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<div><font face="Palatino" size="-1" color="#000000">HOPE Festival to
Celebrate Earth Day with Green Expo and Organizational Fair<br>
<br>
Bangor -- More than 70 organizations plan to
participate in the l4th annual HOPE (Help Organize Peace Earthwide)
Festival on April l9th from l0-4 p.m. at the Brewer Auditorium.
The first HOPE Festival was held in l995 and featured Helen Nearing,
who with her husband Scott were leaders in the back-to-the-earth
homesteading movement. A standing room only crowd listened to
then 91 year old Helen Nearing urge "Live simply and frugally with
an eye to the needs of the others to come." The HOPE Festival was
designed to celebrate Earth Day and to honor those who care for
the environment, but broadened to include honoring and
celebrating the variety of ways groups are working to meet the needs
of their communities. The highlight this year, the 38th
anniversary of Earth Day, the will be a Green Expo featuring smart
solutions for cool communities.</font><br>
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<div><font face="Palatino" size="-1" color="#000000">People will be
able to check out organizations and businesses sharing information
about ways to live a sustainable lifestyle. There will be an electric
car to test drive. The Maine Environmental Education
Project will demonstrate miniature windmills and solar panels. The
Maine Recycling office will share tips on recycling. The Sierra
Club will show films. Other groups will include the
Bicycle Coalition, Maine Solar Energy Association and Maine Interfaith
Power and Light. A food concession will include locally
produced specialty cheese, breads as well as hot dishes.
According to organizer Sandra Tardiff, "Supporting local farmers and
businesses is a great way to reduce greenhouse
emissions". </font></div>
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Festival organizers say living sustainably also involves
the caring work of many be organizations. According to
Ilze Petersons, program coordinator for the Peace & Justice Center
of Eastern Maine, which is sponsoring the HOPE Festival, celebrating
the caring work and making connections is one of the purposes of the
festival. The festival will also include organizations such as
Spruce Run and Rape Response Services working to end domestic violence
as well as organizations such as the Orono Peace Group and P ICA
(Peace through Interamerican Community Action) working for global
peace. "Organizing peace earthwide may seem ambitious,
but we see each day how interconnected we are in the clothes we wear
and the food we eat," said Petersons. "We see that actions
and decisions made here do have worldwide impact and
decisions made thousands of miles away impact us.
Sometimes as individuals we can feel powerless, but at the HOPE
Festival, we can affirm the power of positive change efforts."<br>
<br>
Petersons says the Festival is a celebration, but also a great way for
people to find out how they can support the work of these groups
.Sandy Tardiff , a coordinator of the HOPE Festival points out that
people need to get involved to make democracy work. "The HOPE
Festival is a fun way to support the caring work being
done and to learn about the many ways you can
participate. Whether its learning about the work of
the NAACP or the Eastern AIDS Network, There's something for
everyone. And thanks to volunteer efforts and sponsorships
its free." said Tardiff.</font><br>
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<div><font face="Palatino" size="-1" color="#000000">As people browse
among the information tables, pick up buttons, bumper stickers and
t-shirts, they will also be entertained by the lively jazz of
A-Train, the peaceful music of the U Maine Classsical Guitar Ensemble
and international dance. Children and adults will enjoy juggling
with Zachary Field and the puppetry of Richard Merrill .</font></div>
<div><font face="Palatino" size="-1" color="#000000"> <br>
Since the first festival, speakers such as award winning novelist
Carolyn Chute and nationally acclaimed singer/songwriters such
as Noel Paul Stookey and David Mallet have donated their
time to the Festival. They have joined dancers, jazz
musicians, steel drum bands, klezmer, folk, bluegrass, and
storytellers in entertaining more than l000 who attend the
festival each year. Many families have attended the festival
bringing their children to enjoy a wide variety of environmental,
nature and peace activities and entertainment and to sample the
delicious healthy food on sale. Each year there has been a
5K fun run</font></div>
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<div><font face="Palatino" size="-1" color="#000000">Each spring the
HOPE Festival renews the hope we all have for a peaceful and
sustainable future.</font><br>
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<div><font face="Palatino" size="-1" color="#000000"> Co-sponsors
are the Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine, University of
Maine Peace Studies, Cool Bangor, Maine Partners for Cool Communities,
the Green Campus Initiative, the Maine Peace Action Committee,
University of Maine Women's Studies/Women in the
Curriculum. </font></div>
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<div>The Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine<br>
170 Park Street<br>
Bangor ME 04401<br>
(207) 942-9343<br>
fax 992-2288<br>
email: info@peacectr.org<br>
check our website:
<http://www.peacectr.org/>www.peacectr.org</div>
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