On Saturday, Sept. 27, like most Saturdays, I’ll be at the Greenfield weekly peace vigil on the Greenfield Common from 11 a.m. to noon to mark the 23rd anniversary of the vigil which four of us started in September 2002. In 2002, Susan Dorazio (from Montague) and I (from Conway) were attending the weekly Sunday afternoon peace vigil in Amherst and Susan wondered why there wasn’t a peace vigil in Franklin County. We decided to go to the Greenfield Common the following Saturday. As we approached the Common from the west, we saw two other women carrying signs and walking toward the Common from the other side of Bank Row. Ava Gips and a woman named Tori (whose last name I can’t remember) had the same idea we had.

The four of us stood there that day … and for 23 years, each Saturday morning, people have stood on the Greenfield Common to express their wish for peace and an end to wars. We hold signs and banners and wear aprons with messages, wave to passing motorists, talk with passersby, and discuss what other actions everyone can take to end wars.

Since 2002, countless people have driven and walked by and seen the vigils and the signs. It’s been 18 degrees and snowy, 80 degrees and sunny. Sometimes there are just a few people, sometimes more than 150 people showed up. Wars rage on, people are still dying, including soldiers and people just trying to go on about their lives. Huge amounts of money are still going into weapons and destruction rather than education, health care, or just plain feeding and housing people.

Our message? Join us … or do something, whatever you can, to work for peace and justice in the U.S. and around the world.

MARY MCCLINTOCK, CONWAY

Read more here: https://recorder.com/2025/09/20/mary-mcclintock-23-years-standing-for-peace/