On 12/11/10, little Peace-nik announced the arrival of Santa at The Water Not Weapons & Friends winter holiday hootenanny at St. John’s Church at 81 Christopher St. in NYC. Our friends made music to ring in an inclusive holiday of peace and goodwill for all with representative songs from all the traditions: Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Indigenous, folk and nature.

David Amram

Paul Sladkus, the master of ceremonies, played Jingle-Bells on his saxophone and Phil Sauers

Cy A Adler (Shorewalkers)

presented to all the children Water Not Weapons buttons on Hugg-A-Planet™ soft earth-globes to spread the message of keeping water safe, clean, available and free for all the world as a right of nature and life. Rev. Lyndon Harris, was at his usual light and love messenger for Gardens of Forgiveness to bring compassion and grace to all the places so in need of ways to move forward with hope and heart.

Phil Sauers, Rev. Lyndon Harris, Jeff Rumpf

David Amram & Paul Sladkus

David Amram brought his joyful soul and his flutes uplifted everyone. James Cannings created the Reggae beat that got all the kids up on their feet to sing his song, We The People (want peace). Caitlin O’Heaney sang her Water Not Weapons song, Who Have We Freed? and Walker Rumpf, a youth environmental leader, did rap music while his father, Jeff and mom, Lori danced with their young son. Walker had everyone singing along with a joyful

Spook Handy & Walker Rumpf lead a rousing rendition of This Land Is Your Land

Islamic tune with all the kids participating. Michael Lublin added his musical flair and Mighty Xee debuted one of her new songs on the plight of the oceans caused by the impact of plastic and other toxins. It was a joyful, hopeful invitation to engage in different ways to support clean water. She had the children wiggle, jiggle and giggle singing and shouting. It was a great way to inform this next generation of environmental leaders in the Clearwater and Pete Seeger tradition while becoming Water Not Weapons stewards. Shorewalkers’ Cy A Adler sang a song he co-wrote with Pete Seeger

L to R: Mighty Xee, James Cannings & Michael Lublin

Spook Handy

and involved the kids with his spunk and spirit. The group of peace and enviornmental Street Singers also rocked the rafters. Spook Handy led the chorus in This Land is Your Land and roused everyone to care about our beautiful green nature and take ownership to protect its integrity. Santa, World Water Rescue Foundation President, Tom McManus, Esq., an expert in water, environment and transparency for corporate, legal and political disclosure, had two jolly elf helpers to bring good cheer to all.

On the way to the program, Peace-nik met many Santa-like charity workers dressed in all manner of holiday gay apparel.

Peace-nik says “Good will to all!”

May Peace Prevail on Earth and Good will to All.

Young Peace-nik, now two years old, enjoyed the moderate weather and also represented his family as his mother and father were home in a nesting mood. He was greeted, as always, with honking horns and cheers from a multitude of vehicular passers-by.

The confluence of ones is auspicious, and it is our great hope that each of us come to a realization that we have the equal ability and power to add our special grace and goodness to the world and bring true harmony to all life by acting with deep and radical respect for life itself in our daily interactions and even our thoughts.

The motto of the Parrots for Peace is “May there be Peace between all People, Animals and Nature sharing life in harmony with our One Mother—Earth”. Pictured in the photo is the Peace Pole we dedicated last year. We sponsored the pole last year to replace one that we co-sponsored with Chris Ruhe the previous year. They are produced by The World Peace Prayer Society and have the simple, powerful energy of “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in multiple languages.

The last year has been a busy one for all of us and we will do a retrospective in the coming days to catch up to the present with the wonderful events that we’ve shared with friends so that we will look forward to upcoming events together.

Dr. Irene Pepperberg and Gloria Waslyn, Parrots for Peace

Irene Pepperberg, the first person to send a congratulations email on the hatching of Mr. Peace-nik on 11/16/09, was in New York City for a dinner for Friends of ALEX, coordinated by Nancy Chambers of Urban Bird.  She enjoyed hearing about the continuing work of The Parrots for Peace Family which is expanded from Mr. Baby and Ms. Merlin to include their first off-spring, Mr. Peace-nik.

Trishki celebrating her Life Dance healing with friends, Baby, Merlin and Peace-Nik

The Parrots for Peace send continuing blessings to Trishki Doherty in her on-going Dance For Life! Trish was healed in a shamanic medicine wheel ceremony calling in the powers of the East and her breath; South and her light; West and her flowing waters; North and her manifested form; Sky Above, which The Parrots for Peace invoked, for the higher visions that connect all life to the great consciousness that we can connect with when we open ourselves to the information that is subtle and constant, Mother Earth Below, the great mother of whom we are all a part and who is the source for all our needs. Trish was “Center”, the integration as Whole of  All That Is. “I am Healed,” celebrated Trish amidst the full moon on the mid-point of Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox and the special energetics of the Turning of the Seasonal Wheel of the Year.  The vibrations that were created by the love offered to her by so many friends and community members shifted the cell structure to awaken to the call of LIFE.  Gong playing, crystal bowl playing with water charged by the beautiful tones, a drumming circle, spoken word and musical performances all seamlessly blended into a profound healing of love and light! As we transform to bring our lightness and flexibility into the forefront and become a celebrant in becoming the change we are making in the world we are envisioning as the highest and best expression of harmony and compassion.  Blessings to Trish and to All!

Baby, Peace-nik, and Merlin

BABY and MERLIN began their mission in the World City (known by many as New York City) over a decade ago. They have been meeting people on the city streets as well as the nearby countryside, mountains and streams, oceans and forests, for “conversations” about peace, ecology, environmental balance and the inter-connectedness of all life in all forms of physical, elemental and spirit energies.  They have participated in peace and ecology awareness programs representing the “voice of nature” and interacting with people to awaken the fullest inspired humanity.  Their motto is: “May there be peace between all people, animals and plants on our one shared mother…Earth.”  The Peace Parrot family have dedicated a Peace Pole (from The World Peace Prayer Society) at the south-west corner of routes 9 and 9D in Wappinger’s Falls, NY where an assembly of peace advocates meet each Saturday between noon and 2pm.  Pete Seeger has interacted with his Peace Parrot friends during many of these peace events including programs for the Water Not Weapons campaign at New York City Friends of Clearwater events.  The Peace Parrots have been held by Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon at The Vigil for International Peace and Ecology at The Central Park Bandshell celebrating the International Day of Peace, and they are also regulars at Universal Peace Day.  They have been introduced by Deepak Chopra at an event at Donna Karan’s home for Alliance for a New Humanity calling for peace and harmony for all.  They have been featured at United Nations affiliated NGO events for World Water Day and for an anniversary commemoration of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  They are regulars at EcoFest, in New York City as well as at Powwows, including Drums Along the Hudson, at Inwood Hill Park, NYC, helping to plant trees for world peace.  They have been on the World Peace March in New York City and The Woodstock International Walk for World Peace to spread the word that nature is linked with our desires and aspirations to achieve a new road to global, sustainable peace-practices!

The Peace Parrots will be featured in Greg Reitman’s upcoming film, Rooted in Peace, and they will be in a video campaign sponsored by We, The World, advocating moving from me to we.