A wake in honor of his passing will be held Sunday from 4 to 8 at Keefe Funeral home in Lincoln. Funeral mass will be at St Judes in Lincoln Monday at 10am.

All are welcome.

This is the fourth year the awards have been given. Past recipients include:

Eric Hirsch, 2015
The workers at the Renaissance Hotel, 2015
Henry Shelton, 2014
Providence Student Union, 2014
and Amos House, 2013

The Red Bandana Fund was created to help sustain Rhode Island’s community of individuals and organizations that embody the lifelong peace and justice ideals of activist Richard J. Walton. Through the Red Bandana Fund, an annual financial award is made to an organization or individual whose work best represents the ideals of peace and social justice that exemplify Richard’s life work.

Richard Walton had an outdoor party every year, on the banks of the Pawtuxet Cove in Warwick, in which people from all over the country would gather from all walks of life and political activism to raise money for Amos House. He did this every year, on his birthday, up until his death December 27, 2012. The Red Bandana Fund has continued this tradition every year since then.

This Sunday, June 5, between 4 and 7pm, at Nick-A-Nees 74 South Street in Providence, the 4th Annual Red Bandana celebration will be held. There will be food, drink, music and laughter. They were many deserving nominees this year, all of which one could make an excellent argument for winning the award. The awardees for 2016 are:

Artemis Moonhawk, also known as Mama Dreads, founded and runs Mama Dreads Mission of Love, grassroots operation to help the homeless.  Amanda Smith, a friend and fellow advocate says, “Artemis
sees the invisible people, feeds them nourishing meals and gives hope and hugs to those who have little or
none.”  Colleen Polak, a teacher and friend, says that Artemis “does what we’re all supposed to do; but she
does it reflexively so that while the rest of us are still thinking about it, she has already done it.”

You can find out more about here: Artemis Manie Butti Moonhawk https://www.facebook.com/Mama-Dreads-Mission-of-Love…/

Sarath Suong is Co‐Founder and Executive Director of the Providence Youth Student Movement (PrYSM).
Both he and PrYSM are being honored for their work to mobilize the Southeast Asian communities and
the youth of Providence to stand up for their right to live free from injustices.  Most recently, the
organization launched the Community Defense Project to provide free and low‐cost legal help and
counseling for victims of police brutality.

You can find out more about here: Sarath Suong https://www.facebook.com/PrYSMProvidence/

Bill Harley, president of the Red Bandana Fund that oversees the award noted, “Choosing this year’s
awardees was tough. There were many nominations of amazing individuals and groups, each one
deserving of recognition. Artemis and Sarath represent all of the people working to make a better life for
us here in the Rhode Island area. Those of us who remember and were close with Richard Walton know
he would approve.”

The celebration, at Nick‐a‐Nees is open to all, with donations to the Fund accepted. In addition to the
awards ceremony, there will be performances by the Christ Monti Band and the Extraordinary Rendition
Band.

“Last year’s party burst out onto the street with dancing! Harley commented. “It was a true celebration of
Richard, his words and spirit, and the people of Rhode Island who work to make the world a better,
happier place.”

“Last year’s party burst out onto the street with dancing! Harley commented. “It was a true celebration of
Richard, his words and spirit, and the people of Rhode Island who work to make the world a better,
happier place.”

So come this Sunday and join with us as we gather together to honor the past, and the future, in memory of Richard Walton. Buy yourself a an official, Richard Walton, Red Bandana and a beer, as we toast those who have worked for, and continue to work for, social justice in Rhode Island.

See you there.

——

To find out more about The Red Bandana Fund or to make a contribution, click here http://www.soup.org/page1/RedBandana.html.

(Core participants in organizing the event this year include: Rick Wahlberg, Barbara Wahlberg, Karen Malcolm, Jane Murphy, Stephen Graham, Ellen Fingeret, Maggi Rogers, Ed Benson, Zack Mezera, Mary Ann Rossoni, Bill Harley, Jodi Glass, Cathy Barnard & Richard Walton,  Jr.)

