Brainerd Area Coalition for Peace (BACP) held our monthly meeting on Monday, September 12, 2022 at 7 p.m. The meeting took place in Gregory Park. Judi Schiller, Richard Schiller, Larry Mjolsness, and Doug Olson joined the BACP meeting. Meeting participants discussed BACP hosting our Crow Wing County Fair booth. BACP hosted our booth every day of the Fair, from Tuesday, August 2 through Saturday, August 6. The BACP booth was open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The BACP Crow Wing County Fair booth went very well. Dedicated volunteers covered every shift. Almost everyone who visited the booth supported BACP's peace activism. Even the few people who disagreed with our peace activism were polite. Many fairgoers who visited the booth had a positive response to the Free Julian Assange buttons. They agreed with BACP booth volunteers Assange should be freed and the war criminals he exposed should be prosecuted for their crimes. Thank you to everyone who volunteered at the BACP Crow Wing Fair booth. Your commitment made hosting the booth possible. Thank you to Judi and Richard for setting up and dismantling the booth. Thank you to Elaine Kain for creating the buttons. The buttons are extremely popular. Meeting participants discussed possible dates to hold the Fall BACP Adopt a Highway cleanup. BACP has an Adopt a Highway section located north of Little Falls off Highway 371. Meeting participants did not set a date for the cleanup. Doug will send an email to the BACP listserv asking which date potential cleanup volunteers believe works best. The date which works best for the most potential cleanup volunteers will be chosen. [An equal number of potential cleanup volunteers said Saturday, October 15 and Saturday, October 22 worked for them. Because of this, the Fall BACP Adopt a Highway cleanup will be held on Saturday, October 15 with a backup date of Saturday, October 22 in case bad weather forces the cancellation of the Saturday, October 15 cleanup. Cleanup volunteers will meet at the Knotty on 371 (the former Cabin Fever) restaurant parking lot, located off Highway 76, at 11 a.m. to plan the cleanup. The cleanup will probably take a few hours. More information about the cleanup will be sent out closer to the cleanup date.] Meeting participants discussed hosting a peace vigil in October. The Fall BACP peace vigil could be held on Monday, October 3 before the BACP meeting or on a Saturday when the BACP Adopt a Highway cleanup is not held. If the vigil is held on Monday, October 3, it will begin at 5:30 p.m. and last until shortly before the BACP meeting begins at 7 p.m. If the vigil is held on a Saturday, the vigil will begin at 1 p.m. and last for an hour or an hour and a half. The vigil will be held at the intersection of Sixth and Washington Streets, Brainerd, across from the historic Brainerd water tower. Doug will send an email to the BACP listserv asking if the vigil should be held before the Monday, October 3 BACP meeting or on a Saturday when the Adopt a Highway cleanup is not held. A decision will be made based on what most potential vigil participants say works best. Brainerd Democracy Alliance (BDA) is the new name for the Brainerd Area Joint Democracy Group. A majority of the people who voted in the online poll voted in favor of BDA as a new name over three other possible new names. Judi nominated BDA as a new name for the group. Brainerd Lakes Area Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) co-chair Julius Kapushinski organized the online poll. BDA is an alliance of Brainerd area progressive organizations, including BACP, DSA, Brainerd Lakers United for the Environment (BLUE), Brainerd Lakes Pride, and Lakes Area Move to Amend (LAMTA). BLUE is holding a Climate Justice/Water Protectors Solidarity vigil on Thursday, October 13 at 5 p.m. The vigil will be held at the intersection of Sixth and Washington Streets, Brainerd, across from the historic Brainerd water tower. The vigil will last until shortly before the monthly BLUE meeting begins at 6 p.m. The BLUE meeting will be held in the Brainerd United Church of Christ (UCC) Fellowship Hall. The UCC is located at 415 Juniper Street, Brainerd, near Gregory Park. The Fellowship Hall is in the downstairs section of the UCC. Everyone is welcome to join the vigil and BLUE meeting. The vigil will demand the dropping of the remaining criminal charges against Water Protectors who peacefully opposed the construction of Line 3, the shutting down of Line 3 and the Dakota Access Pipeline, and an immediate end to the construction of Line 5 in northern Wisconsin and Michigan. The vigil opposes proposed projects which could severely damage the environment, such as copper/nickel mining near the Boundary Waters, magnesium/nickel mining near Tamarack (a small town east of McGregor), and Huber Manufacturing's plywood plant in Cohasset, near the Leech Lake Ojibwe Reservation. (The Leech Lake Band strongly opposes the proposed plywood plant). The vigil supports a just, rapid transition to clean energy. Robin Hensel is back home. Robin is making great strides recovering from the stroke she suffered in late March. She is posting on Facebook regularly. Robin is speaking more clearly. Friends are helping her make appointments for physical and speech therapy. Robin greatly appreciates the support she is receiving from fellow peace activists. If you would like to call Robin, her phone number is (320) 360-3931. Please call Robin before 5 p.m. If you would like to write to Robin, her address is: Robin Hensel 807 1st Street SE Little Falls, MN 56345 The Monday, October 3 BACP meeting will be held in the Brainerd UCC upstairs library at 7 p.m. The BACP meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m. BACP Meeting Notes Submitted by Doug Olson