Pacific Northwest Interfaith Peace Walk on August 6, 2026 in Lake Forest Park

Rev. Senji Kanaeda and Rev. Gilberto Perez of the Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist Temple

By Glen Milner

The annual Pacific Northwest Interfaith Peace Walk started in the morning on Thursday, August 6, 2026 in Lake Forest Park for the 81st year remembrance of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan.

Rev. Senji Kanaeda and Rev. Gilberto Perez of the Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist Temple on Bainbridge Island conducted a short ceremony for peace before noon, at the Peace Pole on the corner of Bothell Way NE (SR 522) and Ballinger Way NE SR 104).

The ceremony in Lake Forest Park is called すべての核犠牲者の為の「慰霊祭」or Subete no kaku giseisha no tame no Irei-sai (memorial, or spirit-consoling, service for all nuclear victims.)

The seven mile Peace Walk begins in Lake Forest Park and ends at the Green Lake lantern floating event   

The Peace Walk is a distance of seven miles, with the procession beginning in Lake Forest Park and ending in Seattle at Green Lake at the annual From Hiroshima to Hope lantern-floating event.

Lantern-floating event at Greenlake

See a six-minute video of the ceremony in Lake Forest Park here

Contact Rev. Senji Kanaeda or Rev. Gilberto Perez at 206-780-6739 or 206-724-7632 (cell), or Glen Milner at 206-979-8319.

More information on the Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist order on Bainbridge Island here

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Lake Forest Park for Peace 23-year Anniversary on December 13, 2025

LFP for Peace members gather at the corner of Bothell and Ballinger Way
on Saturdays from 11am to noon

Story and photos by Glen Milner

Over 35 members of Lake Forest Park for Peace gathered on Saturday, December 13, 2025 to mark their 23-year anniversary at the corner of Bothell Way NE (SR 522) and Ballinger Way NE (SR 104) where they have been assembled almost every Saturday from 11am to noon since 2002.

Lake Forest Park for Peace was formed on December 14, 2002 in opposition to the ongoing war in Afghanistan and the impending invasion of Iraq. Members have publicly demonstrated for peace on nearly 1,200 consecutive Saturdays as well as demonstrating at hundreds of other events. 

Members held a candlelight vigil for peace on the evening of March 20, 2003, when a driver stopped to inform them that the U.S. had just started its bombing campaign for the invasion of Iraq.

In March 2011, Lake Forest Park for Peace members donated a Peace Pole to the City of Lake Forest Park which marks a permanent call for peace at the Bothell Way NE and Ballinger Way NE street corner.

In 2019, the Washington Post released a six-part series, titled, The Afghanistan Papers, A secret history of the war, based upon court-released federal records. The 2,000 pages of interviews revealed that “senior U.S. officials failed to tell the truth about the war in Afghanistan throughout the 18-year campaign, making rosy pronouncements they knew to be false and hiding unmistakable evidence the war had become unwinnable.”

A June 2008 Senate Intelligence Committee report concluded, “…the Bush Administration led the nation into war under false pretenses” and “There is no question we all relied on flawed intelligence. But, there is a fundamental difference between relying on incorrect intelligence and deliberately painting a picture to the American people that you know is not fully accurate.”

The Iraq War (2003-2011) inflicted catastrophic human costs, killing between 405,000 and 650,000 people through direct violence and indirect effects like disease and infrastructure collapse. An estimated 176,000 to 241,000 died in the 20-year war in Afghanistan with similar catastrophic and long-lasting effects.

Combined, wars on Afghanistan (2001-2021) and Iraq (2003-2011) resulted in the deaths of 7,000 U.S. soldiers, and over 53,000 wounded. The wars left deep global and domestic impacts.

Members of LFP for Peace gather to protest war - currently war against Venezuela

Currently, the U.S. is ramping up a war against Venezuela. As with Afghanistan and Iraq, the threatened U.S. military pressure on Venezuela shares key buildup patterns with Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003), including rapid naval/air deployments, threat inflation, and regime-change goals masked as counter-terrorism.

