Quincy, December 13 -
A
bout 60 men, women and children held a candlelight vigil for fathers and children who will be separated at the holiday season. Representatives of Maine Dads traveled five hours to attend, but not as far as the Clauses from the North Pole and Chanukah Harry from - just where does Chanukah Harry come from, anyway?This vigil marked the second time that CPF mainstays from the south shore and beyond orchestrated a vigil and march from the steps of the Quincy District Court to the Church of the Presidents.
Harry Stewart was the chief architect this time around, with substantial help from Ray Saulnier of Bristol County and Jim Bligh and Dawn Hannel, who together with Harry have officially resurrected the South Shore chapter.
Doing the MC honors was CPF Secretary, Dr. Fred Preffer.
An opening convocation was given by Reverend Sheldon Bennet, who delivered a prayer on family love and filial piety.
A nice surprise was the participation by Larry and Sarah Ouellette, Jan OBrien and Tedd Brown of Maine Dads who traveled from Portland and Harmony, Maine. Oullette has been in the movement for several years, and spoke optimistically of the sea change in understanding of father-child relationships that is underway.
Next, Mark Charalambous from CPF delivered a simple message: The struggle for father's rights is not nearly as daunting a task as many think. The task at hand is not to convince legislators and judges that fathers deserve "special privileges" or "group rights," but to expose the unconstitutionality of present laws and sexual discrimination in the courts that empower women at the expense of fathers and children. Insisting on an end to discrimination is a far smaller task than convincing legislators and judges to discriminate in favor of one sex over the other, he reasoned. The key is public exposure, he added.
Ned Holstein of the Fathers Group spoke in detail on Robert Carr's appellate brief to be heard the following Monday, and implored the gatherers to attend the hearing to show moral support.
Ray Saulnier read from a list of names of children that will not be with their fathers over the holiday season. The length of the list served as a sober and sad reminder of the vigil's purpose.
The many children that braved the cold weather were rewarded with gifts from Santa and Chanukah Harry. Harry Stewart closed the two-hour event with an impassioned plea for love and forgiveness.
A reporter from the Quincy Patriot Ledger attended the vigil and interviewed several of the attendees.