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Leo and Judy published the 2008 State Fair Peace Booth Evaluation last November, and I'll attach it here --although they really should post it as their own blog. Members of Lutheran Peace Fellowship Wake County Chapter and two of the Wake County Lutheran churches volunteered at the booth all day the Monday of the fair (Oct. 20).

If you volunteered, Leo and Judy say, "thanks!".

Please consider participating in next year's Peace Booth. And I'm sure they would welcome having more of us participate in the steering committee's preplanning meetings if anyone is interested.

-- document text starts --

PEACE BOOTH EVALUATION, 2008

SOW HOPE, HARVEST PEACE

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED

GENERAL COMMENTS: Eighty-five staffers (64 last year) attended the two orientation sessions. They were better prepared to present and discuss the petitions and material. We heard many positive comments about the orientation meetings and the booth. The fair was from Oct. 16 - Oct. 26. This is the first year that the fair began on Thursday evening - the booth opened at 4 PM on the 16th. Attendance at the fair was down 100,000 from last year.

The war has continued. The majority of Americans want the war to end. Most of the world is in an economic recession and many folks are worried. This is also an election year. Many people wanted to talk with us and staffers related stories about people who confronted them as well as being thankful that we continue to be a presence at the fair.

COORDINATORS: We had 14 coordinators this year. All but two had done this before which made it easier for Leo. Most coordinators had little trouble finding volunteers and there were no times when the booth was not staffed. The coordinators do an outstanding job.

THE BOOTH: It was in the same location as last year. Volunteers thought that this was a very positive booth: several wrote suggestions in the red book. Again, we posted a sign each day listing the group who is staffing the booth on the day. This seemed to go well.

Set up for the booth was on October 15 at 9AM. Take down was October 26, beginning at 9 PM. Jon took most of the materials home. Leo and Judy took the "red book", cloth, their tools and petitions to their home.

PREPARATORY MEETINGS: Debbie paid for the booth in April. We began to meet on May 31 at a coffee shop in Garner. The rest of the meetings were at Community United Church of Christ. Two orientation sessions were also held there on October 13 & 14.

MAILING: We sent out the mailing in July asking for financial contributions and staffing assistance for the booth. We limited our mailing again this year to people who had contributed over the last several years and new volunteers. About a dozen letters were returned as incorrect address.

FINANCES:

Total money received this year was $2745. In 2007 was $ 2630.

Total cost of the booth this year was $ 2450. In 2007 was $ 2698.

MATERIALS AND THEIR USE: This year we made 3000 stickers which were all given out. We now have about 500 stickers left from previous years. We used about 800 coloring sheets. We made 100 copies of the petition text only (3 to a page) for orientation.

VOLUNTEERS: About 13 people volunteered (10 last year) from the appeal letter or by contacting Leo by phone or email. Leo and Judy opened the booth each morning and Patrick closed it each night.

PETITIONS:

"Racial Justice Act". Collected 935 signatures. People of Faith Against the Death Penalty.

CHILDREN’S ACTIVITY: The coloring sheets were great. Created by Gary Cappy at Grassroots Press. We made 900 sheets and used about 800. We replaced one set of magic markers.

FAITH STATEMENTS: We told staffers that if someone asks about the church statements, or have other comments, we need name and phone and/or email. We had many requests for just eight additional statements: Eastern Orthodox, Seventh Day Adventist, Japanese Shinto Faith, The Church of the Brethren, Scientology, Disciples of Christ, MCC and Pentecostal. We added two new statements this year: Earth Centered Spirituality/New-Pagan and Humanist.

BOOKMARKS: Bookmarks replaced the PLEASE JOIN US statement. We have about 500 left.

COMMENTS FROM 2008 SUGGESTIONS, PROBLEMS AND NEEDS: The steering committee read each of the written comments and some of you will be contacted by one of them soon - others will be contacted next Spring. If you do not hear from us, know that your comment was read and discussed.

WEB SITE: Last, but definitely not least, we must say thanks to Dave Biesack for developing our web site these past 4 years. Many volunteers said that they read the information on the site at www.ncpeacebooth.org/. This web address is on the Bookmarks.

We felt that most people who staffed the booth this year seemed well prepared, were great at engaging

the public and that "PEACE" was very well modeled again this year.

On the last morning of the fair, the security guard for our building strummed his guitar and a another police officer and he serenaded our section of the building. What a vision of what a world without violence and fear could look like!

THANKS AGAIN AND PEACE,

We hope to see you next year!

Judy Occhetti-Klohr and Leo Klohr for the Peace Booth Steering Committee