Similarities between the Afghanistan and Iraq wars and now Venezuela began with initial small-scale actions—with special ops raids in Afghanistan against al-Qaeda, no-fly zone bombings in Iraq, and recent U.S. boat strikes (80+ killed) off Venezuela framed as anti-drug ops to test defenses and build legal cover.​

The surge in U.S. Forces and rhetoric with Venezuela is similar with U.S. naval vessels, 15,000+ personnel near Venezuela, F-35s in Puerto Rico, and CIA covert ops, echoing the action against Afghanistan and the buildup to the "Shock and Awe” campaign against Iraq.

Both wars in the Middle East, and now actions against Venezuela, prioritized toppling leaders (Taliban, Saddam, Maduro) via sanctions, ultimatums, and forward positioning—leading to operations expanding beyond initial goals, and creating conflicts that strain U.S. resources for decades.

The mission statement for Lake Forest Park for Peace reads, "Founded in 2002, we, the members of Lake Forest Park for Peace, stand united in our opposition to war, especially the policy of premeditative, preemptive, and preventative war as conducted by our government. We commit ourselves to nonviolent support of multilateral resolutions to conflict.”

Please join with us—every Saturday in Lake Forest Park from 11am to noon.

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Peace is not as controversial as some might think

Glen Milner of Lake Forest Park and Bob Trutnau of
Kenmore. Photo by Paul LaFond of Lake Forest Park.

Story by Glen Milner

Lake Forest Park, Saturday, October 28

 

Peace is not as controversial as some might think. 

 

Responses from those passing by on Saturday in Lake Forest Park were nearly all positive. 

 

Please share your views with your representatives in Congress and with President Biden.

 

Please join with Lake Forest Park for Peace - every Saturday from 11am to noon.

Corner of Bothell Way NE (SR 522) and Ballinger Way NE (SR 104)

 

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Pacific Northwest Interfaith Peace Walk on Sunday August 6 in Lake Forest Park

Photo by Rev. Senji Kanaeda

The annual Pacific Northwest Interfaith Peace Walk will start the day on Sunday, August 6, 2023 in Lake Forest Park for the 78th year remembrance of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan. 

Rev. Senji Kanaeda of the Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist Temple on Bainbridge Island will conduct a short ceremony for peace at 11:30am, at the Peace Pole on the corner of Bothell Way NE (SR 522) and Ballinger Way NE (SR 104).

The ceremony at 11:30am in Lake Forest Park is called すべての核犠牲者の為の「慰霊祭」or Subete no kaku giseisha no tame no Irei-sai (memorial, or spirit-consoling, service for all nuclear victims.)

The Peace Walk on August 6th will be a distance of eight miles, with the procession beginning in Lake Forest Park and ending in Seattle at Green Lake at the annual lantern-floating event From Hiroshima to Hope. 

This day is part of a nine-day walk that began in Salem, Oregon and ends at the Trident nuclear submarine base at Bangor, Washington on August 7th.

All are invited to participate in the short ceremony in Lake Forest Park and for all or any part of the eight-mile Peace Walk to Green Lake.

For more information, please contact Rev. Senji Kanaeda or Rev. Gilberto Perez at 206-780-6739 or 206-724-7632 (cell), or Glen Milner at 206-979-8319 or gk_milner@outlook.com.

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Srebrenica Commemoration Walk, hosted by Islamic Community of Bosniaks in WA and Bosnian Youth of Seattle

Srebrenica Commemoration Walk, hosted by Islamic Community of Bosniaks in WA and Bosnian Youth of Seattle

Sunday, July 9, 2023. Gather at 2:00pm (walk begins at 2:30pm)

Greenlake Trail, 7201 East Greenlake Dr. N, Seattle

Join the Islamic Community of Bosniaks in WA, located in Shoreline, for a commemoration walk for the 28th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide which occurred in Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 11,1995. 

Srebrenica history and war crimes committed. 

Email omladinskazajednicasabur@gmail.com for more information.

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Candlemas service at St. Dunstan's to promote justice and activism

At St. Dunstan's, we want to try something new with something old. We want to use the ancient tradition of Candlemas to start a new wave of justice. To shine the Light of Peace into our modern world that has so much injustice and darkness.

