The Hamilton Peace Cafe recently hosted two successful events! Last Thursday, Erin Stanley facilitated a zine workshop as part of our ongoing How To series. Zines are basically home-made publications that are self-titled and about whatever you want them to be. The skill-share workshop was attended by an eclectic group of folks that created several zines, and everyone had a fun time.

The other recent event was the Letter Writing Night on Monday. This was the first of what will hopefully be many more nights dedicated to writing letters to prisoners. The letter writer's drew on lists of political prisoners in Canada and the United States, and we sent thirteen letters of much needed solidarity and support. Some of the organizers from Hamilton's own Books to Bars were on hand to provide insight and information to what they do, Canadian prisons and prisoners, and to write letters. There were also generous donations of stamps and stationary from participants that supplemented the materials provided by the HCTP.

Thanks to everyone that attended and helped out with these events at the Sky Dragon. We hope to continue this momentum and see even more interested participants at the upcoming Letter Writing Nights, How To workshops, and more! Stay tuned to the website, cheers.

A few weeks ago, some of the Peace Café folks took a day-trip up to Walkerton, Ontario. With an early start on a Sunday morning, Julie, Rob, Danielle, and myself jumped into the car and made our way North. Before we were even out of Hamilton we had already spotted a deer and the sun was shining bright in the blue sky. The rest of the day unfolded with similar blessings as we pulled into Walkerton and had a delicious lunch and fair-trade coffees served up by our friend Josh in the Walkerton Peace Café, the White Rose Coffeehouse. A main reason for our trip was to attend the 9/11 Truth event, “The Public Mythology of 9/11 and the Global War on Terror”, and we had the pleasure of participating in some fascinating discussions with some of speakers of the event over lunch.

In the afternoon we perused the small shops and Old Mill in Paisley, explored the Saugeen First Nations reserve along the shore of Lake Huron, passed through a rural field of wind turbines, and ended up on the dock on the secluded shores of a lake where we were joined by a few snakes as we watched the minnows and relaxed in the sun. After a few hours of wonder we managed to make our way back along the trail, surrounded by purple wild flowers and old Cedars. Once back in Walkerton, we joined the excited crowd at the historic Victoria Jubilee Hall, thankfully managing to find seats in the packed hall as the presentations began.

After insightful presentations from Dr. Anthony Hall and Dr. Michael Truscello, the highlight of the evening for me was the presentation by Dr. Graeme MacQueen. Dr. MacQueen has been active in various peace initiatives in the Hamilton area, and he even played a big role in creating the Centre for Peace Studies at McMaster University, which the Hamilton Peace Café has a strong relationship with. Dr. MacQueen’s presentation challenged the widespread public perception of what happened on 9/11, and his strong evidence and concise delivery was riveting.

When the event finished, we realized that it was getting quite late and we still had a few more hours in the car. Though we were all pretty knackered when we finally rolled into Hamilton, it was a fun yet relaxing day, and we all seemed thankful for it. It was nice to see what the Walkerton Peace Café is up to, and spend some easy going time with the busy bees of the Hamilton Peace Café. In fact we liked our trip North so much that perhaps a Friends of the Peace Café Canoe Trip is in the works for sometime later this summer??? We will be sure to keep you posted!