STANISLAUS CONNECTIONS

Working For Peace, Justice, and A Sustainable Environment

Online Edition: September, 1998     Vol. X, No. I

A Modesto Peace/Life Center Publication

CONTENTS

Text of the proposed initiative

The FOOD Initiative; Contribute to the ‘Vision’

By Myrtle Osner

Stanislaus County and city officials have been meeting in a "Visioning" process to provide leadership for the next century. Along with community leaders, they have developed a list of nine Visions for our countywide community. Land Use and Agriculture are two of the Visions."The FOOD Initiative" is complementary to that process and provides a voter choice for "how" we may start the Visions set forth by these leaders.

We are seeking your input on its language and scope. Does it fit with your vision of a community plan that stabilizes the farmland base, protects the environment, and determines urban boundaries?

In January 1999, we will request that the City Councils and Board of Supervisors place "The FOOD Initiative" on the ballot for November 1999. Please respond with suggestions as soon as possible. We will use them to improve the document and provide the public with a truly community-based vision.

Thank you.

The FOOD Group
P.O. Box 1229
Modesto, CA 95353
Email: dennyj@pacbell.net

FARMLAND STABILIZATION INITIATIVE

The people of the County of Stanislaus do hereby ordain as follows:

A. With this initiative, the people of the County of Stanislaus assure direct voter oversight in achieving and maintaining a balance between the needs for housing and non-farm economic development versus the economic, social, and environmental costs of unchecked, endless, urban sprawl. The costs of unchecked sprawl include: threats to public health, safety and welfare by increased traffic congestion, associated air pollution, water pollution, and depletion and sedimentation of water resources; unnecessary and expensive extensions of public services and facilities; and a reduction in agricultural economic viability, food production, habitat, and other open space values.

B. The stabilization of existing agricultural, wildlife habitat, and other open space resources is critically important to Stanislaus County residents and the region as a whole. Directly and indirectly agriculture creates employment for many people, generates substantial tax revenues, and provides a major source of farm products for the county, the region, the state, the country, and the world.

C. The purpose of this initiative is to promote contiguous, cost-effective growth, to ensure that agriculture remains viable, and to ensure that agricultural, habitat, and other open space resources are not prematurely or unnecessarily converted to other non-agricultural or non-open space uses.

We the editors have summarized the legal language of the proposed initiative as follows.

Sections 2 through 7 accomplish the purposes outlined in the first section by amending Stanislaus County's General Plan Land Use element. [All county registered voters would be eligible to vote].

The key provisions are contained in Sec. 2 B, which says that "Urban development shall be limited to areas planned for development within the sphere of influence boundary of incorporated cities and the community planning area of unincorporated towns. This limitation shall apply only to the area of the county bounded by Interstate 5 on the west, the north county line, Road J 9 and Montpelier Road on the east, and the south county line."

Sec. 2 C and D further amend the Land Use element to restrict lands outside of those planned for urban uses to agricultural or open space land uses, and require a majority vote of the people to zone such land to permit urban uses. It further defines the exceptions which are already in the Land Use Element. Definitions of all terms are spelled out.

Other sections define when it would take effect if passed, and say how conflicts would be resolved in case two initiatives on the same subject were on the same ballot. [This provision is common to most initiatives nowadays] The initiative may be amended or repealed only by the voters in another county election.

The complete text of the initiative can be obtained by contacting The FOOD Group (see above) -or- see the text of the proposed Stanislaus County measure by clicking here.

By SHARON YOSIPH FROBA

As surely as intolerance exists in our world, it exists in our schools. In spite of the intention of most teachers to combat the menace wherever it lurks, many of us feel vanquished. As a veteran English teacher at Modesto High School, I have encountered insidious words and deeds countless times in the hallways, in the courtyard, and in my classroom. No groups are secure from insult. Sometimes I ignore a comment; sometimes, evil-eyed, I sally forth self-righteously and regale the oppressor with a verbal barrage, leaving him or her at least temporarily remorseful; sometimes in my most pious persona poised for action--head downcast, lips pursed as if in prayer--I plead for a kinder and gentler classroom. The study of great literature doesn’t have a high success rate of raising the student kindness quotient either. It lends itself to the scrutiny of characters and motivations, to the examination of moral questions and moral deeds. Unfortunately, what is transmitted in the classroom doesn’t always transfer outside it. A character in a book is, after all, not a real person, and the situations he or she encounters are fabrications. A student who articulates an appropriate comment in class is too frequently guilty of spewing expletives about or to others in the halls. It is as though two worlds exist: the world of literature, where one set of values applies, and the real world, where another set of behaviors dominates. In spite of teachers good intentions and interventions through years of students’ schooling, intolerance still exists.

I have an idea that will bring the worlds of the classroom and the community together. There will still be characters and stories to discuss, but they will be real. On October 14, 1998, Modesto High will celebrate diversity by instituting a Day of Respect. A minimum of fifty community volunteers with personal stories of discrimination will enter English classrooms. They will speak honestly about what they have witnessed, experienced, and suffered because of the intolerance of others. Throughout the day, students in English classes will hear life stories of real people. Teenagers will hear how casual comments and insensitive deeds can cause lifelong pain. Hopefully, the storytellers will be able to do what literature and teachers haven’t: replace ignorance with knowledge and intolerance with compassion.

The community volunteers are a brave lot because they must, in the very short time given to them in the classroom, be willing to be vulnerable, to cut through the surface layers of who they are and reveal their humanity. The rewards of revealing one’s authentic self in a classroom, however, are great. As I look back over my twenty-five years of teaching, the most rewarding times occurred when I was vulnerable, not stoic; when I got close, not distant; when I listened, rather than taught; and when I moved the heart, not the brain. On the Day of Respect, Modesto High volunteers have the opportunity to do that.

My preference in teaching character over curriculum was influenced by a quote I carry in my roll book and in my heart. An unidentified school principal was quoted in Haim Ginott’s book, Between Teacher and Student. She said the following:

"I am a survivor of a concentration camp. My eyes saw what no person should witness. Gas chambers built by learned engineers. Children poisoned by educated physicians. Infants killed by trained nurses. Women and babies shot and killed by high school and college graduates. So I’m suspicious of education. My request is: help your students to be human. Your efforts must never produce learned monsters, skilled psychopaths, or educated Eichmanns. Reading and writing and spelling and history and arithmetic are only important if they serve to make our students human."

In these turbulent times in our world and in our schools, the three R’s aren’t enough. In fact, they are dangerous without an additional R, respect. Let’s hope the Day of Respect will lead to an increased awareness of other’s humanity.