We are calling for people to repent of any ways in which they add to injustice or fail to fight injustice in the places they can.

On February 2, 2023 at 7pm we are having a service called Candlemas. Traditionally this service is about celebrating the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple as a baby. It represents the bringing of Christ’s Light to the whole world.

In modern times it’s been a mixed bag on how well churches have stepped up to love as Christ calls us to love, by both fully accepting people as well as taking care of people. We at Saint Dunstan’s are doing what we can to fix that. We want to put into action the prayer we always say, “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven”.

Because prayer without action would only be further sinfulness on our parts, we have reached out to activist partners to come and have tables with information on how people can get involved.

The Service will run from 7pm to about 8pm. After the service we will gather in the parish hall to share specific ways we can get involved, get active, and make a difference. We hope you will take this opportunity to get involved with local groups to add or continue your effort to making this world a better place.

You can RSVP on Eventbrite or Facebook.

If you are involved in an advocacy group that might like to join with us for this, please email office@sdchp.org by 10am on Wednesday.

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Candlelight vigil December 14, 2022 to honor those impacted by gun violence

December 14, 2022, is the 10-year mark of the Sandy Hook School shooting. By the end of this year, over one million Americans will have been killed or injured by firearms since that tragic day. 

The victims, survivors, their families and communities are often forgotten. 

Therefore, with our partners, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church, Alliance for Gun Responsibility, Brady Campaign, Soul Box Project, Washington CeaseFire and Grandmothers Against Gun Violence, we will unite to host a candlelight vigil in loving remembrance for all those who have fallen victim to the ongoing epidemic of gun violence in America.

Our mission is to support families and communities impacted by gun violence, unite the gun violence prevention movement, educate, raise awareness, and keep this critical issue front and center throughout the nation.

Join us on Wednesday, December 14th at 7:00pm at St. Dunstan’s Church at 722 N 145th St, Shoreline, WA.

RSVP here

#WAVigilToEndGunViolence

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Ceremony in Lake Forest Park marks the anniversary of the Hiroshima atomic bomb with prayers for Peace

Rev. Senji Kanaeda makes offerings of incense and water
Photo by Karol Milner 

The Lake Forest Park portion of the Peace Walk began at the Peace Pole at the corner of Bothell and Ballinger Way NE

The Peace Pole photo by Karol Milner

The Rev. Senji Kanaeda of the Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist Temple on Bainbridge Island made offerings of incense, and water to quench the thirst of atomic bomb victims in Hiroshima, Japan in 1945.

Peace Ceremony photo  by Karol Milner

Over 20 people then walked the seven miles to Green Lake as part of the annual Pacific Northwest Interfaith Peace Walk.

At Green Lake they joined with others for the annual floating lantern ceremony on the lake.

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Pacific Northwest Interfaith Peace Walk on August 6, 2022 in Lake Forest Park

Photo by Rev. Senji Kanaeda

The annual Pacific Northwest Interfaith Peace Walk will start the day on Saturday, August 6, 2022 in Lake Forest Park for the 77th year remembrance of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan. 

Rev. Senji Kanaeda of the Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist Temple on Bainbridge Island will conduct a short ceremony for peace at noon, at the Peace Pole on the corner of Bothell Way NE (SR 522) and Ballinger Way NE (SR 104).

The ceremony at noon in Lake Forest Park is called すべての核犠牲者の為の「慰霊祭」or Subete no kaku giseisha no tame no Irei-sai (memorial, or spirit-consoling, service for all nuclear victims.)

Lanterns at Green Lake

The Peace Walk on August 6th will be a distance of seven miles, with the procession beginning in Lake Forest Park and ending in Seattle at Green Lake at the annual From Hiroshima to Hope lantern-floating event. 

See http://fromhiroshimatohope.org. 

This day is part of a six-day walk that began in Portland, Oregon and ends at the Trident nuclear submarine base at Bangor, Washington on August 8th.

All are invited to participate in the short ceremony in Lake Forest Park and for all or any part of the seven-mile Peace Walk to Green Lake.

