WILPF BUSINESS MEETING
January 14 (second Thursday of each month), 7 p.m.–9 p.m. at the Fresno Center for Nonviolence, 1584 N. Van Ness Ave. Meetings are open to all members.
WOMEN IN BLACK
January 6 (first Wednesday of each month) at noon at the Fresno County Courthouse; come at least once a year, perhaps during the month in which your birthday falls! Wear black, bring a sign if you wish and stand in silence for peace.
STIR IT UP–WILPF ON KFCF 88.1 FM
Listener-supported free speech radio for Central California. January 27 (4th Wednesday of each month) at 3 p.m. Jean Hays conducts outstanding interviews on subjects involving WILPF interests and activities. Let Jean know if you have ideas for a program. Tune in!
RAGING GRANNIES
Meetings on selected Mondays at 7 p.m. Call Ellie at 559-229-9807 for details.
DID YOU REMEMBER TO RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP?
WILPF–Fresno membership renewal time is in December at the Crafts Faire. Membership Chair Nora DeWitt reminds us that if we missed connecting with her at the Faire, we can mail our dues, in care of our treasurer Jay Hubbell, to P.O. Box 5114, Fresno, CA 93755. Dues are on a sliding scale from $15 to $150, with the usual contribution being $35. Your dues support all the work of WILPF–US, including the two mini-grants our branch was awarded this year.
Pick up your copy of the updated branch membership directory at our business meeting or from the supply at the Fresno Center for Nonviolence.
THE BEST GIFT FOR YOUR VALENTINE OR YOUR MOM
A few copies are still available of the reprinted original WILPF cookbook. Compiled by Franny Levine and Joan Poss, with illustrations by Jean Ray Laury and Franny Levine, it immediately sold out the first two printings and has not been available since 1972—until now! You’ll want one for yourself and others as gifts for special people. Be sure to try Phil Levine’s never-fail latkes or Barry Logan’s eggplant caponata, which is one of Ellie’s favorites. You’ll also enjoy Ellie’s persimmon cookies, Joan Poss’s pumpkin bread and Debbie DeRosa’s warming barley casserole. Let Rose Dolarian show you how to stuff and roll grape leaves. Your friends and family will enjoy trying these special classics from the best of the original WILPF members’ kitchens. Call Ingrid at 559-240-9205 to get your copy.
ANNOUNCING WHAT WOULD JANE DO?: ESSAYS AND BEYOND
WILPF–Fresno invites active students 12 years and older in the central San Joaquin Valley to propose specific, creative and peaceful solutions to current local, national and international values, issues and behaviors that defy peace and justice for all. The proposals may be in the form of short word pieces (e.g., essays, rap songs, newspaper-type articles, mini-stories, scenes for a play), radio interview scenarios, brief videos, posters or sculptures.
The submissions should contain some linkage or convey some understanding of the work of Jane Addams, the first International President of WILPF. Addams was an architect of peace. Although J. Edgar Hoover described her as “the most dangerous woman in America,” Addams was the first U.S. woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
The submissions would also do well to convey some understanding of the 100 years of witnessing for peace and justice of the entire WILPF organization, specifically by addressing or applying one or more of the current WILPF emphases on racial, social, economic, gender and all other justice categories.
Awards: Three cash prizes will be awarded. One prize will be offered in each of three age ranges: 12–15, 16–19 and 20 and older. Honorable mentions will be provided to other outstanding entries. Publicity will be provided for all awards and honorable mentions.
Process: Obtain an application/enrollment form online by sending a statement of intent to submit to mentor4peace-wilpfresno@yahoo.com.
WILPF–Fresno offers this opportunity for dialogue as part of the completion of the celebration of its 50th anniversary in 2015, as well as WILPF–International’s 100 years of actively promoting peace. A mini-grant from WILPF–US supports this opportunity. We look forward to engaging with you in furthering the causes and the experience of peace.
A VISIT WITH CAROL URNER AND ELLEN THOMAS
Carol Urner and Ellen Thomas, co-chairs of WILPF–US’s Disarm/End Wars Committee, have accepted our branch’s invitation to visit Fresno in January or February as part of their upcoming tour. When they have set a date, an invitation to all branch members and friends will be sent out via the listserv.
A message from Carol and Ellen:
Our first trip will be on the West Coast, beginning Jan. 21. We hope to visit the San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Monterey, San Jose, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, East Bay, Fresno, Sacramento and Arcata branches in California. We then hope to go to the Ashland, Corvallis and Portland, Oregon, branches, and up to Ground Zero near Seattle. We also hope to meet with at-large members wherever possible.
Please let us know if you would like us to speak to any group—WILPF, Code Pink, Veterans for Peace, United for Peace and Justice, Raging Grannies, your civic or church group—that wants to discuss what’s happening toward global nuclear weapons abolition and conversion from nuclear and fossil-fuel energy to truly clean, renewable energy.
