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Reedley Peace Center Archives

2012

Friday, February 3, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Gene Otto spoke about the impending decision by Fresno County on the proposed CEMEX mining operation on Jesse Morrow Mountain.

Friday, January 27, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Graciela Martinez, Visalia activist, spoke about Immigrant issues.

Friday, January 20, 6:30-8:30
Video-tape: Martin Luther King, Jr. speech: I Have Been to the Mountaintop. This was the speech delivered in Memphis to the Memphis sanitation workers the day before King was assassinated.

Friday, January 13, 6:30-8:30
Documentary: The Economics of Happiness features a chorus of voices from six continents calling for systemic economic change. The documentary describes a world moving simultaneously in two opposing directions. On the one hand, government and big business continue to promote globalization and the consolidation of corporate power. At the same time, all around the world people are resisting those policies, demanding a re-regulation of trade and finance - and, far from the old institutions of power, they're starting to forge a very different future. Communities are coming together to re-build more human scale, ecological economies based on a new paradigm - an economics of localization.

Friday, January 13, 4:45-6:15
OCCUPY Reedley. Our third Occupy event - nother Bank Walk.

Friday, January 6, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Elijah Penner spoke about his work with Red Cross in Cambodia

2011

Friday, December 30
No Meeting

Friday, December 23
No Meeting

Friday, December 16, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Manuel Jimenez, 2011 winner of the California Peace Prize honoring the unsung heroes of violence prevention. Jimenez spoke about his project called Woodlake Pride, a volunteer youth group that plants and maintains 10 acres of orchards, vineyards, and vegetables at the Bravo Lake Botanical Gardens.

Friday, December 9, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Sherri Wiedenhofer, director of West Coast Mennonite Central Committee and members of the Reedley Police Department. Topic: Community Based Restorative Justice: Reedey Peacebuilding Initiative.

Friday, December 2, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Loretta Willems, Ph.D. from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, read her essay, Identity.

Friday, December 2, 4:45-6:15 PM
Occupy Reedley event: Big Bank Walk. Met in Pioneer Park on G Street between 8th and 9th streets. We walked to the major banks in our town: CitiBank, Bank of America, Wells Fargo Bank and Chase Bank. This was be a completely lawful non-threatening educational effort to demonstrate to ourselves and to all others, including local business people and bank employees that "we (all) are the 99%" with the civic power to overcome the problems we face.

Friday, November 25 - No regular meeting.
Sweet Home Ranch Annual Art Show and Holiday Gift Sale, featuring Paul Buxman original oil paintings, lithographs and art cards; farm crafted foods and gifts from Sweet Home rancha and neighboring farms.

Friday, November 18, 6:30-8:30
Member Hope Nisly read 'Cousins,' the work she recently presented on Valley Writers Read.

Friday, November 11, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Lynn MacMichael, lifelong peace and justice activist, will tell her story. Lynn's story includes working in the Parlier-Reedley area during the UFW grape-boycotts, and her recent as a peace-maker in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

Sunday, November 6, 2-5 PM
Reception for photography exhibit by Joe Halpen, long time peace center member.

Friday, November 4, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Bill Rempel, author and investigative journalist, will speak about his recent book At the Devil's Table: The Untold Story of the Insider Who Brought Down the Cali Cartel. Book signing to follow the program.

Friday, October 28, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Dr. Manzar Foroohar, Professor of Modern Latin America, Modern Middle East, Political Economy at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Topic: Revolution or Mobarakism without Mobarak?

Saturday, October 22 - Special Fall Event held at the home of Bob Riding, 4735 N. Malvern (one block east of Academy, off Shaw Ave.)
An Evening of Natural Energy
4:30 Riding house and grounds open
6:00 Buffet dinner by CPA Gourmet, Mike Terpening
7:00 Presentation: Bob Riding. "Net Zero & Me"
8:00 Concert by Lance Canales and the Flood

Friday, October 14, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Maureen Walsh will tell of her recent participation with Christian Peacemaker Teams in Palestine.

A series of programs on valley land and water usage - Friday, September 9, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Doug Noll, author, teacher, and nationally recognized mediator and peacemaker. Topic: Elusive Peace: How Modern Diplomatic Strategies Could Better Resolve World Conflicts. How does one mediate peace in the face of evil? His book, Elusive Peace, penetrates the headlines and takes a critical look at peace negotiations through the eyes of a professional mediator and peacemaker.