For more information, please contact Rev. Senji Kanaeda or Rev. Gilberto Perez at 206-780-6739 or 206-724-7632 (cell), or Glen Milner at 206-979-8319 or gk_milner@outlook.com. 

Information about the 2022 Peace Walk here: 

https://www.gzcenter.org/event/2022-pacific-northwest-interfaith-peace-walk

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Rotary Club of Lake Forest Park announces winners in What Peace Means to Me contest

The Rotary Club of Lake Forest Park is proud to announce the winners of the 2022 “What Peace Means To Me” Contest. 

A panel of Rotarians judged all of the entries in each of five categories of awards (Kindergarten to 2nd Grade, 3rd to 4th Grade, 5th to 8th Grade, 9th to 12th Grade, Adult, and for this year only, a Special award based on topicality). 

We were very pleased with the thoughtfulness and the wide range of genres that were represented: haiku, digital illustration, sculpture, essay, poetry, and artwork. This is the contest’s second year and we received three times the number of entries as last year. We look forward to next year’s entries!

We invite and encourage everyone interested in Rotary to investigate how we support the Rotary motto of “Service Above Self” and our Peacebuilder Mission by attending one of our meetings. 

The Rotary Club of Lake Forest Park meets every Wednesday via Zoom. Our virtual 7:15am and our meeting begins at 7:30am, ending promptly at 8:30am. To join the Zoom session, please use this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85142410960

We sincerely thank everyone who entered the Contest!

The winners are as follows:

Kindergarten to Second Grade Category: India Free

Third to Fifth Grade Category: Carmen Skurski

Sixth to Eighth Grade Category: Alexa Graeff

Ninth to Twelfth Grade Category:  Cadence Rotarius

(Spoken version was also submitted)

My minds a scatter plot, 
lines crossing in un-uniform ways, 
laced with different insults everyday. 
The amount of times I’ve missed my shot 
at doing something for me, 
because I didn’t live up to the expectations of who I thought I should be. 
If life’s a game why can’t I have fun
doing what I want to,
cause I’m too busy thinking about what I should do? 
When will I learn what peace means?
It’s only come to me in my dreams. 
Where the voices cease, 
and the only words I hear won’t hurt me. 
A time my heart stays in its chest,
and I have no fear cause I already know that I’m at my best. 
A life of endless possibilities. 
No holding back, having confidence in my abilities. 
This is what peace means to me. 
Stepping away from all our insecurities. 
Trusting that we will succeed, 
letting ourselves fully breathe. 
Believing that no one goes against us, 
and if they do we won’t make a fuss. 
We’re stronger than we think we are. 
Life is hard, yet we’ve made it this far. 
What’s keeping us from calming down
is the same thing causing us to walk around 
with these faulty perceptions 
and inaccurate self reflections. 
A world without these is what we need. 
This is what peace means to me. 

Ninth to Twelfth Grade Category: Cadence Rotarius

(Spoken version was also submitted)

Adult Category:  Wendy Russell

Adult Category: Wendy Russell

Special Category:  Lily Fredericks

See her story "Knowing" here

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LFP Rotary "What Peace Means to Me" contest Special Category Award for "Knowing"

Lily's grandmother with Thomas the cat

The Rotary Club of Lake Forest Park is proud to announce the winners of the 2022 “What Peace Means To Me” Contest.

A panel of Rotarians judged all of the entries in each of five categories of awards (Kindergarten to 2nd Grade, 3rd to 4th Grade, 5th to 8th Grade, 9th to 12th Grade, Adult, and for this year only, a Special award based on topicality).

You can see the winners in this article: 

https://www.shorelineareanews.com/2022/05/rotary-club-of-lake-forest-park.html

The Special Category award went to Lily Fredricks for her story Knowing.

