PORT ANGELES — All are welcome at the Gathering for Hope planned at noon Saturday.
“It’s a nonpartisan gathering,” said Dr. Ned Hammar, one of the organizers. “I personally would love to hear from people who don’t think like I do.”
The group will meet at the Clallam County Courthouse at 223 E. Fourth St., then walk to the Elwha Klallam Heritage Center at First and Peabody streets to share their hopes for the community in 100 words or less. Organizers expect activities to wrap up at about 3 p.m., with time afterward for connecting.
Organized in light of the contentious presidential election, the theme of the gathering is to build bridges and work together.
Organizers include an ad hoc group of community members that includes educators, farmers, government employees, nurses, ministers, musicians, small-business owners, social workers, physicians, students and nurses, according to a news release. They request that people refrain from carrying signs.
At the heritage center, Zaya Marimba and a storyteller will perform.
The main event will be for community members to share their hopes aloud in 100 words or less. People will be available to read for those who don’t want to speak.
Art supplies will be on hand so participants can transfer their written hopes to fabric for a public art piece, organizers said.
Organizers hope the gathering will be “part celebration of what we love about where we live and part foundation for an ongoing community conversation.”
Said Hammar: “We hope our efforts will inspire, energize and bring people together to do good work.
“I have a faith in the potential for love and goodness that all of us have.
“Recent events have held up a mirror, and what we see isn’t pretty. Yet, again and again, humans have shone. Look at the people in the grocery store giving to the food bank.”
For more information, email gatherhope@gmail.com.