Modesto Peace/Life Center works with Modesto High School for Day of Respect

By Jim Higgs

The Modesto Peace/Life Center was asked to work with Sharon Froba and Modesto High School to put on a Day of Respect at Modesto High on October 14th. The day will focus on people who have experienced oppression, racism, bigotry, exclusion and shame. We need volunteers to help. If you fit one of the following categories and wish to volunteer to participate during the day for an hour or more, please call: Sharon Froba at or Jim Higgs at 522-6706.

1. You have a disablility and have stories

2. You have experienced opprssion because of ethnicity

3. You are gay or lesbian and have experienced discrimination.

4. You are from a religious or political background that has experienced violence, fear or oppression.

5. Encountering Ageism

6 Other discriminating stories are welcome.

Training will be required of all speakers and the speakers will work as teams. The training will be October 11 2-4 at College Avenue Congregational Church, College and Orangeburg, Modesto.

Social Justice is theme of Peace Camp

By MYRTLE OSNER

Caring for a peaceful world is alive and well in the younger generation--that much I learned this summer.

At Peace Camp, I sat fascinated by the responses of a dozen teenagers who were in Blythe Osner's workshop "Speaking Up, Speaking Out".

You'll be pleased to know that children of families who've worked for social justice issues over the years have absorbed that mystique into their psyches and are now about to go out into our complex and difficult world to do likewise. Over the 16 years Peace Camp has been held at Peaceful Pines, they've grown up, some of them attending when they were very young.

In their own words:

What does social justice mean?

• "Righting wrongs".
• "A way of looking at the world where you express your love by caring what's happening to others."

Blythe, a young woman who also grew up with the Peace Center, explains: Social justice has two feet:

1) Direct service. We go to meet people's needs where they are.

In response, the kids were able to name at least ten ways they could do this.

2) Systemic change. This one was harder, but the kids didn’t flinch from naming injustice in the world where they thought they could make a difference. Specifically, they named boycotts, letters to Congress, letters to the editor, writing to CEO's of companies they thought needed to reform. They cited specific examples in their own lives.

Blythe admonished the group to search out the facts before jumping to conclusions (a procedure a lot of adults could heed) by researching along several avenues.

Then she challenged the teens to write their own vision of what a just society would look like. Here are some of the responses:

• End violence
• There would be no crime
• There would be equality between men and women
• There would be enough for everyone to eat
• There would be safe shelter for everyone
• We would make sure that everyone can take care of the land in such a way that they can grow food enough for everyone

Finally, Blythe said, "Now, what can you do about it?" and urged them to "figure out what the wider connection is." What are the policies that make a bad situation? What can those in charge do about it? What could you do? How could you encourage those in charge to make changes for the better?

Conclusion: It's hard to have peace if you don't have justice.

While this may seem elementary to some of you adults, you all know that we have neither peace nor justice in the world. The kids got the connection that they go together, and you have to start with yourself and your own situation.

Meanwhile, Bob Fitch was conducting a workshop called "Real Heroes", using his photographs of social change movements as a catalyst. The adults present have been active participants in social justice work. Sam Tyson observed that all the great movements we were talking about are faith-based. The group agreed, pointing out as examples Cesar Chavez, Dorothy Day, the Berrigan brothers (Catholic); Martin Luther King Jr. (Baptist), and Bob's own father, Robert Fitch, eminent theologian at Pacific School of Religion.

"If you don't have faith, you can't do the impossible," said Bob's father.

Bob added that we often forget that "While we live, there is hope. We tend to look too much at the things we have not accomplished instead of recounting the victories we've accomplished. We need to look at the positive."

A third workshop, "Parenting for Peace and Justice" was led by local activist and child care director Sandy Sample. Her suggestions were concrete and helpful. Parents responded with their frustrations and about how unsure they were that they were on firm ground in child-rearing. The pattern of life for activists is of necessity "different" than society at large, said Sandy. Children need to be reassured that it's ok to be different than their peers.

Sunday morning's talk was given by Healthy Start advocate, Bea Acosta. As an example of a community organizer working to achieve social justice, Bea was an inspiration. Through her efforts to establish the Grayson-Westley Family Resource Center, the community has come together to address problems, such as the need for health care on the westside. The health care is now provided by Golden Valley Merced Medical Center.

This was only the beginning. The Center now encompasses classes in English as a Second Language for adults, parenting, voter registration, and General Education Degree (many have not graduated from high school). It functions as a Family Resource Center. Funding is sometimes tenuous; a grant writer would be helpful.

Bea said that the essential component was to get family involvement. They are still working to get fathers involved. This is an area with a largely farm worker constituency, with very low income families.

Collaborative is the key word here. Bea acts as coordinator and does a lot of referring, and she keeps at it until the problem is resolved.

Stephanie Brown, M.D., formerly head of the Westside Clinics, stated that there is a dilemma about serving non-citizens, especially for pre-natal care. This is being cut off by the state, yet we have many people legally in California, not yet citizens, who need health care.

Camp was a bit smaller this year but, as usual, the food was yummy, prepared by everybody, directed by cook Deborah Roberts. We thank everyone on the committees who worked so hard to make camp successful.

It was a joy to walk in the woods and see flowers still blooming and snow on the ridges surrounding us. To be in the mountains with friends I love and cherish is my greatest joy.

Help the wetlands: last call

By DAN ONORATO

If you care about restoring riparian habitat along the Tuolumne River and helping wildlife flourish there once again, here's a final appeal to take action. They say three times are a charm. May it be so. Because the stakes have risen dramatically in the last month. And what we do will now make an even greater difference.

In Connections' April and May issues I appealed to readers to donate toward a fund supporting floodplain easement projects. At that time Michael McElhiney of the USDA's local office of the Natural Resources Conservation Service was working to arrange an easement agreement with one farmer whose land borders the Tuolumne River in the western part of our county. During the last two years, this land was flooded for months. A perpetual easement means the farmer will keep owning the land but agrees, in perpetuity, not to farm it and to let it return to its natural state.

This is a win-win situation: the farmer gets paid the market rate for the land in exchange for agreeing to the easement, and the public benefits from having to spend less money on emergency federal help and on rebuilding structural flood control measures like levees, since the river will be allowed to flood the land in high water years. In addition, all benefit from the renewed wildlife and riparian habitat resulting from the agreement. Nature will be allowed to rebound--in all its infinite and marvelous variety.

Finalizing this deal depends on funding. Various federal agencies like the USDA and US Fish and Wildlife, along with state agencies and nonprofit groups, are coming up with most of the money, but more is still needed. That's where we come in with our donations.