Knowing

     I never met my mom’s relatives before.
     Growing up, we would frequent our local library to print copies of the photos they emailed us. My mom would press a cool quarter in my palm, and I’d pinch it between my fingertips to slide it in a coin slot alongside the color printer. When I did, the gray box came whirring and wheezing to life, wearily roused from its slumber.
     As the contraption set to work, my younger self imagined miniature hands painting the vivid scenes stroke by stroke and sliding them through the opening perched at the top when completed. I’d stand on the tips of my toes and peer curiously into this opening as the deftly copied masterpieces slid out one by one. When the last landed on top of the stack, my mom fished them up and gently placed the fresh sheets in my hands.
     Side by side, we looked through them together.
     Each photograph was a glimpse of another world: in them my relatives immersed themselves in exotic blooms from real life fairy tales, and swam beneath billowing blue skies in water rippling like satin. Even pixelated, I could see the sun kissed glow turn their cheeks petal pink and set their wispy fair hair ablaze.
     Warmth emanated from the pages in my grasp, and part of me yearned to believe that it was this very warmth from the sun that shone upon them. That this very warmth had traveled thousands of miles across terrain and sea just to reach me.
     My relatives were strangers: from a foreign land, with a foreign tongue.
     And yet, even residing across the globe, they always treated me as family. They remembered every birthday and filled them with well wishes; they saved every photo we mailed, even the ones we lost ourselves. They gave so much and asked for nothing.
     Even when their lives were stolen from them.
     My relatives live in Ukraine. Where the beautiful scenes my mother and I printed are burning down in real time. Where the warmth in each moment has long since dissipated, and given way to miserable cold.
     They send us new photos now. Of disheveled gray buildings vacant like carcasses. Of the orange lick of flames smoldering in brown heaps of rubble. Of the places they vacationed obliterated by detonated bombs. Of all the lively colors they used to know disintegrating into ash and coating their homeland in despair.
     But through it all their virtue rises above, a precious monument preceding all.
     It’s in the compassion they bestow those seeking refuge in their city of Berdyansk. Those whose cities have been ravaged irreconcilably, whose homes have been rendered debris. My relatives aid them, willingly sharing their food and supplies even as they struggle to obtain more.
     It’s in the bravery of my cousin's arduous journey to Poland, her life left behind for a future unknown. She lives amongst strangers in a crowded apartment she can hardly afford, bombarded by a language she doesn’t speak. Every day she is searching for a way to get her family to safety. Every day she endures immeasurable fear for the livelihood of loved ones beyond her reach.
     It’s in a photograph of my grandma, swathed in wool, standing dignified. In her arms she cradles a large gray cat with a lustrous coat. His name is Thomas, a former stray she welcomed into her humble home. Together they stand fierce and striking, a pinpoint of vibrance struck against the dire vignette of what has become of their world.
     Beneath this strength runs a current of fatigue. I feel this in her weary gaze, and knitted brow, her lips a firm line of resilient acceptance.
     I find myself returning to this single photo, wondering how much hardship it took to weave the intrinsic webs rooted in her skin, how much exertion is embedded in every crease.
     But I also wonder, how much love?
     With this hardship lies my mom and her sister, the feat of raising her daughters on her own; the tenderness and sweetness in every peach sown by her two hands; the oasis she has transformed her humble house into, selflessly aiding all those she comes across in need.
     An oasis she vows never to leave.
     Her wrinkles are a rainbow of feelings. Of every gleeful laugh exchanged in a moment’s passing, of the somber sorrow withheld for loved ones come to pass. She has the face of someone who has truly lost, truly felt. Truly lived.
     Every time I stare at this photo I realize just how precious it is to grow old, to have every emotion caress and sculpt one’s skin. I yearn for this for myself, for my family. For all the youth I’ve never met. Because not all of us get to age. Not all of us live long enough to know who we become, the futures we create. To regret, or rejoice. To find love…or even lose it.
     When I reminisce of the days I spent with my mother printing in the library, I realize how misguided my awe was. I thought the land brought out the beauty within the people, that my relatives were loving because they came from a loving place. I always saw the land in them―a part of them.
     I never saw the people in the land until they were gone, and with them, their sentience. Gone is the warmth that washed their world in hue and painted the sun golden with its supple touch; gone are plentiful futures and yearnful dreams, crushed beneath the tracks of tanks and incinerated in crackling, ravenous pyres. Their home became desolate and ruthless, plagued by vermin with ill intentions festering like weeds.
     But my relatives remain, and I see them in this land. The celebration for every triumph as their people fight back to defend it. The scars they bore brazenly, the wounds they bear now.
     The land bears wounds of its own, and they too tell this story: of purpose crossed with tragedy, of hope thwarting pain. Of the altruistic souls like my grandma who stand valiantly upon it, the sorrow and sagacity that gleams in their weary eyes, a testament to the lives they have chosen to live.
     When I hold their photos in my hands and close my eyes,
     some of their warmth still lingers with me.
     I never met my mother’s relatives, but I Know them.
     And I find peace in this Knowing.