Chafee, who would launch his political career two years after Walton’s failed bid to become the president, hopes to capture the Democratic nomination in 2016. He’ll presumably outperform Walton, who won 240 votes in Rhode Island that year. But the progressive Chafee needs to best isn’t Richard Walton. It’s Bernie Sanders.

“The first obstacle Chafee faces is not Hillary Clinton, it’s Bernie Sanders,” Larry Sabato told Rhode Island Public Radio.

A fiercely unapologetic leftist, Sanders is tough competition for anyone seeking the progressive vote. He has a track record of implementing progressive reform – and winning free market converts and economic improvement in the process – as the mayor of Burlington, Vermont.

Sanders is as tough as they come in addressing America’s wealth gap, which remains an unaddressed issue that most voters are united against. Chafee, for his part, isn’t well-situated to steal any income inequality thunder from Sanders. As governor of Rhode Island, he resisted raising taxes on the rich and instead focused on broadening and lowering the sales tax.

But perhaps Chafee has an edge on national security and international diplomacy. They both oppose the war in Iraq, but Chafee did so as a Republican and won oodles of respect for doing so. NPR this morning called him, “the last liberal Republican to serve in the U.S. Senate.”

Yesterday Chafee tweeted in regards to the USA Freedom Act, “Congratulations to Congress for standing tall for civil liberties! Now let’s bring Snowden home. He has done his time.” Sanders, for his part, hasn’t gone quite that far on Snowden.

Maybe there’s a way for Sanders, the fiery populist, and Chafee, the principled moderate, to form a ticket together?

The nearly 100 people who crammed into Nick-a-Nees on a rainy Sunday afternoon in celebration and remembrance of activist Richard Walton were given quite a show. This was the third annual Red Bandana Awards show.

The awards are granted to those who embody the spirit and work of Richard Walton. This year’s winners were Providence College Professor Eric Hirsch, a “tireless advocate for the poor and homeless” and the Providence Renaissance Hotel workers, who are fighting for “their right to decent working conditions and a living wage.”

The Gnomes, a global folk-fusion band, opened the event with about a half hour of live music before being joined on stage by emcee Bill Harley. Harley gave a short talk about Richard Walton, and read one of Walton’s emails to give a flavor  of the man, quoting him as saying, “I’d like life to be a hot hodge-podge of people of all sorts. All ages, all cultures, all colors, all everything.”

Harley then segued into a remembrance of Sister Ann, the amazing “social justice activist” and founder of the Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence who died earlier this year. Harley held a touching moment of silence that lasted about a minute before joking, “I think that’s the longest it’s been quiet at Nick-a-Nees.” Sister Ann was considered for an award, said Harley, but the committee making the decision decided to keep it as an award for the living.

After a song, Harley gave the first award to the Providence Renaissance Hotel workers. Receiving the award were organizer Heather Nichols-Haining and Mirjaam Parada. For many years now the workers at the Renaissance and more recently the Providence Hilton have been battling The Procaccianti Group over wages, workload and the right to organize. Workers at these hotels are getting hurt on the job, and management treats them as disposable. The award recognizes the importance of organized labor and union rights.

Professor Eric Hirsch was then called to the stage to be presented his award. Hirsch, ever the activist, reminded the audience that he’s involved in the Zero: 2016 effort to wipe out veteran homelessness by the end of this year and to wipe out chronic homelessness by the end of 2016. Hirsch asked everyone interested in this effort to go to rihomeless.org to find out what they can do to help.

Hirsch also reminded the audience that the school he teaches at, Providence College, recently had an event to deal with racial profiling and Renaissance Hotel boycott. After Hirsch received his award, the crowd was entertained by the Extraordinary Rendition Band, an appropriate choice, given their appearance in the viral “Joey Quits” video.