In spring, the Peace/Life Center mailed out 570 appeal letters. As of early August, there were 51 responses for a total of nearly $1,600. While we're very grateful to those who have responded, we know we can do better. And now there's even greater reason to respond.

What started as one farmer's interest has mushroomed. By mid August, McElhiney's office had received 22 new applications for similar easement agreements. Many of these properties are neighbors to each other. What that means-- potentially-- is long stretches of riverside land, along the Tuolumne and the San Joaquin Rivers, being returned to their natural states, aided by government sponsored restoration projects. Farmers are interested because they haven't been able to farm their flooded land and have run out of federal assistance funds. For some, their livelihoods on the land are at stake. Federal agencies are interested because they've decided to move away from expensive structural flood control measures and fund projects like floodplain easements.

With all the eagerness expressed by farmers, the USDA and other federal agencies are now looking more intently at our area. What's needed to edge them toward designating our region as a funding priority is for more groups and individuals to express support for the kinds of easement agreements McElhiney has been encouraging in our county. The more local support McElhiney can point to, the greater the chance of getting increased funding.

People can help by writing letters to the Bee and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. You can also help by sending in your donation, whatever you can afford. Sam Tyson estimates that if each person who received the mailing were to donate $5, we would be able to contribute close to $3,000. I think we can do better than that. But you have to act now, because the deadline for all funding help is September 30. The sooner people act, the better. If you haven't already done it, send your check in today, now. Thanks.

ACTION: 1) Make your tax deductible check payable to: Modesto Peace/Life Center: Wetlands Project. A special fund has been created to support floodplain easement projects that will restore local wetlands. 2) Write a letter supporting the projects to the Bee and to: Jeffrey Vonk, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, 2121--C Second St., Davis, CA 95616-5475. CC/ to Michael A. McElhiney, USDA NRCS, 711 County Center III, Ste. B, Modesto, CA 95355.

Guest writer tackles tough assignment

By GENE PALSGROVE

When Professor Jim Higgs invited me to write an article for CONNECTIONS, I suggested humor. It took me only a short while to face reality -- humor is in short supply about the Peace/Life Center and in the pages of this publication.

Following some diligent research and confidential-source interviews, I’ve come up with some startling if not unbelievable information. It could possibly elicit the hint of a smile, a reluctant grin, possibly a chuckle. But I’m not counting on it ‘cause we CONNECTIONS readers haven’t had much practice at "laughing matters."

Modesto -- LOCAL PEACE ACTIVIST APOLOGIZES FOR DISRUPTIVE PRACTICES. In a mode of extreme contrition, local peace activist, Sam Tyson, has sent letters of apology to governmental agencies including the Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Lab and the Nevada Bomb Testing Site for any anxiety and inconvenience he may have caused over the years. Mr. Tyson indicated that he has sent a check to reimburse Alameda County for the cost of his meals and lodging while a guest in their custody. Tyson will reimburse the Federal Government for the cost of extra guard duty necessitated by his acts of civil disobedience at the Nevada Bomb Testing Site.

Locally, he now realizes that his weekly demonstrations at the Downtown Post Office were distracting to vehicular and pedestrian traffic and apologizes if his signs and rhetoric have caused undue concern about nuclear weapons, environmental degradation and other matters.

Friends of Mr. Tyson indicate that this transformation in this man of peace was totally unanticipated.

Peace/Life Center Board Meeting -- Professor Jim Higgs, wishing to establish a new persona, appeared wearing a vested dark business suit, handsomely coordinated with a starched white shirt and black bow-tie. Higgs was clean-shaven with nary a nick on his neck or chin. It had been rumored that Prof. Jim had recently visited a hair stylist who specializes in men’s perms. Higgs seemed somewhat self-conscious, but when queried, he stated, "What you see is the real James Higgs. I can pretend no longer. My spirit is at peace!"

Peace/Life Center Annual Meeting -- An unidentified man sat through three-and-a-half hours of tedious discussion at Saturday’s PLC Annual Meeting. Dan Onorato, sensitive person that he is, belatedly realized that the stranger had not been introduced. How embarrassing that Dan did not recognize Willie Weaver who has attended every Annual Meeting since PLC’s inception. Willie, it turns out, has been attending body building classes and has put on seventy-five pounds. Wife Louise says he looks and acts like a man half his age (1/2 x 82). Willie says, "I got tired of being pushed around. I’m not going to take it anymore." Advise: don’t push Willie around no-more! (This anecdote was used with Willie’s permission.)

Annual Pancake Breakfast -- Kay Barnes is at wit’s end due to volunteers over-subscribing the limited number of jobs connected with the Pancake Breakfast. Barnes sounded plaintive, "It causes me to feel unneeded when there are two/three volunteers for every job. I’m on the sidelines envying those who organized the event, flip pancakes and clean up the mess. (Ed. note -- Cheer up, Kay. Perhaps next year a volunteer might default, and you can enjoy that good feeling of Pancake Camaraderie.)

Modesto Center Plaza -- At the conclusion of this year’s Peace Essay Contest Awards Ceremony, organizer Indira Clark warmly congratulated the 1998 participants. She announced, regretfully in one sense, that the contest will be discontinued. Participants were stunned. Stated Clark, "The issues of peace and justice are essentially resolved." Clark credits the Peace Essay Contest with resolving the crises in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Sudan and ending the Cold War...to name a few.

Locally, Jim Costello is elated that Study Circles have all but eliminated racial injustice and economic disparities, supporting the decision to discontinue the contest.

Peace/Life Center -- Treasurer Jean Enero reports that within the year he will be unable to accept monetary gifts, donations and bequests. Even after PLC’s officers and board of directors’ salaries have been tripled and even sextupled the past year, the treasury runneth over. The difficulty is in placing our funds in S&L’s and banks because we have gone over the FDIC guarantee. "It would be unwise stewardship to risk capital that is not insured," says Enero. "But," he added, "until I give the word, it’s quite okay to keep your contributions coming. I’ve still a bit of wiggle room."

Memo to Jim Higgs: Better be careful about whom you invite to write for a dignified publication.

Peter H. King speaks to Visioning Group

By MYRTLE OSNER

Peter King has found his niche as a Central Valley columnist, with articles evoking the pleasures and pains of living in the Valley from his vantage point in Fresno.

King spoke about the difficulties of deciding what we want for Stanislaus County at a "summit" meeting of people from all the cities and the farming communities.

