(The following is excerpted from the April 1998 issue of "Common Sense", the newsletter of the Chemical Weapons Working Group, published by the Kentucky Environmental Foundation.)
Army employees and anti-incineration activists coming together to compete in a volleyball game? A volleyball game? Can you believe it?
On Sunday, October 19, employees at Kentucky's Blue Grass Army Depot (BGAD) played 3 rounds of volleyball against community activists with Common Ground, an organization working for safe disposal of the chemical weapons stored at BGAD. The game was part of an event held in Richmond, Ky. called "Celebrating Common Ground!"
Activists in Kentucky felt that the movement toward safer chemical weapons disposal technologies warranted some kind of celebration -- so a celebration is what we had! The event included music from the Reel World String Band, Mitch Barrett and Carla Gover, Keith Otterson and Dr. Jack and the Medicine Show; story-telling by Jeff Hatmaker; a raffle of 30 prizes with everything from restaurant gift certificates to pottery and original sculptures; and a "cyber cafe" which enabled people to access web sites dealing with chemical weapons disposal and other grassroots solutions to military-industrial toxic pollution. The sunny Sunday celebration symbolized the hope of a "new way of doing business" with Army officials around chemical weapons disposal. When it comes down to it, we all want the same thing - to have the weapons gotten rid of. Citizen involvement in the decision-making process should result in safe disposal - a win-win situation for all of us.
We may be on the way to a win-win situation for chemical weapons disposal, but as for volleyball? Common Ground won 2 games to 1.
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