Sonora Peace March and Rally

300 community members attended the March 19 peace march and rally in downtown Sonora . This was the third annual peace event held by the Tuolumne County Citizens for Peace since the eve of the war in Iraq in 2003. More than the usual number of passers by witnessed the march and rally since the huge "Home and Garden" show was held in town at the same time.

The keynote speakers were Lynn MacMichael of "Voices in the Wilderness" who has visited Iraq eight times in the past 15 years, and George Main, president of the Sacramento Veterans for Peace, a Vietnam era veteran. A 4-piece band and singer (Amy and Luke Rutten and Friends) entertained the marchers as they gathered in Court House Park in downtown Sonora. Other speakers included Ruth Morgan, a Stockton mother of two U.S. Marines who have recently served in Iraq, local playwright and poet Rick Foster who read his poem, "The Man Who Was Born in Iraq the Same Instant as I," and a 20-year-old local rap artist, Tom McDonnell, who performed a rap about global issues from war to Bush to health care to Gaia.

Despite the rain, the marchers listened with rapt attention to the excellent speakers.