The Peace Center held it’s 11th Annual Peace Awards Dinner on Saturday, December 14th, 2019 at the Hillside Complex in Rossmoor. The awards dinner provides a special opportunity for the community to come together to recognize and honor the hard work of folks in our area who show an exceptional dedication and commitment to peace work. It was a wonderful evening of celebration and we extend a huge thank you to everyone who attended and supported. We can’t think of a better way to close out a great year.
The night opened with an energetic performance from traditional Japanese drum group, Diablo Taiko – which involved audience participation!
This year, we were proud to honor two local community groups – Youth vs. Apocalypse and Friends of Scott and Taun Hall (FOSATH) with our Local Heroes for Peace Award. Unfortunately, due to a scheduling conflict, Youth vs. Apocalypse was unable to attend but received our award remotely.
Our keynote speaker for the evening and recipient of our Lifetime Peacemaker Award was activist and author, Paul Larudee.
Keynote speaker, Paul Larudee 
The evening was closed out by a beautiful performance by singer/songwriter guitar duo – EVESRIB.
We want to extend a special thank you to our incredible volunteers who gave their time and kept the dinner running smoothly. We would also like to thank the generous community members/businesses who donated to our silent auction, which helped to raise funds for the programming of the Center.
The Peace Center has thrived for the past 50 years thanks to the continued support from the community. We are constantly inspired and impressed by those who continue to dedicate their time to peace work. The dinner was a beautiful gathering of activists, artists, and educators – many of whom deserve peace awards of their own! The support seen at the dinner proved to be a necessary reminder of just how special our local community is and the potential we all hold when we come together as one.