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LFP Rotary contest: What does Peace mean to you?

 

The Rotary Club of Lake Forest Park invites you to tell them what Peace means to you.

You can express yourself in any of these forms:

• essay, poetry, haiku, short story, lyrics,
• artwork (drawing, painting, photograph, sculpture, collage) - send photos of artwork only, no videos will be accepted

Competition categories:

• Kindergarten to 2nd grade
• 3rd to 5th grade
• 6th to 8th grade
• 9th to 12 grade
• All adults

The competitions are open now with an end date of Saturday, April 9, 2022. The winner in each category receives a $50 gift card to Third Place Books.

Email your submissions to: lfprotarypeacebuilders@gmail.com

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Stand with the Uyghurs

STAND WITH THE UYGHURS

As the world is watching the Olympic event in China, we want to bring awareness, deep listening, advocacy, and solidarity to stand with our Uyghur neighbors.

Join us on Sunday, February 20, 2022 during the closing ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics to hear stories from the Uyghurs, share a meal, and learn how we can advocate for human dignity.

Listening Event - February 20, 2022 at 5pm - Holy Trinity Edmonds, 657 Daley St, Edmonds WA 98020 Potluck meal - bring a dish to share.

For more information, contact The Practicing Church at www.thepracticingchurch.org or 425-770-6265.

As the 2022 Bejing Olympics began this past week, we are aware of the atrocities that are currently being whitewashed by much of the world. The Uyghurs, an ethnic and predominantly Muslim minority, are victims of a genocide perpetrated by the Chinese regime for their cultural and ethnic identity; and yet the International Olympic Committee has failed to acknowledge these horrific human rights abuses.

Bill and Julie Clark, members of The Practicing Church in Shoreline and Northwest Directors for Peace Catalyst International, have been advocating for justice for the Uyghurs over the past four years. In 2017, the Uyghur diaspora began to notice their relatives in China asking to limit their phone and texting communication, and, finally, stop altogether. The Clarks were greatly distressed to hear credible reports that the Chinese government was interning citizens in (what the government calls) “reeducation” camps.

As many as a million people have been detained in 300 to 400 facilities in Xinjiang province, according to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, including “political education” camps (part of a 70-year program of forced cultural assimilation), pretrial detention centers, and prisons. 

Detainees are subjected to torture, cultural and political indoctrination, and forced labor. The U.S. Holocaust Museum says this state-sponsored violence meets the threshold for genocide and crimes against humanity. Friends, family, and colleagues have disappeared.

A recent CNN article states, “The Chinese government's alleged actions in Xinjiang have violated every single provision in the United Nations' Genocide Convention, according to an independent report by more than 50 global experts in international law, genocide, and the China region.

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What Peace Means to Me - LFP Rotary Contest

 

The Rotary Club of Lake Forest Park invites you to tell them what peace means to you.

Modes of Expression can be essay, poetry, haiku, short story, lyrics, artwork (drawing, painting, photograph, sculpture, collage)

Competition categories:

• Kindergarten to 2nd grade
• 3rd to 5th grade
• 6th to 8th grade
• 9th to 12th grade
• Adult

The winner in each category will receive a $50 gift card to Third Place Books.

Deadline for submissions April 9, 2022. Email submissions to lfprotarypeacebuilders@gmail.com

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Lake Forest Park International Day of Action Saturday: No War with Russia!

Join CODEPINK and co-hosts Lake Forest Park for Peace, et al. across the world as we demand no war with Russia.

Following the Biden administration’s announcement that 3,000 U.S. troops are being moved to Eastern Europe, protestors are taking to the streets across the world to raise the alarm about the dangers of a U.S.-Russia war and call for de-escalation and diplomacy.

