Category: announcements

International Peace Day

Thirty years ago, the UN General Assembly declared September 21st to be an International Day of Peace.  The UN envisions this day as one where people and organizations observe the day with celebrations and educational programs promoting peace  and that all nations participate in a global  ceasefire.

The theme for this year’s International Day of Peace is Make Your Voice Heard.  Mr. Kiyo Akasaka, UN Under-Secretay-General for Communications, spoke about the significance of the this year’s celebration, “September 21, 2011, marks the 30th anniversary of the International Day of Peace. As we begin today a 100-day countdown to the observance, we pay tribute to the many civil society activists who lent the strength of their imagination to the institution of this Day.

The United Nations General Assembly declared in 1981 that the Day shall be devoted to commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples. It invited all Member States, the United Nations system, regional organizations, non-governmental organizations, peoples and individuals to commemorate the Day in different ways, especially through all means of education, and to cooperate with the United Nations in the observance of that day.

Education, and the fruits of education, have been central to this observance. Young women and men everywhere are demonstrating the power of connection by reaching out to each other, and rallying together, in the common cause of the dignity and human rights to which their peoples aspire.

It is in tribute to them, and the spirit they represent, that we have chosen this year, under the overall idea of Peace and Democracy, the theme of “Make Your Voice Heard.” The United Nations stands ready to work with the peoples in whose name the International Day of Peace was established to secure a world ready for, and worthy of, the peace that is essential to all creative human endeavour.”

PNC-Minnesota compiled a listing of International Peace Day events in our area:

Minnesota
11:30 am, Today
Flash Mob for World Peace
We are creating a flash mob giving FREE HUGS FOR WORLD PEACE. Wear your peace t-shirts! It will be videotaped!
IDS Crystal Court
8th St & Nicollet Avenue
Minneapolis, Minnesota

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5:30 pm, Today
Annual Peace Day Event
Children, parents and teachers will gather around our Peace Pole today to celebrate International Peace Day. Children will sing songs of peace and plant Pinwheels for Peace in the garden.
1500 Edgewood Blvd
North Mankato, Minnesota

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7:00 pm, Today
Women on the Front Line: War, Trauma & Remorse
Helen Benedict, author of The Lonely Soldier, will be speaking about why and how war stories are different when they are told by women soldiers. She will discuss the experiences of women at war, and what they have to say about war, violence, and peace.
University of St. Thomas
O’Shaughnessy Educational Center Auditorium
St. Paul, Minnesota
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8:00 pm, Today
Peace day 108 Sun Salutations
A small yoga community gathers to practice 108 Sun Salutations with the intention of peace for all.
Snap Fitness 4th Street
Staples, Minnesota
Aikido Peace Week Training and 15 yr anniversary of the Shuharikan Dojo
Join fellow Aiki schools (Way of Harmony) for a Friendship Training get-together and celebration of our 15 year anniversary in St. Paul. Training on Sat., Sept. 24 from approx. 10:30 to 12:30pm. More activities will be held all week.
265 W. 7th Street, 3rd Floor
St. Paul, Minnesota

Iowa
11:55 am, Today
Rally for Peace
We will gather for ten minutes in solidarity with those fighting to make peace a way of life around the world. At noon a minute of silence will be observed, as requested by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Water St.
Winnebago St.
Decorah, Iowa
http://neipjc.org

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7:15pm, Today
Free Yoga Classes at Twisted Root Yoga Studio
All the Yoga classes at Twisted Root Yoga Studio will be free on Wednesday, September 21, 2011 in honor of peace day. There will be a special class at 7:15 pm for anyone who has never been to a yoga class. Find peace in mind, body, and spirit via yoga.
331 Bluff Street
Dubuque, Iowa
http://twistedrootyoga.net

Wisconsin
12:00 noon, Today
Echo Valley Hope’s Celebration of International Day of Peace & Forgiveness
Echo Valley Hope hosts a day of prayer and celebration with the high energy gypsy music of Fishtank Ensemble and singer/songwriter Christine Costanzo.
E14604 County Road F
Ontario, Wisconsin
http://www.echovalleyhope.org