On growth: "In a sense, talking about growth is harder than rocket science." If you think about what we are doing here, it's hard to see ahead. Going to the moon was easy, you can see it, but seeing what will happen when we grow is not so easy.

That's why we have to have vision. King thinks we are ahead of the curve, in terms of looking ahead compared to other cities in the Valley. For instance, Bakersfield just now re-instituted its Planning Commission (quite a shock to some of us who are accustomed to dealing with the Planning Commission here for years). Modesto doesn't want to be another Fresno, L.A., San Jose.

King itemized what we have to deal with in order to get where we want to be:

1. Human nature: people like to live in houses, so we build them without regard to the effect on surroundings.

2. California's notion of "disposable cities." We focus on the edges, but what happens to the neighborhoods that are left behind? They get no respect and very little help to revitalize themselves.

3. Politics: The players play against each other instead of cooperating. One of the biggest hurdles in politics is that you may do the greatest planning in the world, and in one election all this work can be erased.

Planning: we are up against an anti-planning attitude. People don't like to be told what to do, thinking that planning is somehow against the American ethic. To say you are for planning is to say you are against growth, in some people's minds.

Further, agriculture hasn't made it easy to be saved, even though plenty of people will say they think agriculture should continue to be the backbone of California. We have invested much in ag, including a massive water system, the homestead system, the Williamson Act, and so on. There is a community interest in keeping agriculture here. We have the cheapest food in the world.

Peter King's conclusion: This valley is a miracle. One of the things we've done is to take the rivers, dammed them and put water where we want it to go. If we can do that, we ought to be able to shape our cities the way they should be shaped, and we ought to do it.

At the conclusion of Peter King's talk, Tom Van Groningen, the convener of the visioning process with Orage Quarles, III of The Modesto Bee, stated that each city must take the visioning process back to its people (the nine cities of Stanislaus County) and do visioning for its own city. The goal is to finish this process within the next six months. It will be interesting to see what comes out of it.

This is the place where California runs out of land.

Forarticles by Peter H. King, BEE columnist. click here

Congregational Church Turns Fifty

By MYRTLE OSNER

In September 1948, 17 idealists gathered in the living room of Rev. Elmo and Ruth Wolfe, determined to start a Congregational Church that would be in the liberal tradition. Fifty years later, the weekend of September 11, l2 and 13 , 1998 will see a big celebration for the College Avenue Congregational Church.

A few of us originals are still here to do the celebrating, with a good many more still living in Modesto and around the U.S. and Canada that remember years when they were a part of this church or participated in some of the peace and justice issues that were a big part of its ministry. Anyone who wants to participate is invited to "story-telling" on Friday night or to attend Sunday worship and lunch.

Looking back, you will discover that many of CACC's ministers and congregation participated in peace vigils at the courthouse, marches in San Francisco, vigils at Livermore Lab, and even the march in Selma, Alabama. This is not to say that the congregation was unanimous in its support, but that they at least supported others' right to live out their convictions in action.

Within its walls, the church supported the first meeting of a group which organized Haven, the battered women's shelter. It was instrumental in the organization of Friends Outside which helps families of prisoners. Though we didn't house farm worker activists in our buildings, many church members took them in when they marched through (and to) here. The food bank started in our building till it outgrew the space. [It's now Interfaith Ministries] The list of groups which have been supported as "Outreach" projects is long.

We have hosted many political forums, chiefly about the ballot propositions. Various causes were espoused by some members though not necessarily by all. In these cases, it was always made clear that the church was not an official sponsor, but allowed the freedom to the members to work as they chose. Such causes as open housing and integration in the public schools fostered openness and diversity. Forums were held on atomic energy. Father Daniel Berrigan even appeared here one day. Young people who wanted draft counseling during the Vietnam War were referred to the Peace Center.

The Quaker meeting used our library for a time. Early on, the Unitarians met here briefly as did the Metropolitan Church.

We have hosted refugee families: from Cuba, from Laos, and have worked on the sanctuary movement for El Salvador and Guatemala.

Over the years, we have kept faith with the founders' intention to give 10 percent of the money we collected to others, calling it "Outreach". Some of that money has gone to a national effort like Church World Service or the Just Peace effort of the United Church of Christ (which is the name of our denomination now). Locally we've supported a wide variety of causes, such as family planning clinics, Friends Outside, Community Hospice, Loaves and Fishes, Cooperative Disaster Child Care, the AIDS project, Habitat for Humanity and Interfaith Ministries, the Haven, Heifer Project, and Children's Crisis Center to name a few.

No doubt other churches have similar ways of showing their faith. The important thing is putting faith into action. I was struck by this strongly at Peace Camp this summer when Bob Fitch was talking about heroes and heroines and the movements they started. Sam Tyson remarked, "All the great movements we've been talking about were faith-based."

Whether you are a Christian, Jew, Moslem, Buddhist, or something else, if your faith leads you to a life of peace-giving, then it is a worthy faith, in my opinion. In a society as diverse as the United States, we need to nurture the faiths that keep us whole and keep society just and peace-full. If your life is empty of such faith, you are likely not to act justly or even to know what justice is. Without justice, there can be no peace.

The College Avenue Congregational Church-UCC web page is at http://www.ainet.com/cacc/menu.html

Black Churches continue to burn

--Excerpted from Friends Bulletin, June 1998.  For complete article, click here

The media and public attention is no longer on the burning of Black Churches throughout the country. Churches continue to burn. In one month this spring, ten more churches burned. Today's crisis looks deeper than ever before, even in the worse days of White retaliation during the Civil Rights Movement

Quaker Workcamps International was instituted in 1997 to provide workcamp volunteers for rebuilding African-American Churches burned by arson fires remembering that Quakers led the rebuilding of 33 out of 44 destroyed churches in the summer of 1964 in Mississippi.

In the last two years, QWI has led the rebuilding of 48 churches.

"From floor to roof, Quaker volunteers and others have built whole churches working side-by-side with church members and their contractor," says Harold Confer, Director of QWI. "The economics of church rebuilding is deceptively simple! The NCCC estimates that well organized and led volunteers save a burned church between 40-60 percent of the total cost of rebuilding a church. This is because Quakers and others have been willing to shoulder these costs themselves either through direction donations or through indirect purchase of services such as air or train or car fare to get to the site as a volunteer or working as volunteers themselves. And our volunteers are the true unsung heroes as they all pay $150 a week for the privilege of working !" The labor to rebuild a burned church can cost between $90,000 to $225,000 depending on the size of the church and the paying volunteers themselves raise half those costs."

Working camping is not just about physical work, Confer says, "It also a compassionate sharing in a spiritual journey, bringing our skills such as they are, bringing our hearts, doing the work that needs to be done."