We hope to hear from you! And to see you!
We also hope you will join us on the monthly Disarm/End Wars Committee conference calls, which are on the last Sunday of every month at 4:30 p.m. PDT, 1-605-475-4120, code 7885235 #.
In peace, Carol Urner (carol.disarm@gmail.com) and Ellen Thomas (et@prop1.org).
INVITATION TO PROVIDE ANECDOTES AND EXPERIENCES: THE EXHIBITIONS OF 100 YEARS OF DANGEROUS WOMEN
We invite all who went to explore the Dangerous Women Exhibitions held in September 2015 at the Fresno County Central Library and at Fresno State’s Henry Madden Library to provide us with experiences and reactions to the exhibitions. We will incorporate your comments into a written report on the projects and use the information to help us build stronger connections with our members and local and regional communities.
WILPF–Fresno will conclude the celebration of its 50th anniversary, as well as the WILPF centenary, with a number of activities through March 2016.
Please submit stories and anecdotes to mentor4peace-wilpfresno@yahoo.com.
If you wish, you may request a Feedback and Evaluation Form from this address. Thank you for your support, your engagement, and your help!
—Ellie Bluestein and Mary Murphy, Co-Chairs of the Centennial Committee
NEWS FROM THE ECOGARDEN
Exciting news: We have dug a 30-foot long, 6-foot deep trench and placed an 8-inch in diameter “earth-tube” in it. It will bring cool air into the living space from underground. This was the first step in actually building the new Eco Shelter, the second of our Art Dyson–designed Eco Village prototypes. This one will be light weight and will be made to rotate on a base to take advantage of the position of the sun. We were able to bring in a back-hoe that was up to the task of digging through our hardpan. Our operator, Dan, of Landscape Services, was kind; when he saw what our project was, he charged us only his hourly rate instead of his usual minimum, which would have been twice as much. Our Webmaster, Mariano Marquez, came down from the Bay Area to film the placing of the earth tube for his documentary.
Residents: We have seven women and four men living at our transitional housing project, many of them new in the past few weeks. James has made a new storage unit out of some of our salvaged wood, and Shane is happy to help with the composting and gardening and to add solar cooking to our list of ecologically sound practices. Our one vacancy is one of our two upstairs rooms. It rents for $250 for one, $350 for two.
Outreach: We had booths at the Human Rights Day event at Fresno State and at the recent WILPF Crafts Faire. Jeff demonstrated our solar technology for the tents and eco shelters, and we had the model for the new prototype on display. Maria sold ear warmers and her amazing glitter pictures, and Brittani, a former resident now on the Eco Village board and interning to be a drug counselor, had some wire-wrapped stones and some decorated chalkboards and spent the day helping explain our project. “Frank” worked all day in the kitchen and at the serving table. Bev Barnes helped our board member, author/artist Dixie Salazar, at her booth. We also had a successful potluck the Saturday before Thanksgiving attended by more than 50 people.
Bev Fitzpatrick (dfitzpatrick29@comcast.net) or Dixie Salazar (dsalazar@csufresno.edu) will be the contacts for EcoGarden information until after Jan. 22.
2015 PEACE COMMUNITY CRAFTS FAIRE
Thanks to the hard work and dedication of many volunteers, the annual Crafts Faire on Dec. 12 was a joyful experience for our community at large. Our treasurer, Jay Hubbell, enlisted all the vendors and masterminded the layout. Many shoppers appreciated his clear signage and his innovation of a printed map. Kyla Mitchell organized all the volunteers and donations, and Ingrid Carmean took on many tasks in the planning and setup.
Julie Young managed the kitchen. She and her staff of volunteers kept the hot soup coming all day and cleaned up after all the diners. Pat Wolk collected attractive raffle items and sold tickets with her usual vigor. Gioia Frank organized and ran the silent auction, and BarbaraAnn Hormann helped her enroll bidders and answer questions.
Linda Dryden recruited and scheduled our wonderful musicians. Mike Reilly worked the sound system and patiently adjusted for our varied performers.
Representing WILPF at the front table were our intern Sirina Resendez, just back from maternity leave, and our membership chair Nora DeWitt.
Many volunteers—too many to list—donated food, took shifts in the kitchen or on the serving line or helped out in other ways. Two groups deserve special mention. Our friends from Peace Fresno provided great assistance with setup and cleanup. And this year, for the first time, thanks to Marian and Jonna Pagaduan, we had the support of students from the Smittcamp Honors Program at Fresno State: Marian and Jonna, Christine Fry, Alyssa Nishikawa, Aubrey Lim, Tess Irving and Kate Hobbs. The students cheerfully and energetically tackled jobs including cashiering, dishwashing and moving furniture.
Many thanks for everyone’s efforts. We appreciate you, and especially the vendors and the shoppers who make this event possible!
WILPF Peace Community Crafts Faire 2015
