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The Nugget Newspaper
Sisters, Oregon
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The contents of the on-line edition of The Nugget represent a selection among the stories that appear in the weekly print edition.

Sisters residents turn out for peace vigil
By Jim Cornelius

More than 70 Sisters area residents lit candles and paraded through the darkened streets of Sisters Sunday night, March 16, in a candlelight peace vigil.

Melissa Ward, who organized the local vigil in conjunction with vigils across the country, emphasized to participants that the event was non-political and no signs or slogans were in evidence.

The vigil formed behind Sisters Bakery and proceeded on a circuitous route to the Village Green where participants formed a circle and offered poems, prayers, songs and thoughts of peace.

Ward said she hoped participants would gather strength from the event that would help them feel that they could express their beliefs in a community where they might not always feel comfortable expressing such beliefs.

There were few direct references to the looming war in Iraq. Most of the contributions spoke to a general hope and need for peace.

"Peace is an active, vital energy," Ward said. "It is not a passive state."

Bryn Hazell asked that participants honor Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old American activist who was crushed by an Israeli bulldozer while blocking a Palestinian home in the Gaza Strip that Israeli soldiers destroyed in anti-terrorist operations.

The group joined in singing "If I Had a Hammer."

The vigil took place in a growing atmosphere of tension as the Bush Administration declared that the time for diplomacy in resolving the Iraq crisis was over.

On Monday, President George W. Bush gave Saddam Hussein and his sons 48 hours to leave Iraq or face armed conflict.

UN personnel were ordered out Monday and began leaving Tuesday.

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