ACTION: For more information about Quaker workcamps International: write 1225 Geranium St., NW, Washington, DC 20012; phone 202-722-1461; email hjconerqwi@igc.org; or view at www.quaker.org/qwi

On this Gateway hang signs of hope

From SHE NEWS, SELF-HELP ENTERPRISES, SUMMER 1998

Community.
Activity.
A sense of pride.

These are characteristics you find in strong neighborhood. And they were a goal when Self-Help Enterprises constructed Gateway Village, an affordable rental housing complex in Modesto.

The result of a partnership between Self-Help Enterprises and the City of Modesto, Gateway Village opened in May, 1997, and is home to forty-eight families who occupy the complex's two-, three-, and four-bedroom apartments. The apartments are loosely arranged around both a large community center and a gated tot lot play area for children. Spacious grass areas, BBQ pits, and tables provide places for residents to congregate. Designed for the safety of the residents, Gateway Village has only one entrance/exit point which makes it easier for resident managers and residents to monitor their community.

Chuck and Carol Moses are the on-site management team and are part of the community. "We have a pretty diverse group here," said Carol. "At our potluck dinner to celebrate complete rent-up last summer, shark-fin soup, tamales, hamburgers, and fried rice were just a few of the different dishes to choose from." Gateway is home to Cambodian, Hispanic, Black, White, and Asian families. While ethnic divisions were obvious at first, it is the children that have begun to break them down. Designed to serve larger families, Gateway Village is home to 127 children, roughly 60 percent of the total residents. Carol says the sense of community is obvious on a visit to the on-site playground. "You see all the kids playing together."

As the cornerstone of the community, Gateway Village's community center is where many of the activities take place. Since September 1997, the Head Start program through the Modesto City School District has instructed 24 children between the ages of three and five at the center. Class runs from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., and both breakfast and lunch are provided for the children. "Head Start teaches lots of social skills," describes Louise Jue, Gateway Village Head Start teacher. "The goal is to provide a safe, nurturing, positive environment to help the children learn, feel good about themselves, and like school."

The Community Center also plays host for Gateway's Neighborhood Watch group, biweekly Homebuyer Education classes taught by SHE staff, and community special events. Besides the rent-up potluck, Gateway residents have had a Halloween Party and a St. Patrick's Day Dance. Currently, planning is underway for a One Year Anniversary party and the National Night Out, a crime prevention celebration for Neighborhood Watch groups across the nation. In addition, the Modesto Police Department is donating several surplus computers it received from CSU Stanislaus to the community center .

Gateway is a sign of hope in a troubled community. Just down the street is another rental complex infamous in Modesto for its struggle with high crime and gang activity. In contrast, the very newness of Gateway Village projects a feeling that such activities won't be allowed.

On March 6, Gateway Village became the first residential Drug and Gun Free Zone in the City of Modesto. Anyone convicted of a drug-related crime within that zone faces the maximum penalty allowable and cannot plea-bargain for reduced charges. Violators may also face additional penalties that add 12 to 24 months to the sentence.

Carol Moses, Resident Manager, says that the effects of the designation are already being felt. "Immediately after we became a Drug-Free Zone, three people moved out," she said. "All the residents sign an agreement to stay drug-free. With the exception of those who decided they didn't want to live that way, everyone really likes it - especially the parents."

Jeri Roberson, Community Services Officer in charge of Crime Prevention in the area, has worked with the residents and managers to develop Gateway's Neighborhood Watch group, implement the Drug-Fee Zone, and gather donated computers for the computer center. He sees Gateway as playing a positive role in the community.

"You can't images how pleased we are, not only with the appearance and management of the facility but also to find someone with the willingness to invest in the community," he said. "It can make a major difference in the social structure and crime rate in the southwest area of Modesto."

Echoes Steve Young, Housing and Neighborhoods Manger for the City, "Gateway Village has been an asset to the community from the day it opened."

There is still room for growth. Parents are interested in the possibility of parenting and English classes being taught at the community center and opportunities to bring the diverse ethnic groups that live in Gateway Village together still abound. But Gateway Village is flourishing, and the foundation for a stable, positive community has been built. There is much hope for the years to come.

ACTION: Self-Help Enterprises build housing for low-income residents of the San Joaquin Valley, assists through low-interest construction financing which enables families to become homeowners, housing rehabilitation and emergency repairs, and scholarship to college-bound students of families who have participate in SHE programs.

--Submitted by Indira Clark

CoHousing proposed in Modesto

By KEITH WARNER, TRACY HERBECKand DON MCMILLAN

"The visions we offer our children shape the future. It matters what those visions are. Often they become self-fulfilling prophecies. Dreams are maps.

"I do not think it irresponsible to portray even the direst futures; if we are to avoid them, we must understand that they are possible. But where are the alternatives? Where are the dreams that motivate and inspire?"

--Carl Sagen

Pale Blue Dot

In the past few months, our group of about a dozen local residents has been meeting to envision, plan, and build a Shared Living Community in Modesto. Ken Norwood, architect, planner and coauthor of Rebuilding Community in America, applies his umbrella coinage "Shared Living Community" to a range of cooperative housing options, as well as the process of creating and managing such a community. Norwood's visit and presentations last April were the catalyst to start our group. Why should we want to join and build a community? "Are you joining a hippie commune?" some have been asked. The short answer is that it sounds like a wonderful life, far better than the conventional possibilities. The longer answer is that, like many people, we believe that the conventional model for building American cities is environmentally and socially unsustainable. Through innovative community building, we can cooperatively create a saner, more enjoyable way of life than each of us could build alone.

What is this dire future that we wish to shun? We dread Modesto subdivisions spreading like cancer into the surrounding farmland, merging with other cities until ticky-tacky and strip malls cover the entire valley floor and our air is thicker than in Los Angeles. It's a future from which the affluent flee to golf-course developments in the hills, leaving the poorer and more "ethnic" population to choke in the heat and smog. It's more asphalt, more gridlock, longer commutes, more ugliness. It's a future where this process continues to be repeated throughout the country.

What happens when the classic American Dream is overtaken by our pathological preoccupation with material possessions and ostentatious wealth? We fill oversized toters and dumpsters with plastic wrappers and broken white elephants. And still the national propaganda shrills for more. Buy more, more, MORE! But ideas for how to conserve all those "resources" we're urged to use up and discard, get little chance to be passed from neighbor to neighbor. We're too busy in our isolated households, off to work; to shuttle the kids--immobilized by streets too hazardous for young pedestrians--to music, sports, or daycare; to go shopping. There's just a little time for family facing the teevee while it pumps in more messages: you aren't whole till you've acquired the Snip-O-matic electric fingernail clipper.