Friday, September 2, 6:30-8:30
Documentary: A Crushing Love: Chicanas, Motherhood and Activism. (58 minutes)
This documentary honors the achievements of five activist Latinas - labor organizer/farm worker leader Dolores Huerta, author/educator Elizabeth "Betita" Martinez, writer/playwright/educator Cherrie Moraga, civil rights advocate Alicia Escalante, and historian/writer Martha Cotera - and considers how these single mothers managed to be parents and effect broad-based social change at the same time.

Friday, August 26, 6:30-8:30
Documentary: Wasteland (99 minutes)
Renowned artist Vik Muniz embarks on one of the most inspired collaborations of his career, joining creative forces with Brazilian catadores -- garbage pickers who mine treasure from the trash heaps of Rio de Janeiro's Jardim Gramacho landfill. In this Oscar-nominated documentary, the catadores prove to be unique and surprising individuals in their own right, waxing philosophic as they impart a valuable lesson about what society discards.

Friday, August 19, 6:30-8:30
Speakers: Kimberly Medendorp and Randy Christopher. Topic: The Pasadena Peace and Justice Academy. The Academy is a four year old school for 6th through 10th grade students (eventually through 12th grades). Kimberly and Randy are Co-Executive Directors. This innovative school is sponsored by the Pasadena Mennonite Church, however it serves a diverse community with a strong academic curriculum that is religious only insofar as it prepares students to be peacemakers and to strive for justice for all.

Friday, August 12, 6:30-8:30
Documentary: The Singing Revolution (97 minutes)
James and Maureen Castle Tusty's moving documentary recounts Estonia's fight for independence from Soviet occupation, telling the remarkable story of the hundreds of thousands of protestors who gathered in public to voice their dissent through song. After 50 years of rule by the oppressive Soviet regime, the people of Estonia gave life to a grassroots movement for change by staging passionate rallies and singing forbidden patriotic songs.

Friday, August 5, 6:30-8:30
Documentary: Paper Clips (82 minutes) Whitwell Middle School in rural Tennessee is the setting for this documentary about an extraordinary experiment in Holocaust education. Struggling to grasp the concept of 6 million Holocaust victims, the students decide to collect 6 million paper clips to better understand the enormity of the calamity. The film details how the students met Holocaust survivors from around the world and how the experience transformed them and their community.

Friday, July 29, 6:30-8:30
Documentary: MicroCosmos 75 min
Employing unique microscopic cameras and powerful specialized microphones, this highly praised French documentary is a fascinating look at the seldom-explored world of insects and other minute creatures as they go about their daily lives. With footage of ladybugs feasting and snails mating to a mystical score by composer Bruno Coulais, the film won five Cesar Awards, including Best Cinematography and Best Music.

Friday, July 22, 6:30-8:30
Documentary: A Man Named Pearl (77 min) Angered by white residents' racist comments that he wouldn't "keep up his yard," Pearl Fryar teaches himself topiary sculpture and becomes the first African American in his Bishopville, S.C., neighborhood to win the coveted "yard of the month" award. This acclaimed documentary traces Fryar's inspiring story, as he grows into a legendary horticulturist, welcoming thousands of tourists eager to catch a glimpse of his stunning works of art.

Friday, July 15, 6:30-9:00
Documentary: Inside Job (120 minutes) This documentary presents in comprehensive detail the pervasive and deep-rooted corruption that led to the global economic meltdown of 2008. Through unflinching interviews with key financial insiders, politicos, journalists and academics, Ferguson paints a galling portrait of an unfettered financial system run amok -- without accountability.

Friday, July 8, 6:30-9:00
Documentary: Seeing Red (100 min.)
About 400 known and unknown American communists were interviewed during this five-year documentary project. As secretaries, factory workers, farmers, and intellectuals discuss the past, their insights provide both humor and pathos, but most of all, the interviewees emerge as human beings whose main interest has remained in lowering the gap between the haves and have nots. The documentary notes that as a result of leftist agitation, the United States adopted programs like Social Security and unemployment insurance faster than otherwise -- programs that were once labeled communist.

Friday, July 1, 6:30-8:30
Documentary: Cats of Mirikitani (73 min.) Filmmaker Linda Hattendorf becomes an integral part of the action in this heartfelt documentary about her efforts to help aging Japanese-American artist Jimmy Mirikitani get off the streets of New York City and make peace with his complicated past. As she and Jimmy sift for long-lost relatives and even revisit the internment camp where he was forced to spend several years during World War II, Hattendorf hauls her camera along to capture every moment.

