By Emma Bouthillette 

Staff Writer

As you purchase calendars for 2009 in preparation for the new year, check Sept. 21 because there is a good chance “United Nations International Day of Peace” will be printed in the square.

It was Melvin Weiner’s idea.

On Sept. 21, 2007, Weiner, 59, of Kennebunk, said he woke up with three consecutive thoughts. 

“My first thought was, ‘today is the United Nations International Day of Peace.’ Then I asked myself ‘what can I do to make the world a better place?’ And then the next though was so big. It was like a light bulb went off when I thought I can get calendar publishers to add this day to calendars,” Weiner said.

As former owner of Renaissance Greeting Cards in Sanford and currently director of sales and marketing at Sellers Publishing in Portland, Weiner is familiar with the calendar industry, and said he spent the rest of “Peace Day 2007” contacting the 20 largest calendar publishers in the country. 

By the end of the day Weiner had convinced all 20 to agree to his proposal of placing the global holiday on calendars. 

“Everybody believes in peace. All people of race, cultures, religions, nationalities, political parties, belief systems, gender, age, disabilities and socio-economic backgrounds, they all believe in peace. This day appeals to anyone and everyone,” Weiner said.

But Weiner said he didn’t stop with the national calendar publishers as he began to contact international publishers, and he estimates the day will be printed on “hundreds of millions of calendars,” reaching more than a billion people around the world.

“The next day I realized this is major,” he said. “This can influence so many lives.”

Weiner said his “random act of inspiration” led to calendar companies scheduling a day that the majority of people are going to notice on their calendars, and he began to generate celebration ideas for educational systems, religious groups, government, businesses, non-profit organizations, media and private sectors. 

“This could affect everything from curriculum to assemblies in schools. Non-profits could make it a day of public service, while employers could allow employees to take the day off if they commit to a public service project. In the media, it could be in everything from newspapers to magazines and television shows,” Weiner said. 

When Weiner contacted the person who originally alerted him to “United Nations International Day of Peace,” she turned around and put him in contact with Avon Mattison, the women who proposed the idea of a day of peace to the U.N. 27 years ago. From there, Weiner said Mattison encouraged him to become involved in a non-governmental organization Pathways to Peace and he has been volunteering for the organization ever since. 

“I woke up with inspiration, wound up with calendars all over the world publishing the holiday and working with an organization to promote this day of peace,” Weiner said. 

Last week, Weiner participated in “United Nations International Day of Peace” events at the U.N. in New York. One event Weiner attended was a two hour conference featuring Michael Douglass, biologist Jane Goodall and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel addressing nearly 1,000 people, as well as teleconference viewers in Sudan and Egypt. 

The U.N. requests a minute of silence at noon on “United Nations International Day of Peace,” and Weiner spent his minute in Central Park. 

Aside from global peace celebrations, “United Nations International Day of Peace” is a scheduled day of ceasefire in all warring countries. Weiner said Peace Day 2008 marks the second year of ceasefire in Afghanistan, allowing Doctors Without Borders and United Nations Children’s Fund to provide people with polio vaccinations. 

“I’m always thinking about what we can do,” Weiner said. “All I did was call up my friends and ask for their help. If what you can do is hold the door open for an elderly person or someone holding a large box, please wait the extra few seconds and do it.”

Weiner said he has cut back his hours at Sellers Publishing to devote half of his time to volunteer work with Pathways to Peace and with other organizations to promote “United Nations International Day of Peace.”

“I think we could do something big to really impact the world,” Weiner said. 

He said if anyone is interested in becoming involved with Pathways to Peace they can email him at melvin@pathwaystopeace.org.