This Sunday, the Red Bandana Fund will award Eric Hirsch and the workers at the Renaissance Hotel  Red Bandana Awards for 2015. The Award honors individuals and groups whose work embodies the spirit and work of Richard Walton, a longtime activist in the Rhode Island area who died in 2012. This is the third year the awards have been given.

Past recipients include:
Henry Shelton, 2014
Providence Student Union, 2014
and Amos House, 2013

The Red Bandana Fund was created to help sustain Rhode Island’s community of individuals and organizations that embody the lifelong peace and justice ideals of activist Richard J. Walton. Through the Red Bandana Fund, an annual financial award is made to an organization or individual whose work best represents the ideals of peace and social justice that exemplify Richard’s life work.

Richard Walton had an outdoor party every year, on the banks of the Pawtuxet Cove in Warwick, in which people from all over the country would gather from all walks of life and political activism to raise money for Amos House. He did this every year, on his birthday, up until his death December 27, 2012. The Red Bandana Fund has continued this tradition every year since then.

This Sunday, May 31st, between 4 and 7pm, at Nick-A-Nees 74 South Street in Providence, the 3rd Annual Red Bandana celebration will be held. There will be food, drink, music and laughter. They were many deserving nominees this year, all of which one could make an excellent argument for winning the award. This year’s Awardees are Eric Hirsch and the Renaissance Hotel workers.

Bill Harley, president of the Red Bandana Fund that oversees the award noted, “We’re very excited about the honorees this year. There were many nominations for deserving individuals and groups. Eric and the workers from Renaissance represent all of the people working for a better life for all of us here in the Rhode Island area. Those of us who remember Richard Walton feel he would be very happy that these folks are being honored.”

Eric Hirsch, a professor of sociology at Providence College, is the rare breed of academic who translates his knowledge and research into action in the real world. A tireless advocate for the poor and homeless, he has worked with the RI Coalition for the Homeless on the streets, in the classroom, and in the statehouse, striving to help the less fortunate in our area.

The workers at the Renaissance Hotel, many of them first generation immigrants, have bravely spoken out for their need for a union. Their union organizing has continued for a number of years, despite the resistance of the hotel management. The workers insistence on their right to decent working conditions and a living wage reminds us that all people are entitled to a decent, sustainable life.

“Richard had a party this time every year,” Harley commented, “and what we’re doing is completely in keeping with his words, actions and spirit.”

So come this Sunday and join with us as we gather together to honor the past, and the future, in memory of Richard Walton. Buy yourself a an official, Richard Walton, Red Bandana and a beer, as we toast those who have worked for, and continue to work for, social justice in Rhode Island.

See you there.

——

To find out more about The Red Bandana Fund or to make a contribution, click here http://www.soup.org/page1/RedBandana.html.

(Core participants in organizing the event this year include: Rick Wahlberg, Barbara Wahlberg, Karen Malcolm, Jane Murphy, Stephen Graham, Ellen Fingeret, Maggi Rogers, Ed Benson, Zack Mezera, Mary Ann Rossoni, Bill Harley, Jodi Glass, Cathy Barnard & Richard Walton,  Jr.)

Artwork courtesy of Mary Ann Rossoni http://www.secondstorygraphics.com/

“It’s a huge honor to get an award with Richard’s name on it!” Hirsch wrote on Facebook.

Established last year, the Red Bandana award recognizes Rhode Islanders who exemplify the spirit and commitment of Richard Walton, a beloved local activist who passed away in 2012.

Hirsch is best known for coordinating the annual homeless census in Rhode Island and is vice president of the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless’ board of directors. In recent years the group helped win passage of a first-in-the-nation Homeless Bill of Rights and more recently the group has won increasing support for ending homelessness in Rhode Island by investing in supportive housing options.

“A tireless advocate for the poor and homeless, he has worked with the RI Coalition for the Homeless on the streets, in the classroom, and in the statehouse, striving to help the less fortunate in our area,” according to a press release announcing the awards.