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3:15 pm, Today
Celebrate Peace
Peace Day program to promote community, world and inner peace. Yoga/tai chi demos, music, origami, writing, reading, crafts and music for all ages.
820 East Main Street
Eagle, Wisconsin, United States
http://www.alicebaker.lib.wi.us/

Michigan
All Week
Week of Peace Education/ UN International Day of Peace in Grand Rapids
The Grand Rapids Public Schools by Board Proclamation will encourage the observance of UN IDP classroom and school activities throughout the week and on the 21st. Program encouraged by the Institute for Global Education since 1984.
Grand Rapids Public Schools, 1331 Franklin St. SE,
Grand Rapids, Michigan
http://InstituteforGlobalEducation.org

North Dakota
8:00 pm, Today
Peace Bonfire
A celebration of International Peace Day that brings light to this special day and fosters dialogue and mutual understanding of others. FREE pizza and lemonade will be provided. Everyone is welcome!
3450 University Ave
Grand Forks, North Dakota

Tasha-Rose Mirick Joins PNC-Minnesta

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PNC-Minnesota is pleased to welcome Tasha-Rose Mirick to our staff as a reporter.  From her bio:

Tasha-Rose Mirick

Tasha-Rose Mirick is a 31 year old Pagan South Minneapolis mother of three with an obscene obsession with yarn and technology. Tasha-Rose has written for quite a long while, getting her start in journalism in high school as an editor of her high school newspaper. She went on to pursue an English degree and has a soft spot for all things bawdy from the 16th Century.

Tasha-Rose works for Allina in St. Paul, volunteers her time with Harmony Tribe as a board member, and has a generally merry Pagan life in Minnesota. Tasha-Rose is also an experienced belly dancer and directs the Twin Cities’ premier American Tribal Style Belly Dance Troupe, Kamala Chaand.

PNC-MN Goes to SHF

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We’ve loaded up our cars, put the mead in the cooler, and are on the road headed for Sacred Harvest Festival. Southern Minnesota – here we come!

"Why No, Officer, that's not an obstructed view out my back window."

Over the past year, Nels, Heather, and I have attended various Pagan festivals and heard about ones we wish we could attend. This is the first festival of the year that the three of us are able to attend as a group. Who knows what will happen with all of us in physical proximity of one another? (Not much. Heather and I go to bed at 10pm each night and Judy keeps Nels in line.)

Ahem. Anyway. What you can expect are great stories and interviews from the festival. We hope to be able to post some stories while we are there. Much will depend on the quality of the WiFi available at the camp. If the WiFi sucks like it did at PSG this year (too many people on one pipe) it may be a bit quiet on here. But let’s hope for the best.

If you can’t go to SHF, don’t be sad! Grab a bottle of mead and celebrate National Mead Day today. You can bet I will!

Happy Birthday PNC-MN! – Editorial

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The Pagan Newswire Collective – Minnesota Bureau is one year old! Evolving from a meeting at PSG with Jason Pitzl-Waters, and consultations with a local group who had also sent a proposal for a Minnesota bureau, this bureau posted “Community Notes”  from TCPagans on July 28th, 2010. How the PNC idea had gotten to this point is another whole story, but for us who formed this bureau; Heather Biedermann, Cara Schulz, and myself, Nels Linde, it was the start of an ambitious project.

What is this bureau?

The vision we acted upon was of a blog based information source for our community. The concept of ‘news’ is a hard one to define. Is it ‘Dog bites Pagan’, “Pagan bites Dog’, ‘What Pagans think about Dogs’, ‘Pagan wins at Dog Show’, ‘Pagan buys Dog’, ‘Dog bites Pagan in Detroit’, or ‘Pagan bites Pagan’? Well, we believe it is all of these topics and more. Our concept is to cover whatever seems to be the demonstrated interest, issues, and news we find in our community, and also to stretch that interest. As volunteers, with limits on our time, resources, and local experience, our content will also reflect our personal interest (I may have not written about Pagans hunting, if I didn’t hunt). As much as we are defining who and what we are, we also realize the idea of a local information source is ‘news’ to you, our readers. We know that your expectations may not match with our vision, and pay scale (we are all volunteers and have funded the costs, and time involved, in our reporting out of our pockets). We expect as we all grow and learn, these inequities in understanding will be resolved. Continue reading →