Peace Village celebrates milestone with fair
The Daily Mail
Aug. 30, 2009

HUNTER — Peace Village Learning and Retreat Center is a well-kept secret about which most visitors know through word-of-mouth, according Linda Krentzman, who helped organize the center in 1999.

This may change as the center opens for a 10th Anniversary fair running from Aug. 29 through Sept. 6.

The idea behind the fair, Krentzman said, was to allow people to come for a few hours of the day to learn about a variety of crafts and meditative activities. Children’s activities, including kite painting for Kites for Peace, and face painting are available, as well, she said.

Sister Kala Iyengar M.D. welcomed guests from around the country at an invocation ceremony saying the whole world is looking for a peaceful experience whether they know it or not.

“The hardest time we have is trying to explain to people what Peace Village is all about,” she said. “So, we made it a family affair, a fun affair and yet a very rich spiritual affair.”

Sister Mohini Panjabi, president of Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual Organization, USA and regional coordinator for North America, Latin America and Caribbean, said the fair was a good way to open up Peace Village to the community in Hunter, in Greene County and in the United States.

“It is important to have an experience of peace, it is important to have inner peace,” she said. “To have inner peace is very much connected to the lifestyle.”

She officially opened the fair, which included vegetarian cooking demonstrations, meditations and music performances, by cutting a ribbon from a colorful wheel.

“I am very, very happy that we have had a peaceful 10 years here, a lot of goodwill and a lot of support and cooperation from everyone around,” she said.

The opening ceremony included an invocation sung by Rohini Ramnathan in Sanskrit and in English and prayers for peace in every world country led by Ann Marie Williams, of the World Peace Prayer Society.

Sister Dorothy Steinfeld, Peace Village program director, recognized a group of “heroes of the Mountain Top” who serve the community in different ways.

She thanked Haines Falls Volunteer Fire Company Chief Ed Dibble along with First Assistant Chief Nathan Hommel on behalf of the entire Company for serving the area tirelessly.

State Police Sgt. Kathryn Rohde-Lasher accepted a certificate of appreciation for Police Troop F, Zone 3, which covers Ulster and Greene counties.

Hunter Town Supervisor Dennis Lucas was also thanked for his service to the community.

Mountain Top Boy Scout Troop 53 served as color guard, raising the American flag and then lowering it to half-staff in honor of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, of Mass., whose funeral was held in Boston Saturday.

Linda Krentzman, who has lived at Peace Village since it opened in 1999, said each weekend outdoor, artistic and movement retreat, as well as the events at the fair, offers people a spiritual, or non-physical gift.

“It enriches people at their own level,” she said.

Krentzman called the anniversary “quite a milestone,” and did not rule out the possibility of making the fair an annual event based on the success of the coming week.

She said several groups from around the United States collaborated to offer their knowledge and expertise at the fair.

“It really was a lot of fun to put together,” she said. “We thought it was a success before anyone came through the door.”