P.E.A.C.E SCOOTER: A Patriot's Exhibition Advancing Community and Environmentalism, on a Scooter
Putting Peace on the Map
These green keychains appeared, SURPRISE, in the mail, from Philip McCaleb at Genuine Scooters. Thanks Phil, more stuff to carry. Help me lighten the load by buying one, five, ten or twenty…..they are only $5. On Monday I’ll figure out the shipping fee-no handling costs.
See, paypal takes a cut too, so the price is going to be around $5.50 for one.
I’m really happy about how nice these turned out, and you will be too! Thanks!
I believe in community. There is a proverb that goes something like, “One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade.”
Or, as Sandra Day O’Connor once said, “We don’t accomplish anything in this world alone … and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one’s life and all the weavings of individual threads from one to another that creates something.”
I know that P.E.A.C.E SCOOTER would be neither successful or fun without YOU-you all. And this is why I decided the ride should raise funds with a focus on others. In the breakdown I decided that 10% of the money would be split between two organizations that directly reflect community. Community unselfishly utilizing resources to improve a situation that hurts the community at large. Like breast cancer.
There were already two recipients chosen:
The Peace Alliance
Last Mile Ride, sponsoring Crystal Waters
Now I would like to introduce to you another group of scooterists riding cross country for a cause:
Scootin’ for a Cure explains their intention and you can click HERE to enjoy the blog. Of course you can donate directly to them, but I will also be contributing a portion of raffle money/donations/tshirt sales to this cause.
So far, we have raised $253 to be donated towards the ride to raise awareness and funds to fight breast cancer! Rock On! You can donate by purchasing a raffle ticket or tshirt, or by making a flat donation, HERE.
I am still searching for the environmental group to support. You get it right? A Patriot’s Exhibition Advancing Community and Environmentalism=P.E.A.C.E
Thank you to those riding for this cause! Ride ON!
Today I received a paypal donation. My eyes were googly at the amount. $300. Of course, every single bit donated makes a difference. What really affected me the most was the note from Tara. Tara, have we met? It was CLAW, right? A big hug to you-thanks for having such a wonderful heart.
Said Note:
Dear Alix,
In light of my new motto F.U.W., I am donating my entire “economic stimulus” check to you.
Best wishes,Tara
What is F.U.W?
I googled it and the first response was “Famer’s Union of Whales”
*Wendy, our lottery host*
Earlier today I drew the names of the winners, contacted them and mailed off the prizes. Thank you to those who contributed and your enthusiasm for winning has been contagious. All day long I felt like I won too! Really, we all win, and I want to put emphasis on that.
Only a small portion of money helps P.E.A.C.E Scooter expenses; fuel, food, lodging. Most of the money raised through these raffles is actually going to non profit organizations who work really hard to improve our world, who provide education and help maintain a quality of life for us all. And they do so without a guarantee of income year to year; often writing/depending on government grants for funding.
They provide needed services and rely on donations. They don’t get to write off Concord flights to Paris in the name of research. These organizations are the true heartbeat of America. They win, and we’ve raised $480 for them in the past two weeks. Yep, I hope we can do even better-there will be raffles for the next 12 weeks to aid in fund raising.
The golden ticket winners for this round were:
Genuine Shop Jacket: Lauren
Patches: “Firebird”
Ciao Tshirt: Mickie
Child of the Universe, art print by Ben Heine: Mary Hazelwood
Corazzo Gloves: Amy
Sctrcst Tshirt: Matthew David
GPS: Cheryl
Scooter Seat Cover: J.Mazza
P.E.A.C.E SCOOTER TSHIRT: Jacqueline
P.E.A.C.E SCOOTER TSHIRT: Dave M.
Thanks so much everyone.
Prizes have been donated for raffle, all summer long, to help reach the goal…$1 per 1 mile. More than half the proceeds go towards four nonprofits.
Please, click on the pictures below to visit the websites of these kind people who donated. The Garmin Legend E-Trex GPS is from my collection, a $160 value. Directions for raffle entry are at the bottom. Thanks for supporting P.E.A.C.E and the fundraising mission.