The Renaissance workers have been embroiled in a several year battle with hotel owners and management for better, healthier working conditions. They have been assisted by Unite Here Local 217, a labor union. This weekend, the workers held a 7am protest outside the hotel, which included music and drums. It rankled both management and hotel patrons. And last year, several Renaissance housekeepers held a hunger strike at the State House and managed to win city support for a $15 minimum wage in Providence.

“The workers at the Renaissance Hotel, many of them first generation immigrants, have bravely spoken out for their need for a union,” according to the press release. “Their union organizing has continued for a number of years, despite the resistance of the hotel management. The workers insistence on their right to decent working conditions and a living wage reminds us that all people are entitled to a decent, sustainable life.”

Hirsch and the Renaissance employees worked together just yesterday on campus at Providence College. Both are part of a group trying to get the college to do more to stop racial profiling on campus and stop the college from doing business with the hotel until labor conditions improve.

They will be honored at a ceremony on May 31, at Nick-a-Nees, 75 South St. Providence, from 4 to 7 pm. The event is family friendly. Local bands The Gnomes and Extraordinary Rendition Band will perform.

“We’re very excited about the honorees this year,” said Red Bandana Fund President Bill Harley. “Eric and the workers from Renaissance represent all of the people working for a better life for all of us here in the Rhode Island area. Those of us who remember Richard Walton feel he would be very happy  that these folks are being honored.”

The Red Bandana Fund was also created to be a legacy to help sustain Rhode Island’s community of individuals and organizations that embody the lifelong peace and justice ideas of Walton. Through the Red Bandana Fund, an annual financial award will be made to an organization or individual whose work best represents the ideals of peace and social justice that exemplify Walton’s life work.

Stephen Graham, a member of committee organizing the fundraiser, noted that 12 nominations received. “There were many deserving nominations, all of which one could make an excellent argument for the award,” he said. “After much deliberation and agonizing, the Red Bandana Fund decided to give not one but two awards,” noted Stephen Graham, a member of the committee. “Awards will be given to longtime community activist and hell-raiser, Henry Shelton, and the other to the passionate, unrelenting organizing workers called the Providence Student Union (PSU),” he says, noting that their work embodies the spirit and work of Walton, a well-known social activist in the Rhode Island area who died in 2012.

“Richard would have loved the choices,” noted Graham, a very close friend of Walton’s and a retired community activist.

The Red Bandana Fund celebration takes place on Sunday, June 8 at Nick-a-Nees, 75 South Street. In Providence from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The event is open to the public and donations accepted. Shelton, a former Catholic priest and long-time director of the Pawtucket-based George Wiley Center, is known throughout the region for his steadfast commitment to bettering the lives of all Rhode Islanders, especially the poor and disadvantaged. As a longtime advocate for the needy, he has been a fixture on the streets and at the statehouse for decades, advocating for fairness in housing, public transportation, and medical care.

“It is not an understatement to say that Shelton is the conscience of this state and has been for a long, long time,” says Graham, noting that there was no way Shelton could be ignored.

The committee also honored a new generation of young people working to make a better world, added Graham. So, the Red Bandana Fund also recognizes the PSU for its groundbreaking work done in addressing important issues of education in creative and powerful ways. The PSU is an important voice in the debate over the value of high-stakes testing, challenging the NECAP tests as a requirement for graduation, and has forced officials and politicians to address their concerns, he said.

“It is their commitment to grass-roots organizing and social change, at such a young age, that has earned them the recognition and thanks of the Red Bandana Fund and for all those fighting for justice in today’s society,” says Graham. Coming up with a name for Walton’s fundraiser was tied to his unique fashion sense and was the idea of his daughter Cathy Barnard and Richard, her brother. Like most people, Richard had a vivid, visual image of his father, who had long white hair and beard, being known for wearing his trademark worn blue jean overalls, a red bandana and Stone Soup baseball cap. After Walton died his close friends came over to his house and wanted one of his red bandanas to remember him. Thus, the red bandana became the perfect moniker and recognition for the annual fundraiser.

