Last weekend I attended the summer gathering of the People’s Music Network at Camp Epworth in High Falls N.Y. The winter gathering is a rotating city gathering, last year in Chicago, next January 2000 in NYC.

The people in this network are over 2 thousand strong and gather to promote grassroots and community organizations exploring and accepting a diverse people. They use song, story, dance and friendship to share the vision of a better world.

This began 25 years ago with and by Pete Seeger and Charlie King, both in attendance last wkd. In fact Pete kicked off the breakfast meeting and singing.
I aired tapings from the weekend, and other music that collectively underscores the messages of the organization.

Never have I seen such a fabulous array of thoughtufl bumper stickers. I’d kick myself for not writing them all down, but this was a passivist gathering, so it will suffice to simply regret it.
“You can’t hug with nuclear arms”
“Fight aids, not people with aids”
“6% for the worlds population uses 90% of its resources”
“US out of North America”
and the ever present “Question Authority”

In Pete’s opening remarks he placed much hope, in fact all hope...in the small group and community gatherings...he said that the world will be saved by millions of tiny groups that care. We cannot leave it up to gov’t and relax. we must be active ourselves in our own way in our own community....

Here is Pete as he talks about hope and discusses education, disaster....

1. Kill Your Television  - BOBS
    Plugged Rounder....
    A tune composed of a string of bumper stickers!
    “Kill Your Television, Baby on board.....”

“Did you ever expect Mandela to be president, the Berlin wall to come down..”

2. Never Gonna Stop This Train - James Keelaghan
    Recent Future - Green Linnet
    “from the strike in Winnipeg to a square named Tienaman....”

Pete spoke about Oren Lyons. He asked when are experts at profit going to stop thinking like a CEO and start thinking like a grandfather.

3. Whatcha Gonna Leave - Greg Trafidlo
    Old Dog New Tracks - kirasongs@aol.com
    “a world where...children sleep in peace”

Pete is involved in fighting for the tiny gardens throughout NYC that Pataki has slated for sale. Here is a similar problem from 1649 and the Irish displaced farmer.

4. Digger’s Song - Karen Casey
    Songlines - Shanachie
    “we come to work the land in common and make the wasteland grow”

We cannot make the mistake of relying on the governments to right things. We need to put our faith and hope in the little groups, businesses and small organizations.

5. East Ashville Hardware - David Wilcox
     East Ashville Hardware - Fresh Baked Records
    “I’m worried they may close...” from stores with “rows and rows of registers having nice days”

6. Singing for our Lives- Holly Near and Ronnie Gilbert
     Lifeline - Redwood records
     "We are a gentle angry people"

Pete talked about how to get something done, we need to work with everyone, even some who you do not like.

7.  Swimming to the Other Side - Pat Humphries
     Same Rain - movingfwd@mindspring.com
      “We are washed by the very same rain”

We don’t have another 2000 years

8.  Same Boat Now Joyful Noise
     cassette

Progress can be made peacefully, we can follow the examples of Ghandi and Martin Luther King .

9. Oh You Beautiful Fool -Don Henry
    Wild in the Backyard - self
    “Consistently we are resistent to love”

Pete says “Wage war but not with weapons...
Bombs always kill innocent people...”

10 No Mas No More - John McCutcheon
Signs of the Times - Rounder
“Our silence buys the battles”

We have bombed 21 nations since 1944...China 45-46, Korea 50-53, China 50-53, Guatamala ‘54, Indonesia ‘58, Cuba ‘59-60, Guatamala ‘60, Congo ‘64, Peru ‘65, Laos ‘64-73, Vietman ‘61-73, Cambodia ‘69-70, Guatemala 67-69, Lebanon ‘83, Libya ‘83, Grenada ‘86, Libya ‘86, El Salvador ‘80’s, Nicaragua ‘80, Panama ‘89, Iraq 91-99, Bosnia ‘95, Sudan ‘98, Afghanistan ‘98, Yugoslavia ‘99 (from Killing the Hope, by W.Blum)

11. Let it Ring a sing along from the PMN evening round robin

12. The Work that I do - by Bob Blue sung by Linda Pollack Johnson

13. I’m Not Scared - sung by 4yr olds Jason and Ari

14. What do we do with the School Of Torture - Jolie Christine Rickman
       Sing it down - jcrickman@mailbox.syr.edu
        How to get rid of the School of the America's training camp

Also in attendance was Faith Petric, four years the elder to Pete Seeger.

15. Grandma’s Battle Cry - Faith Petric
       Faith’s Favorites - faithpet@aol.com
      “ I can’t even look away, my children are the pawns”

16. They Lied - Bev Grant
       In Tune - bgrant1@aol.com
       "Its a terrible thing they've done"

17   Our Life is More than our Work - Charlie King
       Vaguely Reminiscent/Somebody’s story
       “and our work ...”

18. Friends - Aileen Vance
      Sweet Life - avandt@cruzio.com

Isolated problem protest songs

19. Hattaras - Bett Padgett
      cassette -  bett_padgett@mindspring.com
      “will the spirals on my bocy fade into the tide..?”

20.   No Herring Left in the Bay - Tamarack
        Frobisher Bay -
       “Maybe the nuclear plant...scared them away.."

21 Farewell to Clayoquot Sound - Wyrd Sisters
     Inside the Dreaming -

22.  Krystallnacht is coming - Bob Franke
      The Heart of the Flower - Daring records
     “It won’t get in the papers if we do it one by one”

23.  The Flowers of Auschwitz - Al Grierson
       Things That Never Added up to Me -  Folkin' Eh! Records
       “rinse the smell of gunsmoke from the flowers in her hair”

24. If it were up to Me - Cheryl Wheeler
     Sylvia Hotel - Rounder
   “..I’d take away the guns”

and coming full circle while promoting this weekend’s performer at Cafe Lena:

25.  Bumper stickers Getting Raptured 2000 - Camille West
      Diva’s Day Off - www.songs.com/camille
      “Sadam and Ken Starr and me...”