Friday, June 24, 6:30-8:30
Documentary: Babies (79 min.) Documentary filmmaker Thomas Balmes charts the simultaneous early development of four babies from different parts of the world, illustrating what makes human life unique, similar and precious wherever it occurs. Training his camera on newborns Hattie from San Francisco, Ponijao from Namibia, Bayarjargal from Mongolia and Mari from Tokyo, Balmes captures everything from first screaming breaths to first steps.

Friday, June 17, 6:30-8:30
Reedley Peace Center Self Assessment and Goal Setting. We are approaching the end of nine years of existence. We encourage all persons who consider themselves part of Reedley Peace Center to participate in this review of who we are and of what we would like to become. What is and what should be the role of the Peace Center in your life? in the local community? in the global community?

Friday, June 10, 6:30-8:30
Documentary: Omar and Pete (60 min.) Emmy-winning producer, director and writer Tod Lending helms this intimate portrait of Omar and Pete, longtime friends and habitual criminals who've spent most of their lives behind bars. After their latest release from prison, each prepares to rejoin society, with mixed results. But can they leave their bad habits behind for good?

Friday, June 3, 6:30-8:30
Speakers: Jim Haber and Mary Lou Anderson, (both from Nevada Desert Experience) have just returned from a Voices for Creative Nonviolence delegation that met with Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers in support of the AYPV campaign "I Wish to Live Without Wars." Nevada Desert Experience advocates against the use of nuclear weapons and unmanned drones in warfare.

Friday, May 27, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Pedro Ramirez, Student Body President at CSUF will tell his story and speak of his advocacy for the DREAM Act.Pedro will be introduced by fellow student, former Reedley High Students for Peace president, Natalie Bachicha.

Friday, May 20, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Blanca Managi/Maoki Katsura. Kidnapped: A World War II story you didn't hear about in school. Mrs. Katsura, a member of our community for over 55 years, will tell how her family came to live in the United States: during World War II, the US government kidnapped and interned over 2,000 Japanese Latin Americans to be used for hostage exchange with Japan. At the age of 13, Mrs. Katsura and her family were forcibly uprooted, taken from Peru and interned in a Department of Justice camp in Crystal City, Texas. Her program will include a 27 minute video "Hidden Internment".

Friday, May 13, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: David Roy. Living in an America I No Longer Recognize. As a Christian and an American Citizen, I am feeling increasingly alienated from both church and nation: Where have our values gone? Can we hope to find ways to bring them back to the center of our faith and our politics?

Friday, May 6, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Mark Arax. The Valley, a Land of Paradox: #1 in Milk and Meth, #1 in Farm Bounty and Hunger.

Friday, April 29, 6:30-8:30
Documentary: The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Elsburg and the Pentagon Papers

Friday, April 22, 6:30-8:30
Good Friday Taize Service. A Service of Reflectioin, Song and Prayer for Ourselves, our Neighbors and Our World

Friday, April 15, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Bill Rempel, journalist and author. Topic: The State of Investigative Journalism

Friday, April 15, 12-1:30 in front of Reedley branch of Bank of America, 9th and G Street
Action/Vigil to protest BofA's (and many major corporations) non-payment of Federal Income Tax (in 2009 and 2010)

Friday, April 8, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Edie Jessup, Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program. Topic: San Joaquin Valley Menu. The great potential of agriculture in our Valley to solve issues like hunger, obesity, environment, economy, and equity.

Friday, April 1, No meeting.
West Coast Mennonite Central Committee Relief Sale

Friday, March 25 - Sunday, March 27
Eighth Annual Peace Center Retreat at St. Nicholas Retreat Grounds in the foothills near Dunlap. The retreat began with dinner on Friday and concluded with breakfast on Sunday. Featured speaker: Micah White a contributing editor at Adbusters, spoke on the theme: Rejuvenating Activism: Fresh Tactics, New Targets.

For more information including the Retreat Schedule and pictures from previous retreats, see 2011 Retreat Information (500 kbyte pdf file).

Friday, March 18, 6:30-8:30
DVD of a speech given in November 2010, by Chris Hedges on The Death of the Liberal Class.

Friday, March 11, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Larry Dunn. Topic: Discovering Forgiveness. Forgiveness is a topic of significant, and increasing, interest. What are the issues, questions, challenges? Using the latest research (and some humor), Dunn identified some of the key aspects of forgiveness and explored some of the processes and problems that emerge from the many understandings and practices of human beings in response to wrongdoing.

