Scott Schumacher's blog

Candidate for governor Becky Lourey (left) visits with Jasmin and Amber Barksdale, Molly Woehrlin and Charles Skinner during a house party hosted Thursday, January 12, by Sharon Gates-Hull in Northfield. Lourey held the first town hall-style meeting of the campaign later in the evening at St. Olaf College. She also visited along Division Street and viewed the farm art exhibit at Northfield Arts Guild.

Pictured (from left to right): Becky Lourey (sitting on table), Jasmine Barksdale, Amber Barksdale, Molly Woehrlin, Charles Skinner.

The Northfield People for Peace and Goodwill will host "Songs and Words of Peace for the Children of the World" on Thursday September 22, at 5:30pm, on Bridge Square. The event will feature performances and speeches from Mayor Lee Lansing, Mary Mena, Marge and Lalo Evans-de-Carpio, Lakota George, and others, as both a commemoration of International Day of Peace (Sept. 21), and to celebrate Northfield's contribution to the Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World.

About 70 people (and three dogs!) gathered in the evening on Bridge Square, Wednesday, August 17, to take part in a national vigil of support for Cindy Sheehan and attempts in Texas to meet with President Bush. Northfield's vigil was one of its largest of the past two years. Supporters of Sheehan lit candles, held signs, and sang songs to express their desire for peace.

A photo album of images from Thrusday's vigil is in the Northfield.org Gallery.

The Northfield People for Peace and Goodwill will come together for a Vigil this evening for Cindy Sheehan as part of a national movement of over 1400 vigils across the country. PPG will join these other groups for a candlelight vigil in support of Cindy Sheehan's vigil outside of President Bush's Crawford, TX ranch. Cindy and hundreds of supporters are camping out as she awaits a decision by the president to meet with her face to face.

The Vigil for Cindy Sheehan will take place from 7:30 to 8pm this evening, August 17, on Bridge Square in downtown Northfield (Division Street and 4th Street). The Center for Sustainable living (333 1/2 Division Street, above Jenkins Jewelers) will be open from 6:30 to 7:30 for sign making and preparations for the vigil. All are welcome.

The Northfield People for Peace and Goodwill is an informal collection of citizens who support the ideals of peace, non-violence, and community
well-being, in the city of Northfield, MN and beyond.

How long does it take a person to complete 25 bike rides and fundraise over $100,000 in the fight against HIV and AIDS? For more than ten years, Gary Mazzone has been bicycling all around the country, and he's still not stopping.

Long Time AIDS Activist, Gary Mazzone, along with a representative from the Minnesota AIDS Project, will speak this Thursday at 7pm at the Center for Sustainable Living (333 1/2 Division Street, Above Jenkins Jewelers).

This year, Gary was honored to be one of the "poster people" for the Minnesota AIDS Walk which took place May 15th in Minneapolis. He has been on a speaking tour across Minnesota, speaking to schools, churches, businesses, and community groups since 2005 began.

I still find it amazing to see an audience of sometimes 300 or more people crying tears of sadness and joy, then laughing with me about the crazy life experiences I share with them.

Members of the Wolakota Youth Council have coordinated a Prayer Run for World Peace in conjunction with World Peace and Prayer Day that will convene in the Black Hills of South Dakota on June 21st. The relay run, which starts in the four directions, North, South, East, and West, will consist of youth and adults carrying sacred Native American prayer flags and staffs on their journey to the Black Hills.

The run from the East, organized by Northfield High School graduate, Grace Horn, will pass through Northfield to Winthrop in the afternoon of Thursday, June 9th.

Recent Northfield High School graduate, Nell Holden, is organizing an all-volunteer luncheon for the runners and participants as they pass through Northfield. If you would like to make a food donation, you may email Nell at whoanellywhoa@hotmail.com.

Plans are to host a "sandwich bar" lunch at Riverside Park, Thursday, approximately 1pm.

A standing-room-only crowd of approximately 300 people attended a fundraiser for the Barrientos family (owners of Northfield businesses, Las Delicias and El Buen Gusto). The event, held at Carleton College, featured a pot-luck dinner of Latin-American cuisine and live acoustic music. The suggested donation of $10 for students and $20 for community members will go directly to the Barrientos family to pay debts incured after the closing of El Buen Gusto, due to MNDoT's Highway 3 expansion project.

The family has faced a loss of income, mounting medical and legal expenses, the repossession of an automobile, and a pending foreclosure of their home while attempting to meet with MNDoT officials regarding the relocation process of their business. Attempts to gain information on how to access relocation funds from MNDoT, as well as access to personal property moved by MNDoT and stored in Cannon Falls have broken down over the last four months due to what the family and organizers state as "language and cultural barriers".

More photos of the event are in the Northfield.org Gallery.

Julia Ward Howe (1819 - 1910), the famed writer of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, as well as poet and women's rights activist, traveled back to earth through time to address Northfield's citizens on Bridge Square on Saturday, April 29. Following the peace vigil by members of the People for Peace and Goodwill, Howe read her famous Mother's Day Proclaimation that she read in 1870 as a call to action for women to organize for peace.

