WAUPACA COUNTY POST

July 31, 2003

Advocates for Peace Have Been Active in Waupaca for 17 Years.

By Robert Cloud, Post Editor

Since 1986, a small group of Waupaca-area residents have tried to bring international affairs and conflict resolution issues to their neighbors’ attention.

People for Peace has organized Peace Day events, peace vigils, scholarships and study groups, hosted foreign students and sponsored student trips to the United Nations in New York.

"During the days of the Cold War, we focused on the Soviet Union and how we could talk to people with whom we didn’t have diplomatic relations," said Megan Karth, with People for Peace. "Over time, our focus evolved into thinking not only about world peace and international problems, but about how we could make peace at home."

In the past, People for Peace has encouraged creative solutions to potential race-related problems at Waupaca High School in the mid-1990s, People for Peace helped organize Diversity Day, which brought in speakers from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The speakers discussed their experiences growing up and feeling different.

Members of People for Peace have also organized pen pal programs and local students have exchanged letters and pictures with other students from around the world.

The group is currently organizing activities for International Peace Day in Waupaca Middle School from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 10. Following Gandhi’s presentation, there will be a potluck dinner at South Park, at the south end of Main Street in Waupaca. At 7 p.m., peace lanterns will be built at the park and floated on the lake at 8 p.m.

Public interest in People for Peace has waxed and waned depending on U.S. foreign relations.

"When there was more militaristic talk about the Soviet Union, people were more alarmed," Jane Haasch said. "We had an upsurge of people calling us, just like we have now."

Karth added that the group had seen its numbers dwindle until just prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. As the U.S. prepared for war, local residents began calling those they knew who had been active in People for Peace, looking for a way to respond.

"At first, people were afraid to talk about the war and appear unpatriotic," Haasch said.

"Being a peace activist in a small town is different from being a peace activist in a large city like Madison," according to Sandy Testin. "If you go to a peace vigil in Waupaca, it’s not anonymous. Everybody you work with, your neighbors and friends know that you were there."

Karth said the group needed to find a positive way to bridge the gap and communicate between those who supported and those who opposed the war in Iraq.

"We held a meeting at the library, then started meeting at the Methodist Church. We didn’t really have a plan except to let people come and talk," Karth said.

People for Peace subsequently organized peace vigils in Waupaca’s city square and a panel discussion about the war in Iraq. Both sides of the issue were represented on the panel and about 200 people attended the forum.

"I think the majority of people support the war, but that’s probably going to change," Karth said, noting that there is growing frustration with the ongoing violence in Iraq.

"It’s not that we’re against terrorism," Haasch said. "There has to be a way to solve these problems other than militaristic solutions. It’s killing people, and that’s what we’re supposed to be against."

"There’s a feeling that if you’re against he war, you’re not patriotic. That’s just not true," Karth said. "We’re looking for our country to be the best that it can be."

Testin said People for Peace asked Gandhi to speak in Waupaca because they wanted to look beyond the war to broader issues, such as nonviolent means of conflict resolution.

"If you’re going to be against something, what are you suggesting as an alternative?" Karth said. "We would like to be seen as pro-peace instead of anti-war."

Karh noted that the terrorist acts of Sept. 11 and the fear they inspired were among the driving factors in the U.S. going to war with Iraq.

"I think we need positive ways to counteract that fear," Karth said.

"Other countries have been living with the fear of terrorism for a long time," Haasch said. "I was hoping that after 9/11 we would take a braver approach that would be more long-lasting, more creative and less destructive."