Friday, March 4, 6:30-8:30
Speakers: Bill Simon and Anthony Yrigollen. Topic: The American Civil Liberties Union: What is the ACLU and what does the Fresno chapter of ACLU do?

Friday, February 25, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Member Ruth Buxman, formerly a pastor, nurse, Christian Peacemaker team member, and currently involved with husband, Paul, in sustainable farming, shared the story of her personal journey.

Tuesday, February 22, 6:30
Steering committee meeting focused on projects and actions.

Friday, February 18, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Ken Martens Friesen, political science faculty member at Fresno Pacific University, political science faculty member at Fresno Pacific University, recently returned from a sabbatical in India. Topic: India's future: the energy and ethical questions around its growth and globalization.

Friday, February 11, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Peter Lumsdaine. Peter is founder and current head of ARROWS,
Alliance to Resist Robotic Warfare & Society. Peter's talk challenged the use of robotic technology in warfare.

Friday, February 4, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Peter Ashcroft. Peter worked with the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund in Washington, DC, lobbying for climate legislation. Peter discussed the science, the policy, and the politics of climate change.

Friday January 28, 6:30-8:30
Member Hope Nisly will read her narrative nonfiction With Normal in My Rearview Mirror. This is an account of the author's visit with her son who is in prison in another state. The journey takes her on a visit across the plains and into uncomfortable settings, where she meets people and experiences situations that most would consider undesirable. In the end, the new experience becomes just that - another new experience - with unexpected pleasures along the way, pleasures that overshadow the pain. This is a journey that articulates questions about how we define what is 'normal' and what is 'good' in our lives. This is the work that Hope read on Valley Writers Read early summer 2010.

Friday, January 21, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: David Franz. David holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Virginia. His doctoral work focused on the place of business in American culture. He currently works for the City of Shafter as Director of the Shafter Schools Project. Topic: The Moral Life of Corporations

Friday, January 14-Monday, January 17, Greater Fresno Martin Luther King Jr. Events.
Friday, January 14, 2011 (12:00 PM - 1:00PM - Garlanding Ceremony - Fresno County Courthouse Park (at MLK Bust), 1100 Van Ness Ave. Opening Ceremony. Please bring flowers.
Monday, January 17, 2011 (9 am - 10:30 am) March.
Assemble at St.John's Cathedral at 9 am. March begins at 10 am.
Schedule of events and march route.

Friday, January 14, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Rachel Boldt. Topic: Haiti, One Year After the Earthquake

Friday, January 7, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Eric Habben. Topic: Building Homes with SIPS (Structurally Insulated Panel Systems)

2010

Friday, December 17, 6:30-8:30
Documentary: Little Town of Bethlehem. Little Town of Bethlehem is a groundbreaking new documentary that shares the gripping story of three men - a Palestinian Muslim, a Palestinian Christian, and an Israeli Jew - born into violence and willing to risk everything to bring an end to violence in their lifetime.

Friday, December 10, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Jim Lichti, historian and teacher. Topic: The History of Modern Israel

Friday, December 3, 6:30-8:30
An Evening With John Dofflemyer. Dofflemyer is a Cowboy Poet and peace advocate who lives in the Kaweah River watershed. He shared his award-winning poetry with us.

Friday and Saturday, November 26 and 27
Annual Sweet Home Ranch Open House hosted by Paul and Ruth Buxman and friends.
Event Flyer including directions (pdf file)

Friday, November 19, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Lynn MacMichael, longtime peace and justice activist from the bay area. Lynn has visited Israel / Palestine numerous times. Topic: What are the Prospects for Peace in Israel/Palestine?

