Contributed by Paul August, local singer and writer

I just happened to talk to one of the peace center folks at the Grass Valley Street Fair. This grew into a conversation of one of my ideas: a musical marathon: “Give Peace a Chance.” Sing for world peace.

Lily Marie liked the idea and connected it to a celebration of the International Day of Peace. She invited me to a brain storming session at the Nevada County Peace Center, 316 West Main Street, which is directly next to the Center for the Arts in Grass Valley.

They liked it. Peace Day fell on a Monday so we planned the event for the day before, Sunday Sept. 20th. At first, I thought we’d sing all day and into the night. I once organized reading marathons at Oakland High when I was in the Bay Area. My Advanced Placement English Literature kids began reading at 4 pm on a Friday afternoon and actually continued until 10 pm on a Saturday night. 30 hours.

Could we do the same? Well, no. Reality set in. Venues, talent, sound systems, a stage and volunteers became too complex with too little time. We scaled back to a sunrise to sunset event and finally settled on 10 am to sundown.

Lily added the acclaimed film: “The Singing Revolution” that shows how songs, not swords, saved a country from take-over. We added food, PeaceArt and the front porch for spontaneous talent.

As of now, we have a schedule of about a dozen entertainers between ten and twilight. We’ll have a stage in the backyard and a sound system from Foggy Mountain Music where the John Lennon bus showed up last Saturday afternoon. Melissa Seibold donated the poster art work.

Since this is a free family event, all the performers are donating their time and expertise. Some are even donating their CDs to be sold with proceeds to go to the Peace Center to pay for the “Give Peace a Chance” event.

Here’s the lineup for Sunday Sept.20th.

10 am Ty Smith

11 am Dakota Sid

12 noon Molly Roth, Michael Gregory, Paul August

1:00 pm Cool Hand Uke (Dan Scanlon)

2:00 pm The World Brotherhood Choir from Ananda

2:20 pm The Legend of the  Sunburst Bandits

Afternoon MC: Mikhail Graham

3:00 Dave Hatch

4:00 Kelly Fleming

5:00 Peter Wilson

6:00 Hummingbird (Valerie Lowe)

6:30 The Peace Center Singers

The Front Room:

10:30 – 12:15 Fil m: The Singing Revolution

12:15 – 12:45 Sharon Joy Jahdoda

1:00 — 2:00 To be announced

2:00 – 3:45 Film: The Singing Revolution

4:00 – 4:30 James May

4:30 – 6:15 Film: Singing Revolution

While working on this schedule, I found that there are many talented performers willing to perform for a good cause. This is truly a unique area for artists and musicians.

For further information contact 273 4030 or ncpeace@sbcglobal.net

Mindworker By Paul August Buy at cdbaby

This whimsical rock album blends uproarious tunes with a satirical social comment on school boards, bureaucracts, teachers and students.