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Gandhi-Doody, pacifist mime, adds talent to July 4th alternative. 

State College’s pacifist community is offering an alternative to the warlike displays of fireworks, barbecues and beer-fueled fistfights that have become synonymous with Fourth of July festivities.

The group, Peaceful State, has created Non-violent Resistance and Solidarity Fest, as a peaceful way to celebrate the mid-summer holiday. Since the group does not recognize the existence of the United States, Israel, and the Aborigine Occupation Zone in Australia, there is no mention of Independence Day or revolution, except in the context of struggle against capitalism and Prince’s former band.

Garrison Kegger, who created the concept, said the event gets underway with a vegan non-barbecue featuring tofu burgers warmed on a solar cooker and served with a dandelion salad. “The taste is so-so,” Kegger said. “But the feeling in your soul that no living thing was harmed in the making of your lunch is delicious. Oh, except the dandelions. And those damn flies.”

Poetry readings, folk songs sing-alongs and an interpretive dance group,  Tao Movements, are scheduled throughout the day.

Kegger said the event is for all ages. For the kids, Kegger said that Gandhi-Doody, the pacifist mime, will be paying a visit. Gandhi-Doody mimes historical encounters with peaceful resistance and won a local Emmy for his show, “Sittin’ in and shuttin’ up: Miming the Civil Rights,” on PBS.

Uncle Scam, the clown prince of capitalism, will present lessons in dialectical materialism and uses balloons to form shapes of famous socialists and socialist symbols, including the swastika and hammer and sickle.

The evening concludes with their own version of fireworks. “We have a guy who bounces on a trampoline,” Kegger said. “He has his chest painted with the word, ‘boom,’ and I think he does some flips or something.”
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