Friday, November 12, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Dr. Manzar Foroohar, professor of history at Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo, spoke about her experience in the Occupied West Bank and explained the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement. Dr. Foroohar suggests that you visit the website of the divestment campaign: http://www.israeldivestmentcampaign.org/

Friday, November 5, 6:30-9:00 PM through Sunday, November 7, 10:30 AM
Nonviolence: Engaging Conflict Creatively. Explore nonviolent living with us in this weekend workshop. We will learn, practice, and experiment with nonviolent options for our lives and for a sustainable, just and peaceful world. This workshop is ideal for advocacy organizations, citizen action leagues, campus networks, faith communities, and any group seeking to work together to create a society committed to justice, democracy, peace, sustainability and equality. This is a Pace e Bene workshop with facilitators Peter Ediger and Vanessa Brake. The Friday evening program will be preceded by the usual 6:30 meal.
Schedule:
Friday: 6:30 potluck dinner
             7-9 pm program
Saturday: 8 am breakfast
             9-12 am program
             12-1:30 pm lunch
             1:30-5:00 pm program
             5 pm dinner
             6:30-8:30 pm program
Sunday: 9-10 am program

Friday, October 29, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Ron Schmidt, professor of political science at Cal State Long Beach. Topic: Undocumented Immigration: Moral and Political Dilemmas. How can we best respond morally and politically to the dilemmas presented by undocumented immigration when (on the one hand) we are called to believe in the moral equality of all human beings, yet (on the other hand) we also live in a world divided into nation-states with legal and political boundaries?

Friday, October 22, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Member Doug Page, formerly a union attorney and currently an active blogger and writer about the US economy and other policy. Topic: Truth vs. Fiction in Economics

Saturday, October 16 Hors d'oeuvres at 6:30; show at 7pm at the Cedar View Winery Patio, 1384 S Frankwood Ave. north of Reedley
Reedley Peace Center sponsored An Evening with Cerro Negro in benefit of the Save Jesse Morrow Mountain campaign and the Reedley Peace Center. Cerro Negro is a Fresno based trio whose style is based on a unique coupling of traditional elements of Flamenco guitar - like using hand-techniques instead of a pick - with an exotic Caribbean percussion blend of Congas, Cajon, Djembe, Clave, Palmas and passionate vocals.

Friday, October 8 **** No meeting due to the following event ****
October 7th - 9th (Thursday - Saturday) Middle East Conference at CSU Fresno

Friday, October 1, 6:30-9:00 Carpool from Reedley Peace Center at 5:30
Tour of Organic Pastures with Mark McAffee, followed by a screening of Farmageddon.

Friday, September 24, 6:30-8:30
Robert Fisk and David Barsamian: Middle East Fantasies and Myths

Friday, September 17, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: William C. Rempel, investigative journalist will speak about his book, Delusions of a Dictator: The Mind of Marcos As Revealed in His Secret Diaries.

Friday, September 24, 6:30-8:30
Robert Fisk and David Barsamian: Middle East Fantasies and Myths

Friday, September 10, 6:30 Car-pool from Reedley to Islamic Cultural Center in Fresno
Reedley Peace Center joined an interfaith event at the Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno. The Eid Carnival scheduled at the conclusion of Ramadan was recently canceled by ICCF due to the recent increase in the levels of hostilities against Islam and Muslims following the proposal to construct an Islamic Center in lower Manhattan, and to deprive extremists from the opportunity to claim that American Muslims are celebrating 9/11. Instead ICCF held a community gathering on Friday 9/10 at 7:30 PM. We joined Muslims celebrating Eid Al-Fitr in affirming their rights to religious freedom, free of any intimidation.

Friday, September 3, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Miriam Cardenas, Immigration Associate with West Coast Mennonite Central Committee will lead a workshop on Emerging Immigration Issues: Legal Implications for both undocumented resident and those that employ and/or assist them. Miriam will present a plan which includes some very tangible ways that legal residents can partner with undocumented residents to help allay some of their fears about deportation.

Friday, August 27, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Dr. Bob Bowman, retired Lt.Col. in the US Air Force, Director of the Department of Defense's Star Wars program under presidents Ford and Carter. His Ph.D. is in aeronautics and nuclear engineering. He has run for political office, been a college professor, and has given thousands of talks across the US and Europe. Journalist Robert Scheer called Dr. Bowman "probably the best public speaker in the country today." Topic: A New Vision for America.

Friday, August 20, 6:30-8:30
Movie: Music Within. After losing his hearing as a soldier during the Vietnam War, Richard Pimentel (Ron Livingston) returns to America, where he falls in with an unlikely circle of friends and finds a new calling as a spokesman for the disabled. His activist efforts eventually lead to the creation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This inspiring and entertaining true story won the Audience Award at the 2007 AFI Dallas International Film Festival.

Friday, August 13, 6:30-8:30
Movie: Tuesdays with Morrie. When Mitch Albom (Hank Azaria) learns his beloved professor, Morrie Schwartz (Jack Lemmon), is dying with Lou Gehrig's Disease, he reconnects with his mentor and learns from him all over again -- but this time, they're studying life. Mitch might be a successful sports columnist and television host, but that doesn't mean he's aced his priorities. This made-for-television movie is based on the real-life Albom's best-selling book.

