With the live music of the festival providing our sound track, we vigiled from 11:30 am through 1 PM, a peak lunch hour for NY State workers. Thanks to those from the weekly Capitol Park East, Wednesday noon vigil who joined us for part of the time and helped us hold our three banners at the start of the vigil, before our numbers grew. Over the hour and a half our group contained about 26 peace loving people, including three children. Many stayed for the entire time while some took up part of the vigil. It was quite hot and humid but spirits were good and there was an optimistic feeling about our work. It was an outstanding venue, with hundreds of people going by and looking at everything around them. We stood facing one of the rows of vendors about midway down the plaza where the banners and photos could be easily seen. There were also three people leafleting at most times and we gave out over 400 copies of our myths vs. facts about Iran leaflets (thanks to leaflet committee, Barbara, Audrey, Marcia, Malcolm, and Nassrin.) The response to our banners (appreciation to Kim and Mabel for all of their work and to Nassrin for donating the fabric) was generally positive with several people commenting in passing, stopping to talk or thanking us for being there. The photos (kudos to Diane and Mabel for photographic artistry and preparation) drew even more attention. Although some people averted their eyes most people looked at them carefully and some commented on the beauty of the children. Thanks to Maud’s persistent media outreach we had a cameraman from Fox News and a still photographer from the Schenectady Gazette. Several participants took pictures of the vigil and hopefully we’ll be able to post some of them on the Women Against War website. It was very empowering to be in the midst of a public event and be able to directly express our strong desires to avoid war and the destruction of another nation. In a way we were our own media. The best kind of demonstration and one that I hope we’ll repeat many times in the future until it’s no longer necessary! With great appreciation and respect for all of you, Mickie | 