In the fall of 2013 the Chapter began attending and speaking at the
Chicago Public Schools Board
meetings. This simple beginning
has mushroomed into the Education
Not Militarization initiative that is
now getting noticed locally and nationally. In March we rolled out our
billboard campaign that focuses on
our web site NoMilitary.org. We‘ve
engaged CPS Board members and
have met with the heads of the Chicago JROTC. Our message is that
students need to develop critical
thinking skills and VFP can provide
the balance to the military
―education‖ that 10,000 CPS youth
are receiving.
In March we screened the documentary Of Men and War for the
community. It generated substantial
dialogue and the Rush Hospital
―Road Home‖ program will now be
showing it to their constituents.
We were recently approached by
Barry Ladendorf about hosting the
2017 Convention. We polled our
active members and have decided
that Chicago would be an excellent
location for 2017. We will need help
from nearby Chapters and from
Chapters that have hosted previous
conventions. It is a major undertaking, but we‘re determined to make
2017 the largest, most educational, most comprehensive convention to date.
Chapter 27 - Minneapolis, MN
Dave Logsdon
With the only blimp in the Minneapolis Annual MayDay Parade,
Chapter 27 was a big hit! Before
thousands of citizens lining the parade route we brought the message
that the U.S. Military is the world's
greatest polluter. Thanks to the hard
work of Barry Riesch and Craig
Wood and many others we managed to get it airborne through
the entire parade. We flew our
flags and received a lot of applause. A special shout out to
Tarak Kauff and the New York
VFPers for loaning it to us.
We've had a rocky few months
with moving our office and the huge
12
VFP Newsletter Summer
spoke about the true meaning of
Memorial Day for veterans, their
families and all victims of war. We
distributed 500 flyers reminding
people of the true costs of war.
Ch 27 in May Day parade.
loss of our spiritual leader and
treasurer, Wayne Wittman. We've
been speaking in schools, ringing
bells and plan ning for a memorable summer with David Swanson
coming to town, Peacestock (with
Chapter 115), and our cosponsorship of the Hiroshima/
Nagasaki ceremony at the Lake
Harriet Peace Garden.
Bill