Peace Wall ceremony to honor local peacemakers and Thich Nhat Hanh

Four new names will be inscribed on Sebastopol's Living Peace Wall. Come to the induction ceremony this weekend.

The Living Peace wall across the street from Sebastopol’s downtown plaza. (Photo from sebastopollivingpeacewall.com)

Peace Wall founder Michael Gillotti and friends are getting ready for the 7th annual induction ceremony at Sebastopol’s Living Peace Wall this weekend —  Saturday, August 27, from 11 am to noon in the downtown plaza.

They’ll be adding four new names to the Peace Wall this year, three locals and one internationally famous peacemaker. This year's honorees are Brother Toby Carroll, Barton Stone, Rev. James Coffee, and Thich Nhat Hanh.

Gillotti, a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, founded the Living Peace Wall with Vietnam veteran Richard Retecki in 2015.

The wall, which consists of seven, graduated concrete slabs topped by a large bronze peace sign, is located in downtown Sebastopol on the corner of Petaluma Avenue and McKinley Street, across from the downtown plaza, near the Rialto Cinemas.

According to Gillotti, “The purpose of the Living Peace Wall is to promote the cause of peace and justice by honoring the peacemakers among us, to encourage them to continue their work and to inspire others to do what they can do, large or small, to help create a more loving, kind and peaceful world.”

The accomplishments of this year’s inductees are as follows:

• Brother Toby Carroll is the founder of Starcross Seminary, which is devoted to caring for children with AIDS and other life-threatening diseases.

• Barton Stone, of Occidental, became a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War and began working for nonviolent resolutions for conflict. He walked to Moscow for peace and was arrested as he and crew members sailed into a bomb site in the Marshall Islands.

• Rev. James Coffee of Santa Rosa, who died in 2010, was a respected local civil rights advocate and a longtime and beloved pastor of Santa Rosa's Community Baptist Church, a predominantly African American congregation that expanded to include Hispanics, Asians and Whites.

• Thich Nhat Hanh, who died earlier this year, was a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, who was exiled from Vietnam for his opposition to the war. He then founded Plum Village Monastery in France and is known as the father of mindfulness

Past inductees to the Peace Wall have included Daniel Ellsberg, Dolores Huerta, Holly Near, as well as Sebastopol’s own Jim Corbett, the founder of Peacetown.

The ceremony will begin with the music of John Lennon – first “Give Peace a Chance” then “Imagine”—followed by an invocation and guided meditation from a representative of the Center for Spiritual Living, a reading about the meaning of the Peace Wall, and then an introduction to this year’s inductees.

Only one inductee, Barton Stone, will be present for the event this year. Gillotti expects around 300 people to attend the event.

“We’ve been in such dark times recently,” he said. “People are really touched by this event, where we’re not tearing people down, but trying to build them up, honor them, acknowledge them and show appreciation. I think people are inspired by that. And part of the intention and the mission of the wall is to honor those who have worked non-violently for peace and justice, to encourage them to keep working, and to inspire others to get involved.”

Find out more about the Peace Wall at sebastopollivingpeacewall.com and come to this year’s event in Sebastopol’s downtown plaza on Saturday, August 27, from 11 am to noon.

Peace Wall founders Michael Gillotti and Richard Retecki at the 2019 Peace Wall ceremony. (Photo from sebastopollivingpeacewall.com)