CODEPINK and other anti-war organizations called for the global day of protest because the only sane course of actions the U.S. can take is a commitment to diplomacy with serious negotiations, not military escalation – which could easily spiral out of control to the point of pushing the world to the precipice of nuclear war.

Please bring your sign, join with others across the globe, and stand for peace!

Saturday February 5, 2022 at 11am - 12pm
Corner of Bothell Way NE (SR 522) and Ballinger Way NE (SR 104)
Lake Forest Park 98155

For more information: Rodney Brunelle at 425-485-7030 or rodney.brunelle@gmail.com; or Glen Milner at 206-979-8319 or gk_milner@comcast.net.

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Pacific Northwest Interfaith Peace Walk on Friday in Lake Forest Park

Photo by Rev. Senji Kanaeda

The annual Pacific Northwest Interfaith Peace Walk will start the day on Friday August 6, 2021 in Lake Forest Park for the 76th year remembrance of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan. 

Rev. Senji Kanaeda of the Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist Temple on Bainbridge Island will conduct a short ceremony for peace at 11:30am at the Peace Pole on the corner of Bothell Way NE (SR 522) and Ballinger Way NE (SR 104).

The ceremony at 11:30am in Lake Forest Park is called すべての核犠牲者の為の「慰霊祭」or Subete no kaku giseisha no tame no Irei-sai (memorial, or spirit-consoling, service for all nuclear victims.)

The Peace Walk is shorter this year due to the pandemic. The Peace Walk on August 6th will be a distance of seven miles, with the procession beginning in Lake Forest Park and ending in Seattle at Green Lake.

This day is part of a seven-day walk that began in Eugene on July 24th and ends at the Trident nuclear submarine base at Bangor, Washington on August 9th.

All are invited to participate in the short ceremony in Lake Forest Park and for all or any part of the seven-mile Peace Walk to Green Lake.

For more information, please contact Rev. Senji Kanaeda or Rev. Gilberto Perez at 206-780-6739 or 206-724-7632 (cell), or Glen Milner at 206-979-8319.

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Jobs: City of Shoreline seeks Equity and Social Justice Community Consultants

The City of Shoreline is forming an Equity and Social Justice (ESJ) Community Workgroup and will be hiring several Equity and Social Justice (ESJ) Community Consultants to support Shoreline City Council Resolution 467 Declaring the City’s Commitment to Building an Anti-Racist Community, adopted in November 2020. Deadline to apply is Friday, April 16, 11:59pm.

ESJ Community Consultants will work with City staff on the ESJ Workgroup to plan multiple Community Listening Sessions, to hear from Shoreline community members what an anti-racist community looks like (vision). The Listening sessions will also help identify the types of activities and outcomes the City should support and prioritize.

ESJ Community Consultants will have strong connections to Shoreline residents, groups, and partners who reflect diverse backgrounds and perspectives, especially Black, Indigenous, Asian, Hispanic/Latinx, and other people of color; recent immigrant/refugee; LGBTQIA+; People with Disabilities; youth; and other groups.

Expectations

• ESJ Community Consultants will support the values in the Anti-Racism Resolution; encourage partnerships for positive change; and will be asked to review materials before meetings to prepare. Individuals must meet the following requirements to apply:
• At least 16 years old
• Live or work in Shoreline
• Have connections and knowledge of Shoreline organizations and/or resident groups
• Commit to attending ESJ Workgroup planning meetings. An estimated 3 planning sessions for 2-3 hours each will be scheduled (dates/times in May to be determined). All sessions will be held online.
• Support resident participation in Community Listening Sessions (dates/times in June – summer, to be determined).

ESJ Community Consultants will be paid for their time and must complete a W-9 to receive payment. If you have any concerns about completing a W-9, please contact Suni Tolton at stolton@shorelinewa.gov to discuss options.

To learn more, visit the City’s Equity and Social Justice Community Workgroup webpage. To apply, applicants may:

• Fill out the online ESJ Community Consultant application form; OR
• Complete application form (available on the ESJ Community Consultant Application webpage) and email to Suni Tolton stolton@shorelinewa.gov; OR
• Provide oral responses to application questions via phone. Contact Suni Tolton via email or leave a message at 206-801-2256 to schedule a time.

