participant will receive the vibrational healing frequencies needed to make the shifts that their soul chooses at this time. Jill Richards, a leader and healer, will open the circle and share her Native drumming and song. Patricia Jensen, also a healer and yoga instructor, excels in the art of preparing whole foods and vegetarian dishes, which are provided as part of the retreat. Tent sites, sauna, shower, beds and rooms available on site. Limited space, so register early.
For further informatio, visit www.spiritual-transformation.net, e-mail [email protected] or call (218) 273-4757.
Ann Bancroft Awards
MINNEAPOLIS – The tenth annual Ann Bancroft Awards, taking place on Tuesday, Sept. 26, at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis will recognize four outstanding recipients – a girl, woman, individual and organization – for their accomplishments and support of girls and women. The event’s keynote speaker will be Olympian Jackie Joyner-Kersee, considered by many to be one of the greatest athletes of all time.
The four winners of the 2006 Ann Bancroft Awards are: Latasha Robinson, Rosalie Wahl, Verna Cornelia Price and Perspectives, Inc.
The awards, which celebrate and encourage the achievements of girls and women, exemplify the spirit of explorer and educator, Ann Bancroft, whose leadership, and personal and historic achievements have inspired all people to take on new challenges. Bancroft organized and led the first all-woman expedition to Antarctica, becoming the first woman to reach both Poles across the ice. In 2001 Bancroft and Norwegian Liv Arnesen became the first women in history to cross Antarctica’s landmass.
Proceeds from the event will further the efforts of the Ann Bancroft Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mission is to support girls and women in realizing their highest dreams and potential. The Foundation endeavors to live this mission by recognizing individual achievement and by promoting initiatives, which inspire courage, risk-taking, integrity and individuality in girls and women. Ticket information for the event can be obtained by visiting www.annbancroftfoundation.org or by calling (763) 541-9363.
World Health Freedom Assembly
ST. PAUL – National Health Freedom Coalition will present the 2006 World Health Freedom Assembly
and Leadership Conference for Health Freedom Advocacy from September 29-October 1 at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul.
Leaders of non-profit health freedom organizations from around the world will gather for a two-day assembly to endorse a declaration of health freedom and public policy resolutions for health freedom. An open invitation goes out to additional organizations and companies to attend and give feedback as consulting organizations. The general public is invited to observe and witness this historic event. The Assembly will be followed by a full day of leadership training for all health freedom advocates.
For more information, visit www.nationalhealthfreedom.org, call (952) 476-8617 or e-mail [email protected].
The Power of Compassion
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – An international, multi-cultural, multi-disciplinary conference examining concepts of "The Other" from a universal, cross-cultural perspective to promote wider public dialogue about concepts of "Us and Them" will be presented October 26-29 at the Radison Plaza Hotel in Kalamazoo.
"Engaging the Other" will consider how enemy identity is formed, perpetuated, and manipulated, including fear-based belief systems, negative stereotypes, projection, prejudice and scapegoating. Invited participants will include visionaries in human consciousness and psycho-social-spiritual dynamics, representatives of relevant university departments, professional associations and academic groups around the world, community leaders and activists, spiritual leaders, peace activists, human service providers, government representatives, as well as representatives from ethnic and spiritual groups who often are considered outside of the mainstream.
Presenters will include such notables as Huston Smith, Sam Keen, Marianne Williamson, Archbishop Elias Chacour, Maureen O’Hara, James O’Dea and Barbara Marx Hubbard, and many others.
The event, open to the public, is sponsored by Common Bond Institute, Harmony Institute, the International Humanistic Psychology Association, the Fetzer Institute and Western Michigan University.
For complete details, visit Common Bond Institute’s website at www.cbiworld.org.
Local Unity minister named chair of Unity board
GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. – The Rev. Charles "Pat" Williamson, senior minister at Unity Christ Church in Golden Valley, has been elected chair of the board of trustees of the Association of Unity Churches International. The Association, headquartered in the greater Kansas City Missouri metropolitan area, provides services to some 1000 Unity ministries worldwide.
Williamson has served on the board since 1999. In the past year, he has had a key leadership role as the organization transitioned from a 24-person board to a 12-member board that hired a new president/CEO. Teams comprised of ministers, licensed Unity teachers, laity and staff are currently working on strategic initiatives to effectively support growth of the movement, enhance leadership training, and positively impact the human condition.
Ordained a Unity minister in 1994, Williamson graduated from the ministerial program at Unity School for Religious Studies in Unity Village, Missouri. He has been active in the work of the Association’s Field Licensing Program and Radio/Media Ministry Team. He is past chair of the Great Lakes Region, Children’s Education Team. Williamson graduated from the Unity Ministers Executive Institute, a post graduate leadership program. Professional affiliations include the International Conference of Police Chaplains.
He has served congregations at Unity Temple on the Plaza, Kansas City, Missouri; Unity Church on the North Shore, Evanston Illinois; and New Thought Unity Center, Cincinnati, Ohio before moving to the greater Minneapolis area.
The Association of Unity Churches International is a sister organization to Unity, world headquarters of the Unity movement, publishers of Daily Word. The Silent Unity ministry offers prayer support to more than a million individuals throughout the world annually. Visit www.unity.org.
Fair trade & food directory
MADISON, Wisc. – Wisconsin residents looking for fair trade, union-made, organic or family-farm products have a new resource to draw upon: the new Wisconsin Fair Trade and Local Food Directory, a joint product of Family Farm Defenders and the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice.
The directory lists products from dozens of small, family-owned Wisconsin producers. Family Farm Defenders initiated the directory project as a way to help struggling family farms get the word out about their products, as they face increasing financial pressures in a corporatized and globalized food market.
To help consumers make the best of local and seasonal produce, the directory includes more than two dozen recipes, including many recipes from Wisconsin’s native-American communities.
"We wanted to show people that native-American cooking is more than just fry bread," said John Peck of Family Farm Defenders, who did research for the directory.
The directory can be ordered by mail from WNPJ for $5, plus $2 for postage. Directories are also available for purchase at the at the Family Farm Defenders or WNPJ tables at the Madison Farmer’s Market, at the Madison Eastside Farmers Market (from 4-7 p.m. on Tuesdays on South Ingersoll) or at the WNPJ Office, Room 402, 122 State St., Madison, WI 53703. A pdf version of the directory can be downloaded for free from the WNPJ website at www.wnpj.org.
