Coverage by the New Britain Herald
New Britain, CT: 2/23/2003

Wethersfield group walks for peace

By ROBIN VINCI, Staff Writer

WETHERSFIELD -- About 30 people, of a newly formed concerned citizens group, took part in a Community Walk for Peace in Wethersfield Saturday.

The purpose of the walk, sponsored by individual members of the new Wethersfield Peace and Justice group, was to protest the United States’ plans for a pre-emptive war against Iraq, and to plead for peaceful containment of Saddam Hussein through strengthened United Nations inspections, so as to avoid the needless killing of many thousands of innocent Iraqi citizens and the inevitable loss of American servicemen and servicewomen.

The group walked 1.8 miles with umbrellas, bongos and signs in hand from the downtown corner of Main and Church streets up Church Street to Silas Deane Highway, south on Silas Deane to Welles Road, and then back along Main Street to the starting point.

Most of the response was good, as cars honked horns in support. One small group emerged from a car to harass and call walkers names, but the march went on peacefully. One walker said she wished she had not yelled back and in the future, the group would be told to ignore such individuals and walk on.

Walkers held such signs as "Oil Man Bush + Oil Man Cheney + Oil Rich Iraq = disaster"; "Grandparents for Peace: War Terrorizes Grandkids" and "Let’s Decide, Renewable Energy or Genocide."

The group was formed by Patty Sullivan on Feb. 4.

"I am a lifelong peace activist who has not protested since the Vietnam War," said Sullivan. "I’ve always been concerned with the rights for peace."

Sullivan said she had been reading on the Internet about a group from Glastonbury who had formed to protest a war and wondered if Wethersfield residents would be interested. Officially, the group has five members, but based on Saturday’s turnout, the numbers appear to be growing.

"This is something I have been doing in West Hartford," said Lou Gerondo of Wethersfield. "I’m glad to finally see it being done here."

Walkers all seemed to agree that they are not for Saddam Hussein or his politics.

"I think the world needs to look at things in other ways," said group member Peg Barstow. "I do not like Hussein and we need to get rid of him, but we need to find new ways to negotiate. I am also worried that started a war with Iraq might just spread across the world."

World War II veteran George A. Ruhe, said he was walking because he knows how bad war can be.

"War is not a good solution. I have been there and done that," said Ruhe. "Nobody supports Hussein, but it is not for us to use weapons of mass destruction."

One Wethersfield resident said that the media wasn’t covering all the vigils and marches.

"On Monday, I was part of vigil who was at the Old State House for six and one-half hours during a blizzard and not one media covered us," said Kyle Hanen.

The Wethersfield Peace and Justice group initially planned to march Presidents’ Day but changed the event to Saturday due to the blizzard. The future of the group is unknown, but Sullivan said more events would be held in the future.

Robin Vinci can be reached at rvinci@newbritainherald.com or by calling (860) 225-4601, ext. 306.