Says Bill Harley, also on the organizing committee, The Red Bandana Fund is a continuation of Walton’s tradition of having an annual birthday bash – usually held the first Sunday in June, to raise money for Amos House & the Providence-Niquinohomo Sister City Project and other progressive causes. Over 24 years, Walton had raised over $40,000 for these favorite charities, attracting hundreds of people each year including the state’s powerful political and media elite to his family compound located at Pawtuxet Cove in Warwick

“We hope all the people who attended Richard’s parties in the past [1988 to 2011] will show up for the event and you can bring your favorite dish for the potluck,” adds Harley.

“This is our second year giving the award,” said Bill Harley, a member of the selection committee. “We chose the awardees from a great list of nominations, and decided to acknowledge both young organizers, and one of our long-time heroes. Too often, the people who are in the trenches working for us don’t get recognized. We hope the Award begins to address that shortcoming.”

According to Graham, “last year’s event was more of a concert and tribute to Walton.” Over 300 people attended the inaugural Red Bandana fundraising event in 2013 at Shea High School, raising more than $11,000 from ticket sales, a silent auction and raffle. At this event, the first recipient, Amos House, received a $1,000, he said. Graham says the well-known nonprofit was chosen because of its very long relationship with Walton. He was a founding board member, serving for over 30 years, being board chair for a number of years. For almost three decades, the homeless advocate spent an overnight shift with the men who lived in the 90-Day Shelter Program each Thursday bringing them milk and cookies. Each Friday morning he would make pancakes and eggs in the soup kitchen for hundreds of men and women who came to eat a hot meal.

As to getting this year’s Red Bandana Fund off the ground, Harley says: “It’s been a year of fits and starts to make this thing work. I believe that the establishment of this award, and the honoring of people on a yearly basis, will help us build a community here that can transform our culture. It’s a little thing down the road, I can envision this award meaning more and more to recipients, and to the community those recipients come from.”

Walton touched people’s lives, Rick Wahlberg, one of the organizers. “Everyone had such an interesting story to tell about Richard,” he stated, noting that the Warwick resident, known as a social activist, educator, humanitarian, very prolific writer, and a co-founder of Pawtucket’s Stone Soup Coffee House “had made everyone feel that they themselves had a very special, close relationship with him.” Like last year’s inaugural event, Wahlberg expects to see many of Walton’s friends at the upcoming June 8th fundraiser. He and others attending will view this event as a “gathering of the clan” since those attending will be Walton’s extended Rhode Island family.

So, block out some time on your busy Sunday. Come to the Red Bandana Fund event to remember our good old friend, Richard Walton, and support his legacy and positive impact in making Rhode Island a better place to live and work. Enjoy the gathering of caring people who come to recognize the advocacy efforts of Shelton and the PSU to carry on Walton’s work.

Spread the word.

Core participants in organizing this year’s Red Bandana Fund include, Bill Harley, Stephen Graham, Jane Falvey, Barbara & Rick Wahlberg. Other participants included Jane Murphy, Jodi Glass, Cathy Barnard and Richard Walton, Jr.

For more information about donating to The Red Bandana Fund, click here.

Herb Weiss, LRI’12, is a Pawtucket-based writer who covers health care, aging, and medical issues. He can be reached at hweissri@aol.com.

Every year he had a party. He would call it his “75^th Birthday Part II” or his “80^th Birthday Part 4.” You get the idea. And from all over Rhode Island, all over New England and even all over the country, friends and colleagues and relatives would meet, greet, drink, eat, sing and laugh the day away at Richard Walton’s hideaway, at the mouth of the Pawtuxet River, basking in the sunshine (or rain showers), reveling in each other’s company, renewing acquaintances, and hugging old friends.

