The Petaluma Progressive Festival 2014

If you haven't checked out the Petaluma Progressive Fest you are in for a treat!  It was a great group of people; great entertainment; a lot of cool booths about every activist cause; the weather was great and the food was good; big trees all around.  I got to meet Peter Phillips of Project Censored and was serenaded by Maria Muldaur and her band and the gang was brought to their feet by the encouraging and clever words of Jim Hightower.  And I sold out of Better World Shopping Guides by 2 pm!  A woman came up to me and described the Peace Panels as songs.  She was grateful for the Peace Panels.  This is an event not to be missed the next time it comes around.
www.progressivefestival.org

Smallest Exhibit yet

Last Saturday, was the last Saturday of Chico Tree Advocates' Community Grant Fundraising campaign for this year.  I was a little slow off the blocks that morning, since I had just got back from the Peace Panel Project Fall 2014 Valley Tour.  So it was my smallest exhibit yet, just one easel, one large Peace Panel, a card table and a few books.  Small is good.  It seemed as many people as ever stopped by to say hi or see what was going on.

Modesto - Stockton Exhibit and Speaking Fall Tour 2014: Why is the US 23rd in Freedom of the Press?

Goals got accomplished this week!  I was able to set up, schedule, and complete an exhibit and speaking tour (Why is the US 23rd in Freedom of the Press?) in Modesto and Stockton, that resulted in many new volunteer sign ups for the peace group in each of those towns.   Last Tuesday I addressed a group at the Church of the Brethren, in Modesto.  After which I received a warm applause and some interested questions and some brisk book sales.  The next day John Lucas and I got a good response from the students and faculty that stopped by the Peace Panel exhibit at the Modesto Junior College Quad, in front of the cafeteria.  There turned out to be a Career Fair that day so we were happy to show off our Career Builders programs.  The Modesto Peace/Life Center had a volunteer doing outreach at Modesto High School so I provided him with a handful of our Career Builder brochures that he put to good use.

The next day I was in Stockton at the First Unitarian Church and participated in their simple meal and short readings and sing along and then was the featured speaker at that gathering. Then the next day Christie Kelley of the Peace & Justice Network joined me tabling at Delta College.

Four successful events in coordination with the local peace groups in as many days. It felt so good we all resolved to do it again in the spring.

Farmers Market 9/20/14 What a kick!

I pedaled into the Farmers Market a little late.  I am not always the first one off the blocks.  Checked in and set up thanks to the generosity of the  Market Management.  And a lady came up and checked out the Chico Tree Advocate exhibit and almost jumped!  She was thrilled, she said, to find a program to be involved in that was new to her that would benefit the community!  She signed up her contact info and promised to write a letter right away to tell the City Council how sad she was that those trees on Mangrove got cut down.  Maybe we will see her at the City Council meeting in two Tuesdays.  Another mom came up and looked over our table and said she needed to know more about Nonviolent Communication and Better World Shopping and she bought the two books on the spot.  Pammie came by with a cup of tea for me, and

Alfa brought me a cookie.  It was a good day!

This Weekend at the Farmers Market

This Weekend at the Farmers Market we were all about our new Project Censored Panel, Career Builders, and Chico Tree Advocates.  So what happened?   We sold out of Nonviolent Communication!
But that's not all, we got a couple of more Tree Advocate sign ups and sold a Better World Shopping Guide (27% off retail).  We had some great conversations.  Pammie, Alfa, Scott, Mike, Cheryl and Nelson stopped by among others to encourage our campaign.