By Amanda Craver, World BEYOND War North Country Chapter, February 17, 2025
North Country for a World BEYOND War is a local community group in New York state that is part of a pro-peace and anti-war movement. We are individuals who come together to combat the temptation to despair in the face of endless cycles of war through gathering and discussion which leads to encouragement and action. Resisting literal war also means that we resist the social and political environments that lead to it. Striving for a world beyond war means that we resist division and animosity in our own community as part of our contribution towards achieving unity and peace in the wider world.
As a newly established Chapter, our recent aims have been community building projects meant to connect individuals to each other and to our group. What better way than to participate as a group in our biggest local event of the year – the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival.
Every frozen February, in the polar North Country of New York, our town holds a Winter Carnival. There are theater, music, and arctic recreation activities like ski, tube, ice skating, and a chilly bike ride – all in costume. Neighbors and acquaintances watch each other in plays, dance in the Carnival Parade, share spaghetti dinners, and plan visits together to the iconic Ice Palace – a real structure made out of giant ice blocks cut from the frozen lake! Tourists from near and far come to freeze their buns off with us and take photos at the Castle to remember it by.
Our group of friends met there on the beautiful opening Saturday we had this year; blue skies and late afternoon sunshine really made the palace shine! In the two months we had been gathering in the name of our new chapter it had brought us encouragement and hope. We decided to meet at the iconic Ice Palace for a group photo with our group name banner- North Country for a World BEYOND War- that we had to accept wouldn’t be allowed at the Parade. Gathering together publicly that day for a photo with our banner was about exactly that – sharing joy and encouragement. We were not staging a protest or a demonstration meant to agitate or disrupt the atmosphere that both tourists and locals come to visit the Ice Palace for.
If someone had stopped us, by physically and aggressively taking our banner from our hands, would have been totally ridiculous because this was not an incident of anyone disrespecting Carnival tradition of public gathering and fun or the thousands of hours that volunteers had spent building the Palace or organizing Carnival week. Nor was it a risk to the space or to anyone’s health or safety (insurance liabilities). Rather, what a great display of a local community group enjoying this fun public space of local culture and tradition that was meant to be shared!
Good thing we had already snapped our pictures when someone who considers themselves a Carnival authority did try to take our banner and lectured us by saying “Shame on you for trying to ruin Carnival”. To us, what seemed ridiculous was obviously a personal trigger for this person. It was clear that he was reacting emotionally to what he had decided was ill-intention after our email exchange about our denied Parade entry.
Our group first submitted an application that included an honest answer to who we were and what float we intended to create. Given that there was such upset last year after several people debuted symbols, words, and messages that made a lot of people uncomfortable, including a Confederate Flag and Ceasefire signs referring to the genocide in Gaza, the Parade entry rules had been rewritten. So, we even included an email along with the application that clearly stated our awareness of these sensitivities caused by last year and that we were not intending in any way to stir up trouble.
We were promptly denied permission to participate according to the new rules with the name of our group defining us as a special interest group. Even though the people who “caused controversy” last year were not labeled as special interest groups, we judged that denial rationally, understanding the rules, and decided to apply with the same float under an independent group name, where the only thing that would change would be that we wouldn’t carry a sign with the name of our group – North Country for a World BEYOND War.
Rather than a reactive response to the harassment at the Ice Palace and what we felt were ill interpreted rules denying our parade entry, with angry letters to the paper and to the Winter Carnival Committee, we waited. We reject the notion that North Country for a World BEYOND War is controversial and refuse to play into that narrative by letting silly drama like this smear us in the public eye. We will communicate our feedback clearly to the Carnival Committee that:
The new rules which aim to censor potentially controversial subjects from spoiling the Parade are more harmful than useful if they are not interpreted with critical thinking and consideration, and when they are left to be interpreted by only one person.
And that:
This one person in particular has created controversy where there was none and should not be given any authority over Winter Carnival.
Despite his accusations toward us, he is the one actually violating Carnival Tradition of inclusive community fun. Despite whatever good intentions he claims – to be protecting that Carnival Tradition – he is not willing or capable of the thought and consideration such intentions entail.
After our bubble of excitement was initially burst, we moved past the disappointment and frustration and did end up organizing the same float with an independent group – Seward’s Folly – and we had a blast marching in Parade! Even without the banner sharing our group name, we were able to share a positive experience of the anti-war movement through our reenactment of a legendary non-violent call for peace that was staged by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1969. Our float tributed the infamous “Bed-in for World Peace” with a trailer made into a bed draped with peace signs and flowers, carrying a local family sitting in for John and Yoko waving and singing along with the crowds. Our group of marchers danced and also sang along to the bed-in ballad just as in the actual event that was filmed and produced in the 1969 subsequent video release. Together with the parade goers we chanted joyously over and over with tambourines, drums, and voices: “All we are saying is give peace a chance”. Not only did our Parade float embody the Carnival theme this year of Music Legends, but also people have shared with several of our members how it encouraged them as they connected with the music and the timely message.
We stand by the claim that our group’s contribution to this year’s Winter Carnival was exactly what we need in these times of fierce division. Resisting division is not achieved by avoiding subjects that communities need to talk about, rather by approaching them with dialogue and critical thought. We showed that just as in the actual 1969 “bed-ins” staged by true music legends and peace activists, there are creative ways to call for peace, including through song and dance at Winter Carnival Parade.
