Santa Barbara can become Sister City of Peace
Letters to the Editor
Santa Barbara News Press
Tuesday, March 25, 1997
The March 1 dedication of the Douglas Family Preserve was truly
an inspiring community event giving thanks for the efforts and
sacrifices of the many who have worked to save the Wilcox Property.
After so many years of suggesting that this land be dedicated as a
Peace Park, it was wonderful to read the dedication plaque beginning,
"Here you can Walk in Peace..." As a gesture from Santa Barbara, a
Peace Pole was started several years ago from a windfallen log on
this land -- a Peace Pole for Jerusalem.
As part of The Global Peace Project initiated by the United Nations
50th Anniversary Global Peace Walk of 1995 (from New York to
San Francisco), the Peace Pole Ceremony was conducted on Earth Day,
April 22, 1995 in Taos, New Mexico followed by that city being
proclaimed by its mayor as the first of Global Peace Zones to
commemorate the 50th and The Walk's message of Global Peace Now!
In October 1995 the city of Bethlehem, Israel, accepted the Peace Pole
and Ceremony for a Peace Museum and Park there, as part of the
Bethlehem 2000 observances.
On January 24, Mayor Willie Brown of San Francisco proclaimed
San Francisco as California's first Global Peace Zone. Santa Barbara
has the opportunity of becoming one of these Sister Cities of Peace
by the will of its people and officials.
This April 20-27, the Global Peace Project's second anniversary
observation events will occur in Taos and Santa Fe, gathering
spiritual leaders in council for Global Peace Now.
The mayor of Santa Fe is expected to join Santa Fe's third annual
Global Peace Walk Day and to similarly proclaim that city as a
Global Peace Zone on April 26 while Vice President Al Gore will
be in town. Recently, we faxed an invitation to the Vice President
to attend this event and his office called back quickly confirming
its receipt.
With enough local support perhaps the Peace Pole Ceremony
can be offered there with Santa Barbara's Peace Pole for
Jerusalem, to help it on its way.
David Crockett Williams
Global Peace Project Coordinator
Santa Barbara
-----end of retyped letter to the editor
[note due to hostilities the Bethlehem 2000 events planned
and arranged discussed above were not able yet to happen]
For mayoral proclamations relating to the Global Peace Walk
https://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000/listproc.html
For some other newspaper articles discussing my work, see
https://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000/list.html
For more on the Global Peace Walk project, see
https://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000/gpw.html
https://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000/yamato.html
https://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000/yyamato.html