Seneca Falls 2 and Ithaca

Yesterday Willard and Dorothy came up to Seneca Falls from Ithaca for lunch, to see the Women's Interfaith Institute, and to shuttle me back to Ithaca. Famous for wearing bow ties, Willard is an emeritus professor of German at Ithaca College and he was a highly involved member of the Board of Directors of the Protestant Community at Ithaca College while I was an undergraduate there. He and his wife Dorothy remain good friends. Here we are having lunch at Zuzu's Cafe in downtown Seneca Falls:

left to right: Allison, Dorothy, Willard

After lunch we went to explore the historic church the Women's Interfaith Institute calls home. Here's Willard and Dorothy standing by the peace pole planted outside the institute:


The institute is home to four libraries of books that we toured through (I was an intern at the institute the summer between my junior and senior years at Ithaca College and designed the book plates for each of the four libraries):


Furthermore, when the institute bought the old church, it came with two pulpits. Here is Allison standing behind one believed to be the pulpit at Wesleyan Chapel where Elizabeth Cady Stanton and others signed the Declaration of Sentiments:


Allison had posters displayed made by children advocating for peace that she bought when she was in Capetown, South Africa for the Parliament of the World's Religions in 1993, the next major stop on my Summer Excursion 2007:


Also visible was the stole the Lindisfarne Community gave her upon her retirement from Ithaca College to dedicate her time to the institute. It hangs right next to a poster celebrating the centennial anniversary of the admission to Ph.D. programs at Yale University. This fits well with the Lindisfarne Community's commitment to women's concerns, inclusive language, and scholarship.


Willard took our picture next to the sign in front of the institute:


After touring the institute, Willard and Dorothy and I drove down to Ithaca. I spent a few hours getting reacquainted with the Commons, including having a beer at Simeon's as per Cory's instructions. I met up with +Andy, +Jane, John+, Scott+, Willard, Dorothy and others from the Lindisfarne Community on Cayuga street so we could watch the Ithaca Festival parade:


The Catholic Workers were there encouraging us to impeach Bush. Yea Catholic Workers!


And, of course, no Ithaca Festival parade is complete without the Volvo Ballet:


We saw about 80% of the parade when the heavens opened up in a torrential thunderstorm. We ran for the car. En route, Willard signaled that Scott+, Dorothy and I should go stand on a convenient porch while he ventured on to get the car. He got drenched while the rest of us were merely damp. We arrived at +Andy and +Jane's house for a pizza party and to dry out. Here's +Andy with Bekah's dog Lily:


As Willard, Dorothy and I were leaving, we discovered Scott+ was taking advantage of +Andy and +Jane's new hot tub: