Transformed August Events for OREPA

The whole week was transformed by the "Transform Now Plowshares” Action, which had happened only 8 days before on July 28th. You’ll hear in Ralph’s brilliant skit the inspiration for the Y-12 plant to transform towards dismantlement. See “Bomb Plant Seeking Friends” under MPN’s Resources. This also meant security was higher mostly seen by more vehicles, personnel in uniform checking ID of anyone entering the Y-12 gate. The nuclear weapons work was stopped for 16 days, but other tasks are done in this huge complex.

Motoko Huthwaite, Judy Markle and I drove to TN on August 4th to 10th for OREPA’s 3 events. These started August 5th with OREPA’s vigil, included 2 skits, several songs & Ralph’s update on the trio. Though there were only three of us from Michigan this year, this gave me the opportunity to just participate, take some pictures and videos. I am posting this report today even though not all the videos have been edited or uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo yet, though I do plan to do this and upload them to MPN’s Resources.

As pictures are worth a thousand words, my report this year can be see and read in these 4 picture slide shows:
1) 2012-08-06 OREPA’s Remembrance & Names Ceremony, Oak Ridge, TN (12 pictures)
http://slowrider.smugmug.com/OREPA/OREPA/2012-08-06-OREPAs-Hiroshima/25382426_WDzmMS#!i=2088312044&k=rqjZD5J
Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance commemorated 67th Anniversary of Hiroshima’s Atomic bomb with a solemn "Remembrance & Names Ceremony" at Y-12 (where the uranium was enriched for the "Little Boy" bomb).

2) 2012-08-08 Japanese lantern making (6 pictures)
http://slowrider.smugmug.com/OREPA/OREPA/2012-08-08-LanternMaking/25383297_ZJjTs9#!i=2088401653&k=sTXRxgm
Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance organized their Japanese lantern making work party, at Riverside house, Knoxville, TN, which is a creative way to contribute while visiting. This year we were honored to have Sister Megan Rice and Mike Walli plus 3 Japanese young women.

3) 2012-08-09 OREPA’s Nagasaki program, Knoxville, TN (16 pictures)
http://slowrider.smugmug.com/OREPA/OREPA/2012-08-09-OREPAs-Nagasaki/25383515_8MvvTq#!i=2088416215&k=GJmDmpR
Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance commemorated 67th Anniversary of Nagasaki’s plutonium bomb with their Japanese lantern ceremony along the banks of the Tennessee River in Knoxville, TN. The launching was after a program of music, litany reading, Japanese dancing & shadow puppet presentation of the story of Nagasaki, told primarily through the words of survivors.

4) 2012-08-09 Peace Pagoda, (13 pictures)
http://slowrider.smugmug.com/OREPA/OREPA/2012-08-09-Peace-Pagoda/25383881_mdqKHZ#!i=2088453163&k=dVr6vT8
As per their pattern over the last few years Rev. Denise Laffan & Rev. Utsumi Gyoshu fast, chant, drum & pray from August 6th to 9th, at the gate of Y-12. This year, because of attending the trial of the trio from Transform Now Plowshares action on the 9th morning they ended their fast. After the trial they were free to direct Carol, Judy & I up to the Great Smoky Mountain Peace Pagoda & Buddhist Temple outside of Newport, TN. They chose this spot to send prayers over towards Oak Ridge. See: http://www.smokymountainpeacepagoda.org/

The best way to see well written reports on Hiroshima & Nagasaki events which were organized by Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance (OREPA) is to go directly to www.orepa.org

Plus Frank Munger did a great job with his objective article in Knoxville News.com:
Everything peaceful at Y-12 vigil; security high, Security high after breach at weapons plant
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/aug/05/security-highly-visible-but-no-protesters-yet-at/
(The title for the same article which was printed on August 6th is “Anti-nuke activists hold ‘peace vigil’ outside Y-12”)

Kim Bergier
Coordinator of Michigan Stop The Nuclear Bombs Campaign