By the end of the day, there was a cigar box full of checks and cash for Amos House and/or Providence Niquinohomo Sister City Project because social justice was in his blood and opportunities like this should never be wasted.

And he did this every year up until on his death December 27, 2012.

So for the first time in decades last year, there was no party at Richard Walton’s house in Warwick. Instead, a bunch of his friends got together, and produced a fund-raiser at Shea high School in Pawtucket to honor his memory and his work. And to continue that legacy, they formed The Red Bandana Fund.

But this year the party’s back! And we’re hoping to keep it going for a long, long time.

This Sunday, June 8^th, between 4 and 7pm, at Nick-A-Nees 74 South Street in Providence, the Annual Red Bandana celebration will be held to honor the memory of long, time community activist Richard Walton. And just like Richard did, there will be food, drink, music and laughter. And because the issues never stop, The Red Bandana Fund will continue raising awareness by handing out 2 Activist awards and making a financial contribution to each.

After much deliberation and agonizing, the committee decided to give not just one but 2 awards this year; one to longtime community activist and hell-raiser, Henry Shelton, and the other to the passionate, unrelenting organizing workers called the Providence Student Union. Last year, the first Award went to Amos House, a cause Richard spent a good part his life working on.

They were many deserving nominees this year, all of which one could make an excellent argument for winning the award. The process eventually narrowed down to two: both Henry Shelton and the Providence Student Union. Finally, it became apparent that it made a lot of sense to give to both. So we did.

Richard would have loved the choices.

Since the mid 1960’s as a Catholic priest, Henry Shelton has fought for people’s rights and organized for social justice. After being dissatisfied with the approach of the diocese over the issues of poverty, Henry left the priesthood to continue organizing full time. He joined with George Wiley, a tireless advocate from Rhode Island, as part of the National Welfare Rights Organization. After Wiley died in a boating accident in August 1973, Henry continued his work forming numerous non-profit organizations including The Coalition for Consumer Justice (CCJ), The RI handicapped Action Committee (RIHAC), the Worker’s Association for Guarantee Employment (WAGE), the Fund for Community Progress (FCP) and the George Wiley Center (the latter with which he is still involved).

From utility rate increases to food stamp cuts to free school breakfast for children to winter shut off regulations to stopping the Charlestown Nuclear power plant to summer jobs to worker’s rights, it is not an understatement to say that Henry Shelton is the conscience of this state and has been so for a long, long time. There’s is even a law mandating a fair repayment programs on back utility bills called The Henry Shelton Act. And since Richard served on the Board of the George Wiley Center for decades; and that they marched together on many occasions, working so passionately for the causes Henry still fights for to this day, it’s only appropriate that Henry be one of the first recipients of the award.

Indeed, there is no way Henry Shelton could be ignored.

The Providence Student Union, on the other hand is relatively new to the picture. Consisting of mostly high school students, the organization was formed to fight cuts at Hope High school, which they eventually succeeded in doing. But they didn’t stop there. Qucikly, the students realized the influence they could be to institute reforms. They testified, organized and protested against unjust policies like the Common Core and High Stakes testing, much to the chagrin of those in charge. They have become a familiar presence before the board of education and have earned themselves a role in the decision making process; speaking truth to power and giving students a voice they have never had before.

This is a true grass-roots organization by any definition as their own words testify:

“The Providence Student Union’s vision of social change is based on the principle that justice can only be won in lasting ways when impacted communities themselves unite together to work for the changes they believe in. From this principle comes PSU’s model: organize low-income youth of color to make positive changes in the here and now by working to build student power within their schools, while strengthening the movement for social and economic justice in the long term by developing students to become leaders who will continue to bring their communities together to work for change long after they have graduated.”

It is their commitment to grass-roots organizing and social change, at such a young age, that has earned them the recognition and thanks of the Red Bandana Fund and for all those fighting for justice in today’s society.