Through cooperation, through housing, we participate in designing to maximize that cooperation, and through providing adequate private spaces for residents, we see possibilities for a high quality of life, a life lived for the joys of relationship, of building and bequeathing a proud heritage to those who come after us, instead of for the novelties the propaganda machines insist we need now.

Here in Modesto, our shared living community exploratory group has decided that we want our community to increase residents' freedom to seek ecological harmony. We want to be intergenerational (kids are cool), and we want to include members of diverse socio-economic, sexual-orientation, and ethnic groups so that our combined wisdom amounts to more than middle-class, Euro-American conventions. People with creative vocations are welcome as are people with disabilities. Through diverse participation in planning, our housing can be accessible while accommodating different pursuits.

We have not settled on any particular site within Modesto. We want to locate, however, so that we can increase housing density near transit, to demonstrate how a vibrant, prosperous lifestyle doesn't have to depend on two or three cars per household and sprawling housing tracts. We're interested either in retrofitting existing buildings to meet our needs or in building with non-conventional materials that enhance sustainability such as straw bale, rammed earth or cob. We favor passive solar designs and want to participate in construction ourselves to reduce our financial burden. We want housing that reflects our lifestyle rather than a market commodity.

So this is the kind of future that we are trying to map out. Like the cartographers of several hundred years ago, we face large, unfamiliar tracts, but we're confident that they're worth mapping. Unlike those explorers, however, we are not seeking ever larger empires. Rather, we want to learn to live in balance with the place we call our own. Perhaps the time has come for those of us who came after Columbus to stop where we are and look at the beautiful land, seeing its abundance. We resolve as those Columbus and his followers enslaved and murdered to survive content with pure air and water, unadulterated food and the companionship of free, brave souls.

Action: Our meetings are ongoing with one planned for September 27. Like-minded people are welcome. Please contact Tracy <tracy@ainet.com> or 522-7149 (evenings).

Planting the fall garden

By INDIRA CLARK

When Blythe Osner became Education Coordinator at Heifer Project International's Ceres office a year ago, she asked my advice for growing a fall garden.

When I was a child my father always put in the fall garden the week before Modesto Junior College started, in late September as did most colleges back then. I have no fond memories of sifting compost in the late-summer heat, one tradition I have NOT carried.

For the past twenty-odd years I have managed to have a decent fall garden once every three years or so depending on the crop sizes of our fruit and nut orchard in any given year. I've learned that "fall" planting can start anytime after mid-August and continue into mid-November, depending on the weather.

I've listed and calendared my favorite fall vegetables and flower varieties for you. (Where I mention more than one cultivar, I will list earliest to latest ripening. Some are readily available at local nurseries like Scenic. Lockhart Seeds, 3 N. Wilson Way, Stockton, sells in bulk and carries stock from Shepherd's Seeds and other smaller seed companies.)

Peas are a big favorite in our family, especially the edible-pod varieties: sugar snap and, less so, Chinese snow (flat pod). They can be planted in August for a late fall harvest, November for March eating, or late January-late February for April-early June (if it's not too hot).

Sugar Snaps are best eaten raw, pod and all, with dip, of course, but also can be steamed. I plant three varieties of sugar snaps to prolong the season: Sugar Ann and Sugar Mel which have short vines and the regular Sugar Snap which has the best flavor but will top 6 feet. Flowering sweet peas (non-edible) can be interplanted with the latter for pretty and fragrant trellises.

Oregon Spring II produces a tremendous amount of snow peas. Snow peas freeze well; gluts do develops at harvest time. (Steam for 3 minutes, freeze immediately on a cookie sheet in a single layer, store in bags, drop into hot soup, etc., for just a minute before serving.)

For the best stand of peas, pre-sprout peas before planting. Soak the seed for 4 hours and then spread in a single layer on damp paper towel and slide into a plastic bag. In August keep in a cool room; in winter on the top of a water heater is good. Germination will take 1-5 days. Get them in the ground soon after germination to avoid tangled sprouts. Thanks to a tip from Shepherd's Seeds catalogue long ago, I open a trench the width of the hoe blade and sprinkle in the sprouts over a wide band with seeds approx. 3 inches apart then cover carefully. Who has time to thin plants later?

I know large acreages of regular peas are grown on the westside of the county and fresh peas are wonderful to eat straight from the pod or popped into a late-winter salad, BUT they're too much work for too little return for me. True confession: I buy frozen peas.

Pea flowers are also edible and cheer up winter salads--some are purple, others, white. The Southeast Asians use the pea tendrils in stir-fries and soups.

Try planting a handful of garbanzo beans; they're a winter grower here.

Salad: It seems that I never plant enough salad mix, the mixtures of various lettuces and other greens. Sow thickly and cut when small then allow to regrow. Some are fairly heat resistant, bolting being a major problem with our nice little warm spells mid-winter. Just keep making successive plantings beginning now. My family's favorite is the mild Shepherd's Napa Valley Lettuces. Shepherd's also has a more pungent mesclun mix.

I prefer flat leaf spinach for ease of washing, no favorite cultivar. I've read that soaking seed in a weak bleach solution aids germination.

Plant these salad greens in rich soil and give them plenty of water during dry spells.

Also for salad: Presto turnips are true to their name, making small, sweet roots very quickly. Easter Egg radishes in assorted colors are fun.

Calendula, johnny-jump-up (a small viola), violet, and bachelor button flowers are also colorful in the garden, salads, and bouquets. Leave some to reseed forever after. The perennial herb, borage, also has an attractive flower, sky blue and star-shaped, the perfect garnish for deviled eggs.

(A planter by the backdoor filled with lettuces helps beat the winter greys. Everything mentioned under salad is easily container-grown. Mix in a few Red Emperor tulip bulbs for color. They're also edible, tasting like sweet, fresh peas.)

In my experience Bok Choy is the easiest member of the cabbage family to grow here. The Mei Qing variety makes small, green veined plants. You can start harvesting these at 3-inch size or allow to grow to full 8 inches. Great in stir-fries. A late August planting can be harvested from October-February, weather permitting. They do bolt but the flower stocks are edible, too.

It's fun to watch Brussels sprouts develop. I buy plants now but seeds can be started now for March harvest.

(When I set out plants I first water the holes or trenches with a strong fish emulsion solution. I don't get around to doing much fertilizing during the growing seasons but weak fish emulsion is my drink of choice, because of ease more than philosophy, followed by homemade compost or manure tea.)