Friday, August 6 , 6:30-8:30
Documentary: Playing For Change: Peace Through Music. A story of hope, struggle, perseverance and joy. Directors Mark Johnson and Jonathan Walls, along with the Playing For Change team, traveled the globe with a single minded passion to connect the world through music. They filmed and recorded more than 100 musicians. Each captured performance creates a new mix in which essentially the artists are all performing together, albeit hundreds or thousands of miles apart. Playing For Change: Peace Through Music is the story of this unparalleled international collaboration, and the remarkable power of music.

Friday, July 30, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Stan Bohn, member of Fellowship of Reconciliation and NAACP during the Civil Rights movement, Christian Peacemaker team member, long-time war-tax resister, Mennonite Central Committee worker in Jamaica, peace activist from Vietnam to the present, will reflect on his journey.

Friday, July 23, 6:30-8:30
Movie: The Gods Must Be Crazy. Three vignettes highlight the surreal in this 1980 classic comedy written and directed by Jamie Uys. Among the three, the one about a Coke bottle falling out of the heavens and becoming a one-of-a-kind object coveted by everyone in a small African village is a cult favorite. The bottle creates such dissension that its finder, N!xau, decides the gods must've been crazy to give such a gift, so he sets out to drop it off the edge of the world.

Friday, July 16, 6:30-8:30
Speakers: Joan and Leroy Willems, MCC workers in Sudan. Topic: Coming Home: Sudan. A 22-year civil war, which ended in 2005, left southern Sudan as one of the most impoverished regions in the world. People who fled during the war are returning home to find little infrastructure, such as schools or health care, to accommodate a growing population.

Friday, July 9, 6:30-8:30
Documentary: In the Light of Reverence. This film tells the stories of three communities and places they care for: the Lakota at Devils Tower in Wyoming, the Hopi in the Four Courners area of the Southwest, and the Wintu at Mt. Shasta in California. These are all places of extraordinary beauty, and impassioned controversy, as Indians and non-Indians struggle to co-exist with very different ideas about how the land should be used. For American Indians, the land is sacred and akin to the world's greatest cathedrals. For others, the land should be used for industry and recreation. In the Light of Reverence explores these issues from both sides of the debate by giving voice to the diverse people who utilize sacred places.

Friday, July 2, 6:30-8:30
Documentary: The Orange Revolution. This documentary is a combination of archival footage and film shot by director Steve York. It tells the story of the 2004 presidential campaign in the Ukraine, the election stolen by a corrupt establishment, the hard fought nonviolent campaign by the people of the Ukraine demanding justice from their government, and the final victory of Viktor Yushchenko.

Friday, June 25, 6:30-8:30
Documentary: Michael Moore's Capitalism, A Love Story

Friday, June 18, 6:30-8:30
Documentary: Young@Heart. Coldplay, the Clash and Jimi Hendrix will never sound the same once you've heard the Young@Heart chorus, a group of Massachusetts senior citizens who thrill audiences worldwide with their unusual -- and unusually poignant -- covers of rock songs. Stephen Walker's humane and heartwarming documentary, which premiered at Sundance in 2008, follows the elderly ensemble as they prepare their latest show for public performances.

Friday, June 11, 6:30-8:30
Documentary: 30 DAYS: "A border-patrolling minuteman" moves in with an undocumented Mexican family. What better way to give people a crash course in empathy than to have them inhabit somebody else's life for 30 days? That's exactly what Super Size Me director and star Morgan Spurlock does on this popular FX Network show.

Friday, June 4, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Doug Page. Topic: Private Banking and Money Creation: A human institution that siphons away our wealth and voting power.

Friday, May 28, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Tom Moradian, adjunct English teacher at Reedley College. Topic: Ancient and Modern Heresies

Friday, May 21, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Chris Kapheim, Water Commissioner with Alta Irrigation District spoke about issues related to the availability of potable water in Tulare County, particularly in its unincorporated communities.

Friday, May 14, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Dr. Pamela Iwasaki, family practioner. Topic: Health Care Reform: A Conversation.

Friday, May 7, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Bruce Bickham spoke about the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Rehabilitation: The Hype, the Reality, the Cost.

