On the evening of August 6, a small but earnst group of people, young and old, gathered at the Tenney Park shelter to tell stories, write postcards, hear music, fold paper cranes and make peace lanterns. The Lanterns for Peace gathering was sponsored by the Dane County Peace Coalition to remember the victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 51 years ago.

Those in attendance that evening had the opportunity to hear a number of people talk about their feelings regarding the concerns they have about the continued presence of nuclear weapons in society. A special guest speaker of the evening was Motoo Hirayama, the director of the Grass Roots Movement To Remove U.S. Bases From Okinawa/Japan. Mr. Hirayama urged everyone to work for peace and taught the audience the Japanese word for peace, “Heiwa.”

The evening’s activities were culminated when the participants each took a peace lantern to the lagoon shore, lit the candle inside and set the lanterns afloat.

-David Mandehr

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