Now, without furthur ado, let me show you the prizes behind Doors #1,#2 and#3
Genuine. 3 items. Shop Jacket, Ciao Tshirt, and 2 patches
From VaVaVroom, “One of those girls” beautiful, soft, longsleeve blue hoody shirt.
From Ben Heine, an amazing artist hailing from Brussels, Belgium, the most lovely piece of art:
From Dave Mangano, of SCTRCST podcast fame, an official, quality tshirt from a quality show:
Incredible Corazzo winter gloves, SIZE SMALL, no big hands need apply.
From the lovely and talented Crystal Waters, a scooter seat cover. You win and you get to choose from a couple of different fabrics and based on your scooter. Crystal will take care of ya! Visit her site to get an idea of your awesome options: http://www.scooterseatcovers.com/
The golden prize, A Garmin E-Trex Legend with 8mb memory
This raffle will run for almost three weeks, winners announced on May 1. From then on out, a new raffle will start every Monday, with names drawn on Sunday. Those raffles will probably be $5. Many thanks to all who donated, but especially Scooterworks, who has lovingly agreed to provide the audience with fine goods for the next 3 months! WOO HOO!
I truly want us to help make the world better. More than half the money raised from this trip is donated to four nonprofit organizations that also work hard to do this.
I am totally floored to hear the news: CLAW raised $807 dollars for donation to P.E.A.C.E SCOOTER!
TO THE BROTHERS AND SISTERS INVOLVED WITH CLAW, Cowgrrl Sady-istic aka P.E.A.C.E Scooter grrl is tippin her hat to ya. You gave me a proper send off. 
Thank you, most every single one of you, for taking a moment to wish me godspeed and goodluck. My friend Dave began to change his mind about America after last night’s events. Dave pleasantly surprised me with a visit from Toronto, Canada. We might not have a chance to see one another for quite some time and so I’ve enjoyed the distraction.
Back to Claw-how did we give birth to such zaniness?
A big thanks to all the fans who completely packed the Blue Moon Diner-it was a sell out event. Thank god for genius and closed circuit TV in the bar area, allowing enthusiastic supporters a little bit of elbow room with their view. Now if you braved the ringside area, you were in for a super charged night. All wrassler managers put in for some showboating . Special thanks to Mojo who kindly came from nowhere to help this Cowgrrl with her vest and getting her drink in between bouts.
Ok, I can’t hold it back any longer. My CLAW ladies and fine Cville residents raised a GRAND TOTAL OF $807 DOLLARS TO DONATE TOWARDS P.E.A.C.E SCOOTER! Blue Moon kindly helped by donating 10% of sales to the bag o’ funds. A shout out to them and the servers who put up with us once a month. Amy found a sponsor who donated $25 and a kind guy stuck outside for the event donated $5. I don’t think I can offer enough thanks, but I did take Anthony Child’s pictures and put them into a video that’s kinda fun-JUST SO YOU KNOW THAT I THINK YOU ARE ALL SUPERBAD AND I LOVE YOU! Keep up the arms and bets ladies and keep spreading the charity!
*Note* The trophy at the end of the video is one I made, from those Scooterworks postcards. House rules is that the charity recipient fashions the trophy. I chose a classy cigar box, glued some maps on the inside and attached the scooter model to the top. Inside were also gift certificates donated by La Taza and the Tea Bazaar.
Don’t miss CLAW 3, Return of the CLAWs, this Tuesday, April 8th, from 8-10 p.m. If for some reason (other than you don’t live in Cville) you haven’t heard of CLAW, then click here. I’m very excited to cast aside my pacifist tendencies and well, flex my mongo muscles for some entertaining arm wrasslin’. Tonight is a special night, I am both a wrassler and a charity case. CLAW has kindly decided that funds raised tonight go towards P.E.A.C.E Scooter. You give, they give to me, I give to others. Great David-that’s a lot of giving…..