"I've come back to Earth today to address women and mothers once again," proclaimed Ms. Howe.

Howe (portrayed by local resident Sharon Gates-Hull) also met with members of PPG and volunteers with the Community Composting Project of The Center for Sustainable Living. Howe took time to talk about composting in the 1800s, as well as ask where she could obtain a stylish new hat, similar to that worn by Kristen Melby (pictured - left).

Disclosure:

On Thursday, April 28, local citizen and activist Bill McGrath gave a presentation on the history and politics of the conflicts in Northern Ireland at the Center for Sustainable Living. The presentation, put on by the Northfield People for Peace and Goodwill (PPG), gave attendees an overview of the differing political parties and the role religion plays in the politics of Northern Ireland. In the discussions following McGrath's presentation, attendees explored similarities between the conflicts in Northern Ireland and other nations around the world, as well as spoke about the potential benefits and pitfalls of the unification of Northern Ireland with the southern Republic of Ireland.

Disclosure: The author is a member of PPG and a board member of the Center for Sustainable Living.

Si usted quisiera ver un vesion de Northfield.org escrito totalmente en español, chasque aquí. Las herramientas de la lengua de Google pueden permitir que cualquier persona lea su website preferido en casi cualquier lengua. Mientras que las traducciones no son a veces totalmente exactas, pueden permitir que el lector entienda los significados generales en su propia lengua materna.

On Saturday, March 19, the Northfield People for Peace and Goodwill (PPG), along with members from the Red Wing Alliance for Peace, held a two hour vigil on Bridge Square. According to Sharon Gates-Hull, "The second anniversary of the US war in Iraq was the reason for Northfield's People for Peace and Goodwill to extend their weekly vigil from 15 minutes to two hours."

Some organizers held up a 70-foot paper banner with the names of fallen US soldiers listed. Participants also led others in songs, readings, and the sharing of personal thoughts and experiences.

Authors Note: This event was hosted by People for Peace and Goodwill, Ray Cox has also been contacted to guage his interest in presenting his own perspective on Energy and Electricity in a similar forum.

Pictured l to r: Rep Ray Cox, Tristan Cox, Carol Overland

On Thursday, March 17, local attorney Carol Overland led a discussion in front of a crowd of 25, called "XMSN 1001: It's all Connected", at the Center for Sustainable Living in Northfield. Overland gave an overview of Minnesota's electricity transmission grid, key public utility transmission law, and information concerning the recent trends of transmission of electricity by private, for-profit industry, often subsidized by MN tax payers, to be sold to consumers outside of Minnesota. About half of the time spent at this community presentation focused on criticism of the proposed Mesaba Coal Project, which resulted from a bill authored by Representative Ray Cox (R) of Northfield.

The Center for Sustainable Living's Community Composting Project not only is growing (over 50 households now!), but has focused additional efforts in fundraising to assist victims of last December's Pacific Tsunami.

Patrick Farwig, coordinator for the CSL Composting project noted, "After the tsunami we decided that we would take all of our January donations and pass them along to help with the victims. We told our participants this, and they gave us 2-3 times what they normally do."

All totalled, the Community Composting Project has raised over $500, that it will combine with an additional $500 raised by the Village School to The Concerned for Working Children, an organization which provides schooling to working children . Students and teachers from the Village School met with representatives from this organization this past Fall on a trip to India and Thailand.

According to Patrick, "the donations should be a big deal for them, since they are a relatively small organization."

To join the CSL's Community Composting Project, youj can visit the CSL's Website and fill out their Web Form.

On Tuesday, February 8, Phil Steeger from Friends for a Non-Violent World met with Northfield citizens at the Center for Sustainable Living. Steeger brought information to interested citizens on a movement to propose the Iraqi Dignity and Self-Determination Amendment to congress. According to Steeger, the amendment, which is gathering some bi-partisan support, could both "redeem past mistakes and provide Iraqis with what they need to rule themselves and US troops with a ticket home."

Steeger emphasized to promoters of peace that "small steps" and even activities that do not bring about desired results are successful in and of themselves. While proponents of this legislation expect the amendment not to pass, they feel that an introduction of the points in the amendment may be successful in begining new discussions for policy change with regard to Iraq.

The UN has proclaimed the years 2001-2010 as the "International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World." In 2000, the Northfield City Council, in response to a petition signed by many local groups, declared Northfield a promoter of the Decade, encouraging residents and groups to work towards the goals of the decade and thereby advancing a culture of peace in the city.

Now at mid-point in the Decade, the United Nations is calling for reports on actions and projects that groups have implemented.

Thursday, Feb. 3, the Northfield People for Peace and Goodwill group brainstormed about the events and projects held in Northfield. While the list was extensive, Judith Stoutland is calling for citizen input, as she is compiling a report on the activities held in Northfield since it became a focal point for this global initiative.

The information will be sent to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNSECO), will be posted on their website, and will be presented to the UN General Assembly. In addition to reporting on activities, focal points are asked to consider future work for the second half of the Decade.