VFP RETREAT

We got back home last night from the Maine Veterans for Peace (VFP) retreat. It began on Friday evening with a pot luck supper (lots of great food including a smoked salmon). Following the food we had a sharing circle to tell Tom Sturtevant stories. All of us are feeling the great loss of Tom - he was a founding member of VFP 27 years ago, a workhorse and the spiritual leader of our chapter.

The retreat center has a bowling alley so we formed two teams and in the tradition of Mitt Romney waged a $10,000 bet on the two matches we bowled. The team I was on lost both of the games but we claimed poverty and refused to pay the lost bet.

Our VFP chapter is aging and we need to reinvigorate the group. So we had a pony-tailed professional facilitator come work with us to develop a plan. We formed three committees (I volunteered to facilitate one of them called Outreach & Membership) and that should help the group keep focus over the course of the year. I was real pleased that folks agreed to have our primary facilitator come back mid-year for an evaluation and tune-up - a real big step in making sure we stay on course.

In the last day or so we are sending emails back and forth between Europe, the U.S., Japan and South Korea as we make final plans for our Global Network annual conference. Our friends on Jeju Island are working hard to put all the many pieces together and I am sure it will be a memorable and exciting visit for all of us.

It's a real cold but sunny day today so we are going for a walk in the woods with some friends.