Bad weather kept the first Flint Hills Peace Vigil from including a march and may have kept turnout down. Organizers are hoping for better weather and a bigger crowd with a second try at 7 p.m. on Monday.
The event will begin at First Christian Church, 202 East 12th Ave., with a march to White Auditorium, where the vigil will begin at 7:30 p.m.
The first vigil, on Dec. 10, was supposed to have the same format. But rainy, icy weather forced the cancellation of the march, organizer Mike Dorcey said.
“We decided we’d go ahead and gather, but of course, we couldn’t do it on the front steps of the auditorium,” he said. “So we gathered at St. Andrews in their fellowship hall, and... I think 22 people — somebody counted — did come in for it.
“But we were kind of disappointed with the turnout because of the weather. And so we felt like if the weather was better, because a lot of people expressed interest and sympathy with what we were doing, we thought we were going to give this another shot.”
The event is meant to be nondenominational and nonpartisan, and “based on the belief that the world’s problems can best be solved by peaceful means — and to pray that leaders around the world find the strength to seek peaceful paths to resolving differences,” according to a news release.
Dorcey said the format for this vigil would basically be about the same as the last one, which included an opening presentation by the Rev. Kelley J. Lackey II, an address by the Rev. Allen Epp, and the singing of a hymn. Lackey and Epp are both among the event’s organizers. The vigil took 20 to 25 minutes last time, Dorcey said.
“We think if 200 people show up, it’ll be a success,” Dorcey said. “Anything more than 50, we think it’ll be OK. I know that’s a broad range, but we have no idea how many people will show up. When we’re passing out fliers and talking to people at various places, there seems to be a lot of interest, but it’s just hard to say.”
He said the state of peace in the world hasn’t changed since the first vigil and in fact seems to be getting worse.
“Back in December, of course, Iraq and Afghanistan were there,” he said. “Darfur doesn’t go away. Back in December, there was trouble in Thailand... we’ve had Pakistan, and now Tibet, and Zimbabwe looks like the top could blow off of that any minute. And we’ve had trouble in Central America here in recent weeks.
“So in that regard, (the vigil is) not a do-over. There’s still a need for peace, or for people to consider a peaceful path to solving their problems.”