Day of Peace Events Set in Cathedral City

Cathedral City Councilmember Rita Lamb to be Day of Peace Keynote Speaker

CATHEDRAL CITY — As the International Day of Peace is celebrated Sept. 22, a local veteran’s group will hold its annual Awards ceremony. Cathedral City Council Member Rita Lamb will be the keynote speaker.

She served last year as Mayor of Cathedral City, and she helped dedicate the most recent Peace Pole on Memorial Day. She has been named in the past with the “Friend of the Veteran Award.”

The 19th Annual International Day Peace Awards Ceremony is set for 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Miracle Springs Resort and Spa, Joshua Tree Room, 10625 Palm Drive in Desert Hot Springs.

Free light food and drinks will be served. Lamb will be the keynote address.

A partial list of honorees includes:

• College of the Desert Trustee Area 3 Ron Oden who is receiving a Peace Day Award
• State Sen. Steve Padilla
• Hugo Loyola, Palm Springs Human Rights Commission
• Rusell Betts, Desert Hot Springs City Council
• Julian Assange

Additionally, the third annual celebration of the United Nations International Day is scheduled for Saturday, September 21 at 4 p.m. at the Cathedral City Senior Center, 37-171 West Buddy Rogers Drive.

Hosted by the Cathedral City Peace Initiative, the event will feature art from elementary and middle school students of the city along with comments from a variety of civic organizations.

Nate Hanley, Commander if the Operations Division of the Cathedral City Police Department, will serve as the featured speaker.   According to recent crime statistics, Cathedral City is the most quiet of the nine cities in the Coachella Valley.

The Cathedral City Initiative was founded in 2022 by citizens Robert McKechnie, Karen Riley, and Sue Townsley.  Riley is the rounder and executive director of the S.C.R.A.P. Gallery, which works with local students to develop environmental and peace art. McKechnie is the former executive director of the Initiative’s fiscal sponsor, the Cathedral City Senior Center. Townsley presently serves on the center’s board.

The Cathedral City Peace Initiative focuses on three areas of interest.  The first is world peace; the second, inner peace; the third, peace on the streets of Cathedral City.

The organization convenes a small group of citizens to meditate on peace every Wednesday at 3 p.m. at the senior center. It also demonstrates for peace in front of city hall every Wednesday (during the winter) at 8 a.m. Two years ago, it sponsored a NO WAR billboard for two months on Dinah Shore between Cathedral City and Palm Springs.  A second peace billboard – CHOOSE PEACE – is set to go up this coming November and December at an undisclosed location.