Get to the diner early, y’all, buy drinks and food and don’t forget to bring cash for betting, bribing, and merchandise… Without further ado, here’s the lineup:
Cowgirl Sady-istic (Alix Bryan)
The Prim Reaper (Jennifer Hoyt Tidwell)
The Banana Blitz (Jenni Case)
The Sidewinder (Ros Casey)
The Homewrecker (Kara Dawson)
Kaity the Harrible (Kaity Harr)
Bunny Hampton (Amy Noelle Ferguson)
The Amazon (Maria Manzione)
We’ll keep the first round matchups a secret until the tournament, though. Start the betting!
Video link from some press CLAW and myself received. What a way to break all the news to my mom, huh?
I am very humbled and overjoyed by two major events yesterday.
A gentleman named Heinz, a customer at my coffeeshop, donated a generous sum of money to the gas fund. His donation of $250 covers a large portion of petrol. I placed his name on the Peace map. The Peace map is how I will fundraise money, the majority of it going to 3 chosen organizations. A small part goes to food, gas, lodging for me. The more free food and couches to stay on-the more money raised goes to nonprofits. You get to sponsor a part of the Peace sign, and are free to donate as much or as little as you like.
I also humbly offer you this piece that Daphne submitted to One Million Peace Signs (OMPS). If you haven’t visited them yet, please “run FAST” to see one of my favorite websites. On the 1st of this year, the creator behind OMPS had a flash of brilliance. Why not host a website where people can submit their Peace photos and make it really easy using flickr and facebook?
What is in a name? Well obviously-they are still a long from the goal-but it’s all about the journey-not just the destination! As of Saturday, March 29, 2008 they have 6,447 photos from 2,335 members in 88 days. Right on! When I can, I help blog on their website. It’s the most fun ever, I’m so happy to help out…and look at all those cool photos from around the world. In addition to hosting amazing photos, they moderate discussion, post Peace events and showcase Peace Hero articles. OMPS asked Daphne to write something about me. (blushing here but honored) Honestly, after I read it, I was so happy that my intent does shine out to some people. And it definitely gave me that surge of energy I need whilst making all these preparations. BECAUSE REALLY, THIS IS ABOUT US. Not about me, I was a little bashful ’bout the whole thing. The current Peace hero over there is Eric Burdon from the group, The Animals. This particular statement of his jumped out at me:
….I asked, “Where can Peace be found?
He replied, “In the eyes of a well-nurtured child or animal that’s not under threat, usually from a human. Do you think I know peace? Personally, at the moment I do…but do I live in a peaceful world? I do not. So it’s within.†I followed that question with, “How can a person help Peace manifest in their life?†He said, “Do the right thing, breathe, and do it again.â€
If you have some photos to post at OMPS…it’s really easy. Just join the OMPS FLICKR group, http://www.flickr.com/groups/575360@N25/
Alix Bryan (a.k.a P.E.A.C.E Scooter, a.k.a Scooter Girl) of Charlottesville, VA is my Peace Hero. Last year, she quit her job, put herself into debt and climbed on her scooter to “put Peace on the map.” What that meant to Alix was an 11,000 mile ride (originally estimated at 9,000 ) over the span of 13 weeks (originally estimated at 8 ) on 1o inch tires, riding 4 inches from the ground to ask people all over the US “How do you define Peace? How do you teach it to your children?”
She was inspired while visiting an art exhibit where she saw a quote by a John Lennon which read, “If a billion people were thinking about peace, there would be peace in our world.” About 40 days later, she hit the road to find the truth in that statement. She set out to make a documentary, and wound up making a bunch of friends and a big difference.
Alix called the ride P.E.A.C.E Scooter (A Patriot’s Exhibition Advancing Community and Environmentalism, on a Scooter) She didn’t take a political message with her, or a predetermined notion of what the “right” answers to her questions were. She did take genuine curiosity, minimal gear, and the least detrimental form of motorized transportation to put both of those to work– at about 55miles an hour and 90miles(!) per gallon.
