Kids from the Martin Luther King Centre hold the torch aloft.

Thanks to Cindy Fadel who fed us last night, we also had a wonderful meeting with City Commissioner Peter Bilbia of Battle Creek this morning. At a park directly across the street from the Kellogg International Headquarters, Peter shared with us many valuable ideas about harmony in the world coming about by harmony in the heart, the home and the community. Cindy joined us this morning as well as Matt Kalinosky, a local man who happened to see some the women running into town. Matt is a dedicated runner who unfortunately could not run with us today due to an injury he sustained in Iraq earlier this year. But he is now back to civilian life and seemed to really catch on to the idea of world harmony starting at home. After our ceremony, Peter and Matt joined us on a short walk with the Torch to a nearby YMCA.

Lori Venturini hold the torch with Vilupti and Maria. Lori owns a bed and Breakfast near our route and very kindly offered us accommodation for the night. Unfortunatley we already had arrangements but we’ll definitely take you up on it next year. (if the offers still open)

At the YMCA, we were greeted by Mary Proulx, the director, and other staff members including Dane Post, Allie Hunt, Kate, Nora and others. First we got to meet some incredible people in the adult learning classes including students from China, Vietnam, Mexico, Cuba, Japan studying English as a second language with Joan Conway. Then we met with about 30 children and had a great time doing short relays around the indoor track. There was so much enthusiasm and excitement in the whole YMCA building from the time we entered until the time we left that is was difficult to say goodbye. As we left, we were given many ‘Tony the Tiger’ stuffed animals, the mascot of Kelloggs Cereals, as well as Star Wars Cereals that we will share with some of the children we meet further down the road, as a memento of Battle Creek.

Arpan speaks to the kids at the Martin Luther King Centre.

Moving forward is the name of the game here, so we made our way to the city of Marshall next. We were greeted at the Brooks Memorial Fountain in Marshall by Mayor Duane Cowgill, Terralynn Lake from the Chamber of Commerce, and Amy from the local newspaper, the Marshall Chronicle. It was a beautiful setting for meeting such beautiful people who demonstrated to us that they are truly lovers of harmony and friendship in the world and the community.

Enjoying dinner at the Cottage Inn.

The next stop in a very busy day was the city of Jackson and the Martin Luther King Center. We were very warmly greeted by John Willis, the Director, along with many other staff members and hundreds of children. One of the staff members, Reynar Hamilton, who happens to be the 100 meter State Champion Sprinter from 2003 in the time of 10.4 seconds as a high schooler, carried the torch in with us as we greeted the kids. We made sure that Reynar did not sprint into the gym which would have been the end of all of us long, slow distance runners.

Before leaving the MLK Center, we had a simple run with the kids and the Torch around the parking lot. We hope to be able to carry all the energy and enthusiasm that was offered to us by everyone present, especially the children.

Dan holds the torch outside the cottage in. Dan was responsible for arranging the meal and also for lunch the next day. Great going Dan!

The excitement was not over yet though. As I was running out into the countryside, I noticed a large group of children having a picnic at the Indian River Farm. Stopping to talk with them about why I was running down this road with the torch, we were kindly offered some deep Artesian well water by ‘Farmer John’ who owned the farm. It was wonderful gesture by everyone to show their support for us strangers running down the street through a short span of their precious lives.

Maria holds the torch with Kapila Castoldi our much appreciated Michigan coordinator. Kapila really outdid herself this year with numerous ceremonies great food and fabulous accommodtion. Thank you so much Kapila!!

Our last team stopped short of Ann Arbor, but we had our accommodations and meal there thanks to the support of Dr. Kapila Castoldi, our good friend and coordinator of our Michigan run. Dr. Dan Safferstein also helped us considerably in arranging for a wonderful Italian meal at the lovely Cottage Inn Restaurant in Ann Arbor. The food was great but we enjoyed it even more in the company of some of our other friends from Ann Arbor, Helen, Bob and Lucciana Costa.

Lucciana, the 16 year old daughter of Helen and Bob, is a fantastic musician and wonderful singer. When she as only ten years old, she sang for us in Ann Arbor at a ceremony and then again in New York City at the closing ceremony for our run that year. I personally have kept in touch with the Costa family as they have always been so kind and supportive of our events. We are so glad that they were able to come out again to greet us and have dinner at such a fantastic restaurant with us and help make a perfect ending to such a long and busy day on the road.

Arpan and Team Harmony

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