Kohlrabi is fun; little cabbage heart-flavored-and-textured balls growing above the ground. Plant in September or February-March.

In the allium family, seeds can be started in late summer, sets can be purchased into early spring. Leeks, onions, and garlic tops can all be harvested sparingly while chives are dormant midwinter. All make good sprouts in the house. (Our all time favorite sprout is garlic chives. And while they germinate freely--much too freely in the garden--they're tricky pots in the juvenile stage and not for winter growing.)

We love leeks. Occasionally Scenic Nursery will get in six-packs carpeted with leek seedlings - once I got 200 plants out of ONE pack. We start our own to insure a supply. Last year we had a huge fruit and nut harvest so in desperation I've entrusted the job to the woman who starts seedlings for my Farmers Market cut flowers. She, being a very strong-minded person (who isn't of my friends and associates), refused to heed my advice and begging and didn't start them until October ‡ la the seed package instructions. So there were none to plant out until late January, let alone eat until late spring. The leeks loved the cool, wet spring but what was left bolted when summer finally arrived -- much to the delight of my flower customers.

Of course, Stockton Red Onions are the local celebrity; sets are readily available now.

Bulb fennel is a nice late-winter treat from a fall planting.

The sweetest kale is Shepherd's Verdune.

Our kids don't like beets as much as Sam and I do but they ate up all I brought home from the Garden Project this spring. (If you’re only a fair-weather gardener, or not one at all, here's a good source of locally grown, organic produce.)

I've done potatoes in the fall but it's easier in the spring. In wet years they're prone to rot and any year the gophers are glad to vary their diets.

Other flowers to plant in the fall just for beauty and bouquets are larkspur (pre-chill seed for a week), various poppies, and, from nursery flats: foxgloves and delphiniums (both, like larkspur, are poisonous), snapdragons, lupine, Shasta daisies.

Anytime after the middle of August, I scratch a "green manure" mix into the garden beds around whatever plants will be continuing to produce into the fall; hairy vetch is my favorite, plus rye, oats, clover, and any kind of legume. These can be dug under at any stage of development to enrich the soil. Even if the bed is dug under in October or November it's been renourished a bit. I also use manure on the beds and lots of compost--unsifted, Daddy.

2nd Annual Zucchini Recipe

By NANCY DIMOND

It's that time of year again when there is an abundance of zucchini. My sister is famous for her pickles and last summer started using this recipe which she got from "Southern Living." It will use about five pounds of your zucchini. Make this and save for gift giving.

Zucchini Relish

10 cups grated zucchini
4 cups chopped onion
1/4 cup salt
5 cups sugar
2 1/4 cups white vinegar
1 tablespoon each, celery seed, ground tumeric and black pepper.

Combine first three ingredients in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate eight hours. Transfer to a colander and rinse under cold water. Drain well and press between paper towels. Combine the dried zucchini with the remaining ingredients in a dutch oven. Bring to a boil over medium high heat then reduce heat to medium and simmer 30 minutes stirring often. Use hot water bath for 15 minutes when jarring this relish. (If you are not familiar with canning methods, consult a basic cookbook.)

Finding Bliss in Oakdale

By ELAINE GORMAN

Bliss is wedged between House of Beef and Oakdale Feed and Seed. Cafe Bliss, that is. This unique espresso bar and cafe has been a favorite breakfast stop on the way to skiing and hiking locations in the Sierra for the past several years. Mouth-watering quiches and scones have been the happy start to many adventures.

Jim Postma and his sister and brother-in-law, Jane and John Erro, are the owner-operators of Cafe Bliss. Since 1989 they have been serving homemade soups, specialty sandwiches and gourmet salads along with their breakfast fare. They originally intended to remain a coffee shop with espresso, coffee beans, and pastries, but they now offer a complete and varied breakfast and lunch menu.

Walking into Cafe Bliss, you may be greeted by jazz softly playing in the background. Painted wooden frogs from Bali will be flying above you and animal masks from Sri Lanka will be gazing at you as you go into the dining room. Old tins, a fossil shark tooth collection, and local hand-made pottery are other items to catch your attention. Each month, Cafe Bliss features the work of a different local artist.

So, on your next journey through Oakdale, or if you desire an alternative to fast-food in a relaxing environment, try Cafe Bliss,152 N. Yosemite. They are open 6:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. I recommend the iced Chai.

Around the Center

Cultural diversity will be celebrated at Modesto High School on October 14th. Community volunteers are need to speak about personal experiences with discrimination during this Day of Respect. (See articles).

So you enjoyed Peace Camp (or wanted to come but life was overfull). Come to the 1999 Peace Camp Planning Potluck at Jim and Lenore Dupré's home in Turlock, October 3:00 p.m. (The Smart/Scheller family has been requested not to bring Tofu Surprise. . .) Camp is traditionally the fourth weekend of June.

Please see Student Community Service Opportunities article for Stanislaus Connections , Peace Essay Contest and Harvest Supper, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Committee.

ACTION: All welcome. Phone the Center the volunteer 529-5750.

Bookstore Aztlàn presents: Chiapas now

By Dan Onorato

During September on each Wednesday evening starting at 7:00 p.m., Bookstore Aztl‡n, at 907 10 St. between "I" and "J" streets, will feature discussions about Chiapas, Mexico, with Veronica Guajardo.

Former MJC student now at UC Santa Cruz, Guajardo spent six weeks this summer in Chiapas. Part of her work included creating a data base on human rights violations against indigenous peoples in the Southern Mexican State of Chiapas. She also lived in two indigenous communities that support the Zapatistas. In Nuevo Progreso and 10 de Abril, a few hours from the capital of San Crist—bal, she joined other volunteers in building a water tank and a church. She also visited other villages, pro-PRI government as well as pro-Zapatista.

With government forces destroying much of the corn raised in pro-Zapatista areas, the plight of the people is desperate. Hunger and malnutrition are common. Mexican students have started a fundraising effort to help the indigenous people buy corn, the essential staple of their diet. Donations will be accepted for that purpose after Guajardo's presentation. The programs are open to all interested.

July fundraiser a success!

Valley Views from both balloon and airplane were auctioned off at the Stanislaus Connections July 4th fundraiser as were down-home pies and jams. Donated items reflected the talents (and appetites!) of supporters. Our little Third Wave plus feminists have no problem with personal adornment issues as evidenced by the hot bidding on jewelry. Thanks all donors and attenders for this successful and fun event.

