This will be the 26th year of the Hiroshima/Nagasaki Vigil in Ashland. This year's theme is: "Lessons from Disaster: Hiroshima to Fukushima" and the emphasis will be on commemorating the victims of the bombings at the dawn of the nuclear age 66 years ago and of the nuclear disaster at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant earlier this year as well as on education and ideas for action.
Learn about nuclear power risks, the location of plants and contaminated areas, the dangers of nuclear weapons still poised in silos and subs all over the world and the progress
and failures of international treaties.
The vigil will begin with the lighting of a memorial candle in remembrance of all the victims of Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Fukushima at 8 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 6, on the lawn at the entrance to Lithia Park near the Plaza in downtown Ashland,
followed by a moment of silence. Ashland Mayor John Stromberg, a member of the international Mayors for Peace
organization, will read Ashland’s proclamation designating the city as a nuclear-free zone. At 3 p.m. that day
the Whistling Elk Drum group will perform on the Plaza.
After the opening ceremony, the public will be invited to explore a “Nuclear Maze,” a large artistic display on the subject on the Plaza. The display will be open around
the clock as the vigil continues until 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 8.
A closing ceremony for the vigil will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 9, the 66th anniversary of the Nagasaki bombing, in the Japanese Garden in Lithia Park. The public will be invited to float sunflowers, the symbol of the nuclear-free movement, down the stream that flows through the Japanese Garden to Ashland Creek.
The Ashland Branch of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom is the primary organizer of the event. Most of the Rogue Valley peace and justice organizations are co-sponsors.
Please join us.
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