AMHERST — A Guatemalan immigrant who spent 3½ years in sanctuary at an Amherst church is among three individuals receiving awards for improving interfaith understanding.
Lucio Perez will be getting a Joan Lindeman Interfaith Opportunities Award on June 16, along with Margaret Sawyer, who like Perez is part of the Interfaith Solidarity and Sanctuary Network, and Sister Clare Carter of the New England Peace Pagoda in Leverett.
Sawyer is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and an organizer with the Pioneer Valley Workers Center who initiated the creation of a network of churches, synagogues and mosques interested in committing to support immigrants facing deportations.
Perez was able to take sanctuary at the First Congregational Church in Amherst, and Irida Kakhtiranova stayed at the Unitarian Society of Northampton as a result of this Sanctuary in the Streets effort.
Carter is a monk who has engaged in walks to promote nonviolence, justice and healing, and in recent years the Peace Pagoda has developed close relationships with Indigenous people in the area.
Beginning in 2016, the monks began a series of annual walks titled “Listening to the Call of the Great Spirit: Facing 400 Years of Colonization since the Mayflower Landing and Walking into the Future,” and in 2019 the Interfaith Opportunities Network joined in a partnership with the Peace Pagoda, the Interfaith Council of Franklin County, and area congregations in the 400 Years Project, a three-day walk from the Sojourner Truth Memorial in Florence to Unity Park in Turners Falls.
The award is named for Lindeman, who founded ION in 2007 as an Amherst area nonprofit association representing 18 faith congregations and five campus ministries.
To attend the 11 a.m. ceremony via Zoom, send email to info@interfaithamherst.org.
A monthly market with local crafts and arts, live music and a flea market begins outside the Leverett Village Co-op on Saturday.
The Rattlesnake Gutter Second Saturdays Markets will run on the second Saturday of the summer and fall months, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the 180 Rattlesnake Gutter Road site.
“It’s been so long since we’ve been able to gather with friends and neighbors,” John Calhoun, the co-op’s general manager, said in a statement. “We’re really excited to be able to host community events like this again.”
Vendors will be set up on the lawn next to the picnic tables and playground, while people can also go inside the co-op for groceries and other food.
Among participants will be Laureen Shea with prints and greeting cards made from her original artwork; Susan Mulholland, with silkscreened clothing; Todd Muller, with hand-carved wooden bowls and serving utensils; Ina Peebles, with glass and metal jewelry; Kristi Colbert, with collages, prints and cards; and John Varner, with pottery.
Race Amity Day: A Celebration of Oneness of the Human Family will be marked Sunday in Amherst.
The 4 p.m. event will feature a tribute to the late Ray Elliott, who founded the observance; a presentation by Community Safety Working Group co-leaders Brianna Owen and Elisha Walker; a roundtable discussion on the meaning of Race Amity for Amherst with Marcie Sclove of the League of Women Voters; Charles “Chuck” Cooper of the Citizens for Racial Amity Now!; Peter Blood of ION; and Marita Banda for the Amherst Baha’i community. An open forum, music and prayer concludes the event, which can be viewed at:
https://bit.ly/3x0PhJE/.
The Town Council recently adopted a proclamation for the annual second Sunday in June event that “invites communities and neighborhoods to join in reflection on the beauty and richness of our diverse cultures and ethnicities while reaching out with a spirit of amity toward one another.”
Pedestrians will have better access to Kendrick Park and its new playground with crosswalk improvements planned at the intersection of North Pleasant and McClellan streets.
The Town Council this week approved a project presented by Department of Public Works Superintendent Guilford Mooring to raise the intersection to slow vehicles down. The crosswalks will connect to a new sidewalk leading to the playground.
The possibility of making North Pleasant one way between McClellan and Triangle streets is also being considered, Mooring said.
MONDAY: Board of Registrars, 11 a.m., Local Historic District Commission, 4 p.m., and Amherst Cultural Council, 6:30 p.m.
TUESDAY: Residents’ Advisory Committee, 11 a.m., and Disability Access Advisory Committee, 11:30 a.m.
WEDNESDAY: CDBG Advisory Committee, 7 p.m.
