Aromas residents are gathering weekly to hold a candlelight
vigil for peace until America’s conflict with Iraq is over.
Aromas residents are gathering weekly to hold a candlelight vigil for peace until America’s conflict with Iraq is over.
At 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, about a dozen people praying for peace surrounded the Peace Pole in front of the Aromas Tri-County Fire Department. Written in several languages on the pole is a simple message – “May peace prevail on Earth.”
It was the second week that the group gathered to pray and sing for peace, and they intend to do so every Tuesday – “until there’s peace,” organizer Linda McCue said.
McCue said the group realizes it cannot control what governments do, but it can do something positive and peaceful.
“Praying for peace seems to be a good thing to do,” she said.
The group’s first vigil Jan. 28 drew about the same number of people; some new faces attended the latest gathering. A young man, David Palacios, strummed his guitar, reflecting the somber mood.
McCue said they hope the Peace Pole – placed at the fire station last year by Aromas Girl Scouts – will become a place for people of like minds to gain strength in difficult times.
Martha Van Dyke said wars are for profit and the public is being distracted by “sound bites on the evils of Saddam Hussein.”
With education budgets facing cuts and a war in the Middle East on the horizon, it doesn’t make sense to fund a war when the children needed their education, one peaceful protester said.
“There’s not enough money for schools, but there’s plenty of money for war,” Richard Saxe said. “Why is that?”
Tom McCue said if people believe their voice isn’t being heard, gathering to pray is a peaceful way to show President Bush they feel he is not representing them. “We’re here out of necessity,” McCue said.
Teachers spend a lot of time teaching students to resolve conflicts peacefully, local teacher Marguerite Palacios said, but it’s adults who need to learn to resolve issues without going to war.
“The children get it,” she said. “But now we have to teach the adults.”
The group will meet every Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. for a one-hour vigil at the Peace Pole at the Aromas Tri-County Fire Department on Carpenteria Road. For more information, call Linda McCue at 726-2093.