Her route started on July 15th at the White House and traced the inside of a peace sign on the US map. When it ended on October 13th at the Bush ranch in Crawford Texas, with a warm welcome from the Crawford Peace House (and CNN) Alix said, “but it doesn’t end here.” And she meant it—she ‘s hitting the road again this year to ride 9,000 more miles (count ’em up folks, that’s 20,000 miles in all), put the perimeter on the peace sign, and ask people to join her in defining peace. She says, “Defining Peace is how I believe we can create a wave of awareness in our world…I believe more Peace will occur when people define it, become it, and teach it.”
Alix maintained a blog and a Flickr account during her ride and continues to share her journey at www.peacescooter.com. This year she hopes to meet up and work with other peacemakers and mow a lawn into a peace sign in every state! She will also be helping to raise funds for Peace organizations. She says, “This ride is a tribute to those working for Peace and an invitation to everyone to think about Peace with me.” She will continue blogging-this year with video blogs too. Her website recently got a makeover and some neat new features, including an interactive map which lets people sponsor sections of the peace sign. The majority of every dollar raised will be given to peace organizations such as the Peace Alliance.
Yes, but is she a Republican or a Democrat? It doesn’t matter. In fact, I had hundreds of conversations online and on the phone with her between hearing of her trip last June and finally meeting her in August, and even after spending the first day with her, I still didn’t know the answer. She recently said (in the trailer for her documentary) “It doesn’t matter if we have differences in opinion, I want to know how we can make a difference. It is up to us to co-create a better future because if Peace doesn’t matter today, how does tomorrow even matter?”
It isn’t only because of what she believes, or what she writes that Alix is my Peace hero; it is because she is DOING something about it. She is taking to the streets (literally) and deciding not only to speak her Peace, but to live her truth and to make Peace a priority.
And the haiku part of this assignment:
A Peace Hero Named Alix
Because she lives Peace,
Sunrise to sunset, breathes it
She is my hero.
Respectfully submitted by:
Daphne Comeau Lewiston, Maine
While the passing of the war anniversary was not a happy moment, I can share better news with you. The Peace sign is 50 years old this weekend. My initial research showed muddled dates, but that was because it was actually USED for the first time in a Nuclear Disarmament march, that occurred on Easter Weekend in 1958. (a leap year at that)
The march took place across the Atlantic, in Britain. Yes, the Peace sign was birthed a good decade before its famous adoption by Vietnam War protestors. Gerald Holtom, a commercial artist, suggested that the those marching to the atomic weapons research plant in Aldermaston carry signs painted with a neat, tidy and powerful symbol.
Around 5,000 marchers were in attendance for the unveiling of the Peace sign that Easter weekend. An impressive number given the recent anniversary of our 5th year in Iraq and the small turnout for such a precipitous occasion.
Those of you who read this website know that my mission is to discover how individuals and communities define and work towards Peace. The actual significance behind the tidy, little symbol, that anyone can scribble, is pretty complex.
Gerard utilized and compacted the semaphore letters for N(uclear) and D(isarmament). Semaphore is a method of Naval signaling using two flags held in position by the signaler. Of course, its meaning was specific to the marchers cause. I’m sure that still, some protestors were boggled by it, probably picturing a dove or something more universal at the time. It is now engraved in our minds as a Universal Symbol, one that travels across borders and belief systems and serves many civil rights movements.
It did have a deeper meaning to its creator. 
Years later, Gerard discussed its internal, personal symbolism with Peace News, saying, “I was in despair. Deep despair. I drew myself, the representative of an individual in despair, with hands palm outstretched outwards and downwards in the manner of Goya’s peasant before the firing squad. I formalised the drawing into a line and put a circle round it.” This was a commentary 50 years ago on the power paradigms that people faced-war weary generations newly introduced to the atom bomb.
While we might not have Peace in our world, and the bomb factory in Aldermaston is still open, the symbol itself has tenure. Generation after generation are inspired by it and continue to display it, some with purpose and passion, some purely commercial. My theory is that we must decode its personal meaning, obtain inner peace, before Peace is known globally, forever.
I am very excited that my journey to create a 20,000 mile Peace sign will finish in this year that marks a major anniversary of its creation. While I will be taking some big hills, again through the Rockies, the Peace symbol is far from over the hill…..