Our biggggggest thanks to Charles Milligan and Gerard Petit for once again donating the use of Viva Gallery!, a wonderful place for parties and other special occasions.

Tai Chi

By PAUL NEUMANN

One of the enduring images brought home from a trip to China is the sight of men and women out on the streets in front of their houses every morning, practicing a form of the ancient Eastern exercise known as T’ai Chi. Originally designed for self defense, T’ai Chi has been refined into a slow, graceful, rhythmic physical workout that promotes relaxation, flexibility and good health. It is a series of movements which stimulate meditation and harmony while providing physical exercise.

Now a T’ai Chi Ch’uan Academy has been established in Modesto. Classes are offered at regular times six days a week to approximately ninety students of varying ages and abilities. Our community is fortunate to have two devoted students of this ancient art who are also dedicated and inspirational teachers, Mary Layton and Naser Ataee.

In turn, Naser and Mary continue their studies with one of the most widely respected T’ai Chi masters, third generation Master Kai Ying Tung. They travel to Los Angeles for classes with Master Tung, as well as to camps and workshops throughout the United States and Europe.

People come to T’ai Chi for many reasons: for the physical and mental discipline involved in learning a series of rhythmic movements which have real life applications; for the meditative harmony which often comes from performing a repetitive physical activity; for the inspiration provided by the teachers; for the adventure shared by the community of learners. T’ai Chi is a lifelong journey.

Learning T’ai Chi begins slowly. Movements are practiced over and over until they are internalized. There is an opportunity to watch the teachers or other advanced students model the beginning series of movements called the slow set. Teaching is done principally by example; there is little talk during the class session. Students are in continuous slow motion, hands and arms performing movements that have particular, individual meaning, legs moving rhythmically to provide balance, support and stability.

The student is asked from the very beginning to watch his or her hands lead the circular movements of the body. The idea of the circle is very important in T’ai Chi. You begin to be exceptionally attentive to the roundness of your hands and arms as they move through the air. Also, because all the moves must be performed on a stable base, balance is critical. Shifting your balance from one leg to another, you must be in the moment, aware of how your weight is centered. Being in the moment relaxes the mind as well as the body. Learning to keep your balance even while moving through intricate positions is very rewarding.

Patience is important. T’ai Chi is never mastered. There is always something else to learn about yourself through this practice. Every movement in every section of every slow set is a challenge and a fulfillment. In Eugen Herrigel’s small classic, Zen and the Art of Archery, there is the following quote: "We master archers say, ‘One shot; one life.’"

The same could be said of T’ai Chi. It is an exercise, a meditation, a remedy, a journey--a life.

ACTION: Inquire about a class taught at an hour suitable for you. Meet other interesting, dedicated students. T’ai Chi Ch’uan Academy of Modesto, 3600 Sisk Rd., #B-4, 572-4518. Ask for Naser or Mary.

Exciting "Global Musical Journey" offered Sunday Afternoons at Congregation Beth Shalom

By TINA ARNOPOLE DRISKILL

Modesto’s Congregation Beth Shalom invites you to go on a global musical journey during its Seventh Annual Anker Memorial Arts Sunday Afternoons at CBS concert series beginning Sept. 13 with New Zealand born Lebanese pianoforte musician John Khouri.

Khouri will perform the music of Beethoven on the same type of instrument with which Beethoven composed and performed. This and all concerts in the 5 part series will begin at 3 pm in the Samuel Graudenz Social Hall, 1705 Sherwood Avenue.

The journey will continue Nov. 15 with the West African Highlife rhythms of Hedzoleh Soundz, featuring native Ghanaian, traditional African and contemporary Western song and instrumentation.

It will be revival time Jewish style on Jan. 10, 1999, when California Klezmer brings the sparks of the recently rekindled "klezmer revival" of Eastern European Jewish ghetto music to Modesto. The style, both happy and soulful, will take you from "a shepherd’s hillside in Romania to a wedding in Babriosk to a sidewalk concert of Yiddish ‘doo-wap’ singers in New York."

Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, 1999, will bring concert tourists back to the states for Grace Lieberman and the CBS Sweethearts. Grace will be joined by musically talented members of CBS for a musical stroll down Lover’s Lane.

The final destination for the global musical journey will be indigenous music of the Americas performed by Hauyucaltia (pronounced Why-U-Call-Tia, which means unity in the language of the Aztecs). The March 14, 1999 concert features five musicians from Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Mexico and the United States performing an exciting acoustic combination of flamenco, jazz, Latin American folk and classical styles distinctly their own.

Passage for this exciting tour is $50 general, $40 students and seniors. Single concerts admission is $15 general and $10 students and seniors. Ticket orders may be sent with checks to: Congregation Beth Shalom, 832 Ravenstone Circle, Modesto, 95355. Tickets may also be purchased at The Book Store in McHenry Village or at C.B.S., 1705 Sherwood Ave., Modesto. For information call 571-6060 or 526-9207.

International Festival celebrates American cultural heritage

By TINA ARNOPOLE DRISKILL

American cultural heritage, a montage of the world’s national, cultural and ethnic groups, will be celebrated at the 8th Annual International Festival ‘98 on October 3 from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. in Graceada Park near downtown Modesto.

Many new and exciting features will highlight this year’s event beginning with an Americana Grand Opening Ceremony, parade of nations, installation of flags and "An American Musical Review".

Shahin & Sepehr, internationally known jazz guitarists with a Middle-Eastern flavor, will headline the evening concert beginning at 7 p.m.

Escola Nova, Brazilian dance and music artists from the Bay Area, are scheduled for the first-time Midday World Beat Concert at 3 p.m.

The Passport to Learning educational program for elementary school children and all interested in learning more about individual cultures will be introduced at the festival’s Global Village area, featuring kiosks displaying various cultural artifacts, historical and demographic information.

Two stages will feature cultural entertainment and live music throughout the day, and

"Its a Kid’s World" children’s area will offer international arts, crafts and games to youngsters and their families.

An array of ethnic foods will be available at the International Food Court, and festival goers can choose to browse amongst a variety of cultural craft booths. Other offerings include the Cafe Gallery & Fine Art Exhibit, storytelling and local produce vendors.

ACTION: Admission is free and promises to be fun-filled and educational. For more information or about participation as an entertainer or vendor call 521-3852.

DEADLINE TO SUBMIT ARTICLES TO CONNECTIONS.

Tenth of each month. Submit peace, justice and environmentally friendly event notices to P.O. Box 134, Modesto, CA, 95353, or call 522-4967 or 575-4299, or email to costello@ainet.com. Free listings subject to space, availability and editing.