The deadline to apply is Friday, April 16, 11:59

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Floyd Schmoe Peace Scholarship now accepting scholarship applications

Floyd Schmoe with Travis Jo Cufley, the first recipient of the scholarship, in 1998 in the Seattle Peace Park, which he created from a weedy patch at the north end of Lake Union. Photo by Karol Milner.

The Floyd Schmoe Peace Scholarship is now accepting applications for the class of 2021 High School Seniors. Please see www.peacescholarship.org.

The Floyd Schmoe Peace Scholarship was established in 1997 and is available to all high school seniors in the Seattle Public Schools and Shoreline Public Schools with post-high school education plans. 

The scholarship is one of the first of its kind in recognizing an outstanding student dedicated to humanitarian causes. This person could have worked in food banks, tutored homeless children, or any other work for the betterment of our world.

The Floyd Schmoe Peace Scholarship has given awards to 22 deserving students and $25,500 has been dispersed to recipients over a 15-year period.

The scholarship began at Shorecrest High School in 1997. Past recipients are listed at www.peacescholarship.org. 

Beginning in 2021, one or more $2,000 scholarships will be awarded to deserving applicants.

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LFP for Peace celebrates new U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

LFP for Peace demonstrating on Freeway overpass

By Glen Milner

Lake Forest Park for Peace members held a banner and signs at the NE 145th and I-5 overpass on January 22 -- the day that the U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) entered into force.

The TPNW outlaws not only the use of nuclear weapons, but everything to do with nuclear weapons, making it illegal under international law for participating countries to “develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess, or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.”

While the treaty’s prohibitions are legally binding only in the countries (51 so far) that become “States Parties” to the treaty, those prohibitions go beyond just the activities of governments. Article 1(e) of the treaty prohibits States Parties from assisting “anyone” engaged in any of those prohibited activities, including private companies and individuals who may be involved in the nuclear weapons business.

More and more countries will be joining the TPNW in the coming months and years, and the pressure on private companies involved in the nuclear weapons business will continue to grow. These companies are already facing public and financial pressures not only from States Parties, but also from within their own countries. Two of the five largest pension funds in the world have divested from nuclear weapons, and other financial institutions are following their example.

Nuclear weapons still exist largely because the companies involved in the business wield such enormous power over government policies and decision-making, especially in the United States. They are among the largest donors to congressional re-election campaigns and spend millions of dollars on lobbying in Washington, D.C.

U.S. policy towards nuclear weapons will change when those companies involved with nuclear weapons start to feel real pressure from the TPNW and realize that their own futures depend on diversifying their activities away from nuclear weapons.

Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor is located less than 20 miles from Lake Forest Park and Shoreline areas and is homeport to the largest concentration of deployed nuclear weapons in the U.S. The nuclear warheads are deployed on Trident D-5 missiles on SSBN submarines and are stored in an underground nuclear weapons storage facility on the base.

Our proximity to the largest number of deployed nuclear weapons demands a deeper reflection and response to the threat of nuclear war.

The ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons could not have come at a more critical time — while enormous resources are being poured into nuclear weapons “modernization” and with the growing risk of nuclear war. The TPNW is a significant tool for nuclear disarmament, providing a path for the future and a cause for celebration.

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What does Peace mean to you? Contest for students and adults

Rotary Club of Lake Forest Park’s Peacebuilders Contest: 

 “What Peace Means To Me” 

The Rotary Club invites you to enter their first PeaceBuilders contest by expressing what Peace means to you. 

You can express yourself in any of these forms: 

• essay, poetry, haiku, short story, lyrics, 
• artwork (drawing, painting, photograph, sculpture, collage) - send photos of artwork only, no videos will be accepted

Competition categories:

• Kindergarten to 2nd grade
• 3rd to 5th grade
• 6th to 8th grade
• 9th to 12 grade
• All adults

The competitions are open now with an end date of Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2021. The winner in each category receives a $50 gift card to Third Place Books.

Email your submissions to: lfprotarypeacebuilders@gmail.com

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