It is a infinite brand that belongs to no corporation, although it has been heavily commercialized, and it was meant to be freely used by the people. I ask that you all think beyond the simple scribble, delve deep into your hearts, and leave your definition on the Wall of Beliefs.
National Geographic will soon release a book called Peace: The Biography of A Symbol. I recommend it to everyone.
*Thanks to Crystal Waters and Pete Selkowe because they forwarded some resources to me.*
Both require elbow grease. Bad jokes aside, I was in for a bit of my own punishment the other night. If it makes you feel better, laughing at my own bad jokes was my own demise the other night- I was disqualified from my first round wrasslin.
My first CLAW (Charlottesville Lady Arm Wrestlers) match proved what I knew-that my *mongo* muscles have suffered from time spent behind keyboard. My mouth has not suffered, I’m surely still a degenerate and I had fun putting my mouth where my arm wasn’t. CLAW rules are a hybrid of official league regulations and comedic interpretation. Although celebrity judges say I was laughing at my own jokes, I protest. I was not. I was being polite and laughing at my opponents joke, whose back was to the judges. No laughing next time. Period. Cowgrrl Sady-istic, my character, went on first against Magellan. Initial nerves passed quickly and the fun rowdiness of the crowd became contagious.
I did question at one point how truly bizarre my last haircut was-the whole reason I wound up wrasslin’ for charity. From one chair to the hotseat… I couldn’t be happier to have participated. This was Revenge of the CLAW, match #2. I’m always fascinated with the power of community resources as a solution to lack of funds and as a motivation to cultivate community pride. I plan to carry the same spirit with me on the upcoming P.E.A.C.E ride-comedic, sassy, and altruistic.
So the tally of money that came in this month? $585 bones from the CLAW! Proudly, CLAW, will present these monies to Community Bikes in Charlottesville, VA. They are a women started and run organization who help maintain a gender balance in bike mechanics and repair-meaning their intent is to teach ladies how to fix and maintain a good bicycle. See how all the goodness works?
Ladies=CLAW=fundraising=Community Bikes=bike sustainability=smaller carbon footprint=healthy world. CLAW is helping save the world???? Hmm, well, they are definitely making Charlottesville a better place! Enjoy the video below and next month I will be filming.
Also, next month, the group has decided proceeds will go to the P.e.a.c.e scooter pit crew fund-helping me travel 9,000 miles. And in turn, my personal goal is to raise 10,000 dollars through the Peace ride, which is why the gorgeous new map is up and running on the website!
All praises go to Bryan and Meghan, and if you scroll around the map (it’s fun, do it, but go through the homepage) you will see they sponsor the section around New Orleans. We can fit multiple sponsors in each section and you can donate as little or as much as you would like-as many times as you wish! This map was my conception last year, but I had no time nor resources to create it before P.e.a.c.e started. Also many praises and claps to Meghan for upgrading this website and making it so purty.
There is also a new contact table added, to make it easier for you to find me.
Notice on the drop down menu that “Mow a Lawn” is a selection, because I’m taking on the horsepower of mowers (more than my scooter) this summer and mowing lawns into Peace signs. Don’t forget, America Needs Work. Yardwork. You provide the tools and I’ll help trim the lawn and maybe the bushes. Just no Edward Scissorhands requests, please y’all.
Perhaps those of you who have been along for the ride since last year are noticing a theme emerge. Hmmm. What’s that word, ah, experience, or insight. So, now you can see the route and contact me easier. I put the route and miles up against some dates and gave myself MUCH more travel time than last year-taking into consideration general chicanery, mechanics, photo taking, interviewing, mowing, and road conditions. And this time, I’m just NOT riding more more than 200 miles in a day. That said, the itinerary is probably optimistic, nonetheless, it will be posted here soon, but, May 2-July 30, I’m on the road.
Enjoy the video, if you are near Cville, come to the match next April 8. And if you can recommend some worth Peace waging organizations, please please do. I’m looking for recipients for this years fundraising!
