Minutes of March 30, 2008 Friends of Adin Ballou Meeting at Unitarian Parish, Hopedale

Present were Chairperson Jeanne Kinney, Rev. Richard Drinon, Treasurer William DiLuca, Program Chair Marcia Matthews

Bill DiLuca reported that we have almost $600.00 in the account.

Jeanne Kinney suggested we reprint the “Autobiography of Adin Ballou” and his “History of the Hopedale Community”. The last known publisher was Porcupine Press, which has since gone out of business.

Jeanne will follow up with the Bancroft library and the Draper collection to find out if both books are available.

As a follow up to the above, Marcia Matthews determined that the Autobiography is available online as a rare book for under $30. The History of the Hopedale Community by Adin Ballou is online at Google.com/books. It has been digitized by Google. Lynn Hughes of Blackstone Editions said that they cannot take on reprinting these two volumes at the present time. However, they will undertake printing the writings of Hopedale Community poet Abby Price during the second half of 2008.

Jeanne Kinney shared an excellent article about Adin Ballou that appeared in the Blackstone Daily in December 2007. It can be viewed at BlackstoneDaily.com/archives.

Marcia Matthews suggested that we sponsor an essay contest at Hopedale High School on the topic “A Theory of Peace for the Modern Age”: Extrapolate from the teachings of Adin Ballou. How would you put an end to war? She will contact the Superintendent of Schools regarding this essay contest with a suggested prize of $100, plus a speaking engagement. An online contest will also appear on our website.

We discussed possible speakers for our Spring lecture and will contact Michael True to speak on “Adin Ballou’s place in the non-violence movement.” Another person we would like to contact is Unitarian minister Kathleen McTigue, who was arrested at an anti-war demonstration in Hartford during the commemoration of the five-year anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. We will try to schedule the lecture for April 20 or 27th.

Jeanne Kinney brought up the misquoting of Adin Ballou’s anti-war statements in the Milford Daily News. She will locate the correct wording for the quote and ask for a retraction.

Rev. Drinon recalled the Peace Vigil in Adin Park last year. He mentioned that the 2009 Hopedale Martin Luther King Commemoration will be held at the Unitarian Parish.