n 1981 the United Nations established the International Day of Peace to encourage individuals, organizations and nations to create practical acts of peace on a shared date. The first Peace Day was celebrated in September 1982. In 2002 the United Nations General Assembly officially declared September 21 as the permanent date for the International Day of Peace.
For 2010, volunteers from the Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation, Veterans for Peace Chapter 109, the Rachel Corrie Foundation, Media Island International, Earthbound Productions, and other groups collaborated to produce a truly stunning and inspiring display and international conversation. These events marked the International Day of Peace in Olympia, Washington, on Monday and Tuesday September 20 and 21, 2010.
The Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation’s November 2010 TV program brings you inside the celebration to show you what occurred.
Dennis Mills videotaped the entire event and edited his video footage for use on this program. This program features about 30 minutes of Dennis’s video footage, interspersed with conversations with Dennis and with Douglas Mackey, who provided overall leadership and a tremendous amount of hands-on work to plan, organize and carry out Olympia’s participation in the 2010 International Day of Peace.
Our community and the world owe a great debt of thanks to Doug Mackey, Jody Mackey, Dennis Mills, Terry Zander, and many other volunteers who worked extremely hard to make all of this happen.
The celebration of peace started at noon on Monday September 20 and continued around the clock more than 24 hours – following the sun around the earth – until Tuesday evening September 21. Phone conversations with distant parts of the world took place through the night for more than 20 hours.
Near the end of this TV program we enjoyed a live conversation with some of the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers who participated in the overnight event and with whom we have developed a special relationship since 2008.
Our two guests for this TV program are Dennis Mills and Douglas Mackey. Both of them worked very hard to organize Olympia’s activities for the 2010 International Day of Peace, and they have inspiring track records of generating creative ways to promote peace, and they skillfully and energetically follow through and accomplish a lot.