Our mission is to honor those community members who uphold the values Richard Walton espoused. And with this year’s selections, we believe we have done just that.

So come this Sunday and join with us as we gather together to honor the past, and the future, in memory of Richard Walton. Buy yourself a an official, Richard Walton, Red Bandana and a beer, as we toast those who have worked for, and continue to work for, social justice in Rhode Island.

See you there.

To find out more about The Red Bandana Fund or to make a contribution, click here http://www.soup.org/page1/RedBandana.html.

(Core participants in organizing the event this year include: Bill Harley, Stephen Graham, Jane Falvey, Barbara & Rick Wahlberg. Other participants include: Jane Murphy, Jodi Glass, Cathy Barnard & Richard Walton,  Jr.)

The 1st annual Red Bandana Concert is being held at 3pm at Shea High School 485 East Ave in Pawtucket. The purpose is to establish The Red Bandana Fund which will give an annual award to those groups and/or individuals that best carry on the ideals of Richard Walton. You can buy tickets here: http://www.soup.org/page1/RedBandana.html

Every summer, Richard would hold a magnificent gathering of community activists, artists, musicians and friends on his birthday at his shoreline house in Pawtuxet. A cigar box was placed on a card table and people were asked to make a contribution to Amos House or the Providence-Niquinohomo Sister City Project. People brought their checkbooks, food, drink, instruments, friends and their children for a full day of fun and companionship. The last party held there was in 2011 where as Richard billed it his 80th birthday Part IV. The year after, Richard did not have the energy to hold it at his house so the last one was successfully held at the Roots Cultural Center. Here’s what he sent me to announce it:

Hi, Steve:  I'm so damn disorganized.  I've probably already asked you this but I wanted to make sure.  You have such a wide circle of friends and I hope you are spreading the word about my 80th Birthday Party, Part V on Sunday afternoon, May 27 at Roots.  I just ran out of steam and didn't have the energy to pull together another big party here ... but Bill Harley and Len Cabral had the terrific idea of holding it at Roots, a damn good place.  This may well be my Last Hurrah but I didn't want what had become a tradition to end with no notice.  I hope it's a success.  More details follow ... and I certainly expect to see you there.  Thanks for your help.  Richard.

This year would have been his 85th birthday. When he passed, numerous people expressed the desire to continue the party both out of respect and to continue to support the causes Richard pushed for his entire life. So on Sunday, the tradition will be reborn with performances from some of Richard’s favorite musicians and a gathering of Richard’s large group of friends. Proceeds will benefit Richard’s organizations  with a silent auction and raffle and the sale of actual, Red Bandanas, imprinted with the image of Richard that you see here.

Local musician and two time Grammy winner Bill Harley put it this way:

This Sunday is the first annual benefit concert for the Red Bandana Fund honoring Richard Walton’s life and work. The first Red Bandana Award will be given to Amos House, an organization that truly represents Richard’s spirit and ideals.
If you’re in the Rhode Island area, we’d love you to be there. Richard Walton was one of my dearest friends, and I miss him every day. He was a very kind man, and very supportive, and also resolute in his commitment to the least in our society. The Red Bandana Award will be given annually, and we hope to make the concert annual, too.
My gut feeling on this is that the Award will become a focal point and affirmation of all the incredible work being done in southeastern New England, and will be a way for all of us active in issues of peace and justice to touch base with each other. I think it’s going to be around a long, long time.

I’m sure Richard would have loved this – I only wish he were here to see it.
Come if you can – it will be a great time. And a memorable one, too.

On behalf of the Red Bandana Fund committee, we invite you to come and lend your support for this unique event, the first of what we hope to be many as we continue to honor the life of this remarkable man.

To learn more about Richard Walton, you can read my posts on his passing here http://www.rifuture.org/rip-richard-walton-you-taught-us-how-to-live-part-12.html and here www.rifuture.org/rip-richard-walton-you-taught-us-how-to-live-part-22.html.