Chapter 156 Marches with Peace Dove

January 26, 2017

Chapter members in Oregon recently marched in the Martin Luther King, Jr march.  They assembled a "Peace Dove" as part of their contingent.  They included a "How To" for other potential members to assemble the dove.

The Peace Dove

About 6 or 7 years ago I learned about Jane Goodall’s organization, Roots and Shoots, which is involved in world-wide work promoting peace.  Through her organization young people are encouraged to be activists, especially on the International Day of Peace (in September).

So I downloaded plans to build a Giant Peace Dove from the Roots and Shoots website.  This is an inexpensive project which isn’t hard to put together.  Here is the website with detailed plans for building a Giant Peace Dove

 

Some recommendations for building the Dove based on our experiences:


The body has a framework made of wire fencing.  We fashioned the body from some wire with openings about 2” x 4” into a cylinder with a diameter of about 24 inches and a length of about 30 inches (not counting the beak and transition piece that connects the body with the beak.  You can bend the wire from the cage to hold it in place or use small plastic ties.  After you have the 2” x 4” body, cover it with smaller wire mesh.  I used a smaller version of chicken wire called aviary wire.  Fasten it with small plastic ties.  We used two dowels (about 1 or 1 ½” in diameter) to cross from one side to the other.  One is placed at the rear end of the cage (body) and the other is about 1/3rd the way back from the front end of the body.  These help keep the bird’s body in the proper shape and the front one is attached with bicycle tire tubes to the pole that supports the dove’s body.  When the bird is resting on a table right side up, the dowels should be parallel to the table top.  The pole that supports the head of the dove will fasten to the head in three places: where it enters the head from the bottom, the middle of the horizontal wood dowel, and the top of the cage.  Use bicycle tubes for securing the pole to the body in all t here places.  I prefer to first tie the rubber tubing in a square knot to the metal head frame and then tie it to the aluminum support pole.  When taking it apart just until the first know and leave the tire tubing inside the body.  Old junk tubes work just fine.

We used chicken wire to make the dove’s beaks and the transition from the beak to the cylinder body.

You will need to cover the entire head surfaces with two layers of white fabric.  I used a regular sewing machine for this after I marked the places that were to be sewn.  Don’t get it too tight as it will be more difficult to fit the cloth over the wire frame.  The beak, as you can see from the picture, is covered with two layers of yellow fabric.

For eyes I used black and white felt that was glued to the transition pieces.  For the lips (where the top and bottom beaks meet) I painted black lines maybe 1/4 or 1/2” in width (use masking tape to get sharp edges).

We used an inexpensive plastic fake branch found in many retail stores.  Just make small holes in each side of the beak (where it meets the lips) and push it through.

You’ll need to make a hole for the support pole to enter the bottom of the body.  This hole should be next to the 2” by 4” wire cage and below the middle of the wood dowel closest to the front of the bird’s body.  This allows the rubber tubing to be knotted in a square know around the dowel and tied to the metal cage.  The top of the support pole is tied to the top of the bird body but it isn’t necessary to pass through the fabric at the top.

We used aluminum telescoping painting poles.  They are inexpensive, are adjustable, and break down for travel and storage.  You will need four poles:  One for the body, one for the outer end of each wing, and one for the tail.  I think ours were about 6 to 8 feet when extended.

We used a twin bedsheet for a tail.  The back of the tail had a straight adjustable curtain rod inserted next to the edge.  A hole was cut in the middle of this back edge and a small elastic cord connected the middle of the curtain rot to the top of the rear pole.  Altogether we used five white bedsheets.  

Most came from thrift stores to save money.

The front edge of the tail was clipped to the top back of the dove’s body.  For attaching the poles for each wing end, we sewed a 3 or 4 inch pocket so the sheet corner could be slipped over the top of the pole.  Painting poles have a plastic fitting at the top to screw into paint rollers.  We kept this connecting tight by wrapping an elastic cord over and around the pocket.

It’s easy to transport the bird by keeping it in a fairly large box which will accommodate everything except the poles.  We could easily get everything needed in the trunk of a Prius.  We also took along another clean sheet to assemble the bird.  It should take about 10 or 15 minutes to put it together.  I found that having some pliers help when stretching and tying the rubber tire tubes.

When marching it helps for the people at each wing end to try to keep a little pressure on their poles so the wings will be stretched out some (looks better).  The tail person can allow some minor drooping.  The person holding up the body cannot really make a turn by themselves; better to have a coordinated move involving the wing holders.  If you have to stop and are tired you can lay down the bird on its side but leave all the poles connected to the bird.

Flying this Peace Dove will really catch everyone’s attention!  Especially children.

So, download and check out the plans for the dove.  Then, if you want to build a dove, contact me and I’ll send you my suggestions.  My email address:  jimandvelma1981@gmail.com .

In peace,

Jim Woods
Rachel Corrie Chapter 109
Veterans for Peace
Olympia, WA

secret