Ride The Peace Train 2012

The Peace Train (image from Democratic Party of Lane Co.)

Last Saturday was the annual parade for the Eugene Celebration, in Eugene, Oregon.  Once again, one of the entries in the parade was the Peace Train, a colorful, human-powered train engine followed by train cars, each decorated with the name of a local peace and non-violence organization.  As with last year, Ceasefire Oregon was proud to have a car in the Peace Train.  I love getting out and engaging the public, particularly at events like this one.

We had a number of volunteers help out, either in the march or to help with preparations.  Besides Ceasefire Oregon, other organizations included Million Mom March, the Democratic Party of Lane County Peace Caucus, Skipping Stones multicultural magazine, Veterans for Peace, a group that holds peace vigils, the Eugene Department of Peace, Beyond War, the Eugene Mennonite Church, WAND (who was protesting unmanned drones), CALC, Women in Black.  A city councilwoman was also in the group.

Here is a video of the train, at the staging area just prior to walking in the parade, which I filmed.  Ceasefire Oregon's train car is the one immediately after the engine:

Here is another good video.  Go to timestamp 1:35 - 1:50:

Here is another image of me and the Ceasefire Oregon car, from the KVAL news site:

The parade was very well attended, with thousands of people cheering and clapping for us the entire route.  It is very satisfying to see the level of support our organizations receive here in Eugene.

On to next year!