Congrats to CNL on the Peacemakers Picnic

Yesterday I made it to the annual Peacemakers Picnic for the first time. I do wish I'd made it to the one (I believe it was the first one) that honored Rev. Alton Motter, a friend of mine who was killed a short time later in a car accident at the age of 95.

This year's event was particularly appealing both because Joe Manzi is a leader for CSCC and for CNL and because the honorees were two leading members of other progressive organizations in town: Lois Passi of CARE and Sam Pearson of the Local Action Network LAN (and a number of other initiatives), both of whom have done much to promote peace and justice. I was predicting (on the way there, as rain clouds seemed to be moving in) that the turnout would be small. The actual count was over 40, which is a good turnout on a Sunday in July. The food was great, too.

An added treat was to hear from the Milton teacher (Mike H?) who started the ball rolling on the Cambodia Project. Milton students and the community have raised nearly $40,000 to help build a school in Cambodia. I remember raising $1,000 for class trip way back when, and that was hard enough. That kind of money is truly inspirational--an example to all the students at Milton that ordinary people can make a difference in this world. That's something for us all to remember.