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News from the Keweenaw Peninsula December 9, 2001 Photos and Text © 2001 Michele Anderson

Copper Country Peace Alliance leads Walking Vigil

HOUGHTON -- Copper Country Peace Alliance members spent part of a snowy Saturday walking from Houghton to Hancock and back in a peaceful, nonviolent demonstration to express their view that violence, such as military intervention in Afghanistan, can only beget violence.

Preparing to walk to Hancock from the Motherlode Café in Houghton on Saturday morning, Dec. 8, are Copper Country Peace Alliance members and Hancock residents, from right, Joyce Koskenmaki, Merle Kindred and (hidden behind sign) Susan Burack.

Carrying signs of peace -- including quotations from Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr. -- the group began their Walking Vigil for Peace and Nonviolence at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 8, at the Motherlode Café in Houghton and proceeded across the Portage Lift Bridge to Hancock, where they paused to sing anti-war songs recalling the 1960s and early 70s. These 18 Copper Country residents included a cross-section of age groups, from 14 to 68.

Carol and Norman Kurz of Calumet joined their daughter, Suzanne Van Dam, and her husband, Tom Van Dam, of Houghton, in the vigil. 

Carol Kurz said a Public Radio interview with a French doctor from Doctors Without Borders (Médecins sans frontières) led her to become interested in the vigil. Kurz said the doctor spoke about mounting civilian casualties in Afghanistan and described operating on a child with serious injuries.

"The bombs -- as smart as they are -- are missing their mark, and today they're bombing again," Carol Kurz said. "At some point you have got to call a halt because of the collateral damage ... It's really tragic. It's time to reverse our policy there and come in with massive aid -- doctors, surgeons (and help for) the Red Cross to distribute food safely."

One of the younger participants, Hancock resident Barbara Hardy, formerly of San Francisco, Calif., said she joined the vigil because of her opposition to "globalization."

"I feel like my views are not represented by my government, so I have to represent my views this way," Hardy said. "I'd like our country to be more regional and sustainable -- to provide for our needs with our own resources."

Walking Vigil participants did not attempt to stop traffic. Some handed out leaflets to passers-by with their educational statement of nonviolent response to the events of September 11 and global terrorism.* Heading toward the Portage Lift Bridge in Houghton are, from left, an unidentified participant carrying the Copper Country Peace Alliance sign, Joyce Koskenmaki of Hancock, Barbara Hardy of Hancock (formerly of San Francisco, Calif.) and Viki Weglarz of Ahmeek.

 

Joining Joyce Koskenmaki, center, are the two youngest walkers in the Vigil -- Abby Weglarz, 15, left, of Ahmeek, and Ashley Gage, 14, of Houghton. Noting her friend Abby gave her the idea to join in the walk, Ashley said, "I thought it was a good idea to spread peace and love."

Added Peace Alliance member Rick Loduha, "If peace and love are considered unpatriotic, our democracy is in trouble."

Vigil participant Dave Watkins, 32, of Houghton, said his first contact with the Copper Country Peace Alliance was through attending a presentation and discussion the group sponsored on Nov. 28 -- a videotaped speech by Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, author of The School of Assassins: Guns, Greed, and Globalization.** 

"It was interesting," Watkins said. "I'm concerned about globalization and its impacts -- the growing gap between the rich and the poor."

A participant who preferred to remain anonymous added, "Today we voted $300 billion in defense spending for the United States. $300 billion could feed, clothe and provide health care for every needy person on earth."

 

Carrying the United States flag, Vern Simula of Toivola joins Susan Burack of Hancock,  as the group heads across the Portage Lift Bridge to Hancock.

Peace Alliance member Vern Simula, 68, of Toivola carried the United States flag throughout the Walking Vigil.

Said Simula, "Our nation is built upon the great principles of democracy, and our flag represents those principles."

Hancock resident Susan Burack said, "I'm here because I need to be here -- because this community needs a presence for peace."

 

Copper Country Peace Alliance members Sue Ellen Kingsley, left, of Hancock, and Scott Rutherford of Hancock cross the Portage Lift Bridge on the way to Hancock. Behind them are Rick Loduha of Hancock and Tom Van Dam of Houghton. Rutherford's sign bears a quotation from Martin Luther King, Jr. Said Rutherford of King, "He was a great man, and we should all take up his struggle for peace and justice."

 

Participants in the Walking Vigil arrive in Hancock at the north end of the Portage Lift Bridge. In the foreground, Steve Pluhacek of Houghton carries a blue Earth flag, while Vern Simula of Toivola carries the United States flag.

*See Page 2 for More Photos of the Walking Vigil for Peace and Nonviolence and the Copper Country Peace Alliance response to the events of September 11th and global terrorism.

** Read about the Nov. 28 video presentation.