Friday, April 30, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Mark McAffee, owner of Organic Pastures, a valley producer of raw milk. Topic: Share the Secret: How the immune system benefits from the use of raw milk and a whole nutritious diet.

Friday, April 23, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Holly Hight of Bread for the World

Friday, April 16, 6:30-8:30
Terrence Rynne spoke about his book, Gandhi and Jesus: The Saving Power of Nonviolence. Dr. Rynne's book offers good insights into the life and teaching of Mohandas Gandhi, how Gandhi helps us refocus on the central role of nonviolence in Jesus life and teaching, and, in fact, how 'salvation' can be understood in the light of nonviolence.

Terrence J. Rynne PH.D. is currently a teacher of peace studies at Marquette University and the Co-President of the Sally and Terry Rynne Foundation dedicated to peace and the empowerment of women. In 2007, the Foundation funded the launch of the Marquette University Center for Peacemaking. Dr. Rynne was formerly President of the Rynne Marketing Group, a successful health care marketing consulting firm. He received his MBA in marketing and health care administration from Northwestern University and his doctorate in theology from Marquette University.

Dr. Rynne is author of Gandhi and Jesus: The Saving Power of Nonviolence (Orbis Books). His talk at Reedley Peace Center was based on this book.

Gandhi and Jesus explores how the life an teaching of Mohandas Gandhi have prompted a fresh appreciation of Jesus and his message of nonviolence.

The program

Friday, April 9
No meeting because of the Mennonite Central Committee West Coast Relief Sale

Friday, April 2, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: James Lichti, history teacher at Miliken High School in Los Angeles and Historian with the Shoah Foundation. Topic: Pacifist Denominations in Nazi Germany

Friday evening, March 26 - Sunday morning, March 28
Seventh Annual Peace Center Retreat at St. Nicholas Retreat Grounds in the foothills near Dunlap. The retreat began with dinner on Friday and concluded with breakfast on Sunday. Theme: Sustainable Living with featured presenter, Mark Alvis.

Friday, March 19, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Dr. Akira Tajiri, Reedley optometrist, spoke about his foundation, Precision Vision Enhancement, whose mission is to provide free prescription eyeglasses to the world's needy.

Friday, March 12, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Mike Rhodes, editor of the Community Alliance, spoke of his work advocating for the homeless in Fresno.

Friday, March 2, 6:30-8:30
Movie: Gandhi (Part 2)

Friday, February 26, 6:30-8:30
Movie: Gandhi (Part 1). We viewed the 1982 film by Richard Atenborough with Ben Kingsley as Gandhi.

Friday, February 19, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Member Joe Halpen told his story. "What a Long Strange Trip it's Been"

Friday, February 12, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Shoroq Hijazeen, exchange worker from Jordan. Topic: Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

Friday, February 5, 6:30-8:30
Documentary: Fresh celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision for a future of our food and our planet.

Friday, January 29, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Dave Koehler Executive Director of San Joaquin River Parkway and Conservation Trust spoke about water issues related to the San Joaquin river.

Links to additional information about the San Joaquin River:
Friday, January 22, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Victoria Benavides presented her honors project at UC Berkeley, Pedagogy for Empowerment.
The demographics of California have changed drastically so that students of Mexican descent are now in the majority. We must adopt culturally sensitive and appropriate multicultural curriculum grounded in Chicana/Latina Studies as a source of empowerment for our Mexican and Mexican American youth. This project highlights work done in Reedley and Orange Cove.

Victoria's Thesis Overview

Friday, January 15, 6:30-8:30
Open Mic Night - the program included Friday, January 8, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Robb Davis, Topic: Food Systems and the World Food Crisis.
Robb is director of health initiatives at Freedom From Hunger, an organization that combines microfinance, education and health protection to help poor women in Africa, Asia, and Latin America achieve a sustainable, self-help end to hunger.

Robb's presentation (6 Mbyte PDF - does not include the video clips)

The 4 video clips can be found at

Ellul.mp4
Food_Inc.mov
Medium.m4v
Rosecrantz_Testimony.mov

Five of the books that Robb referenced in his talk are:

Friday, January 1  NO MEETING

2009

Friday, December 25  NO MEETING

Friday, December 18, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Eleanor Nickel; Topic: Slave Narratives: How Does a Pacifist Respond?
Eleanor is the English Program Director at Fresno Pacific University. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, American slaves who had escaped to the North wrote bestselling narratives of their painful experiences in bondage.  Former slaves such as Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs made compelling arguments for aggression against the Confederacy and rejoiced when the Civil War finally destroyed the slave system.  How does someone, who believes war is wrong, respond to those so horribly victimized by an evil regime that they are begging for war?

Sunday, December 13, 8 PM
Beginning of The People Speak on the History Channel. See David Zirin article.

Saturday, December 12, 8:00 PM
Reedley Peace Center night at the River City Theatre Company's production of 'The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.'

Friday, December 11   NO MEETING

Friday, December 11 4:30-6 PM
Witness against the escalation of the war in Afghanistan. Corner of Reed and Manning under the Reedley College marquee.

Sunday, December 6
A three-month study (9:30-10:30 each Sunday morning) of Terrence Rynne's "Gandhi and Jesus: The Saving Power of Nonviolence" began.  You are invited to join the study in the Education wing of First Mennonite Church.

Saturday, December 5, 8:30 AM-5 PM
VORP Mediator Training for the Reedley Police Department restorative justice program was held upstairs at the Mennonite Central Committee Building, 1010 G Street in Reedley. The training was well attended and very interesting. Mediators will meet on the evening of January 7 to hear about the things that will be unique to the Reedley program. Thanks to all Peace Center members who are part of this.

Friday, December 4, 6:30-8:30
Member Hope Nisly is a writer of creative nonfiction. She has read her works numerous times on Valley Public Radio's 'Valley Writers Read'. Hope gave an encore presentation of Bella Vista, her most recent work on that program.

Friday, November 27, 9 AM-5 PM and Saturday, November 28, 9 AM-4 PM
Sweet Home Ranch Annual Art Show and Holiday Gift Sale, featured Paul Buxman original oil paintings, lithographs and art cards; farm crafted foods and gifts from Sweet Home ranch and neighboring farms; and tractor pulled hay rides for kids and adults.
For more information see the White Friday article from the November 25, 2009 Reedley Exponent.

Friday, November 20,
5-6 PM Vigil to Save Jesse Morrow Mountain at the corner of Manning and Reed, under the Reedley College marquee
6:30-8:30
Family Panel on Homosexuality.  Several of our members shared their stories - the joys and difficulties they experienced from the perspective of families with gay / lesbian family members.

Resources Sunday, November 15, 6 PM at the Mennonite Brethern Biblical Seminary (corner of Chestnut / Butler in Fresno)
Health Care Forum by Mennonite Peacemakers.  Speakers: Duane Oswald from Avanti Health, Dr. Roger Fast, and Tammy Alexander, MCC Washington DC office legislative associate. Steve Penner was moderator. Event Photos.

Sunday, November 15, 9:30-10:30 AM
Tammy Alexander, MCC Washington office legislative assistant, spoke and answered questions during the Sunday School hour in the Fellowship Hall. In her MCC work in Washington Tammy monitors legislation on health care, the environment and immigration.

Materials Tammy distributed: Other related links:
Friday, November 13, 6:30-8:30
Speakers: Leydisvel Freire Peña and Tanya Cole of Witness for Peace, spoke about the debilitating effects of US embargo on Cuba and US restrictions on travel to and from Cuba.

Friday, November 6, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: David Barsamian, founder and director of Alternative Radio.  Topic: Obama's Expanding Wars: Afghanistan and Pakistan

Alternative Radio Books

Individual Books by David Barsamian Monday, November 2 7-8:30  Special Event
Rhoda Janzen read and spoke about her recently published memoir, "Mennonite in a Little Black Dress".
The same week her husband of 15 years ditches her for a guy he met on Gay.com, a partially inebriated teenage driver smacks her VW Beetle head-on. Marriage over, body bruised, life upside-down, Rhoda does what any sensible 43-year-old would do: She goes home.

But hers is not just any home. It's a Mennonite home, the scene of her painfully uncool childhood and the bosom of her family: handsome but grouchy Dad, plain but cheerful Mom. Drinking, smoking, and slumber parties are nixed; potlucks, prune soup, and public prayer are embraced. Having long ago left the faith behind, Rhoda is surprised when the conservative community welcomes her back with open arms and offbeat advice. She discovers that this safe, sheltered world is the perfect place to come to terms with her failed marriage and the choices that both freed and entrapped her.

Friday, October 30, 6:30-8:30
Speaker: Peter McLaren, professor of Urban Schooling at UCLA School of Education and Information Studies.  Topic: Education at a Time of Crisis