Members of Merrimack Valley People for Peace gathered in front of Old Town Hall in downtown Andover last week to mark the 81st anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, according to the Andover Townsman. The quiet vigil called attention to nuclear weapons and the existential threat they pose.

The nonprofit group, founded in 1984 around the kitchen table of Alison Ceplikas in North Andover, has held the annual Hiroshima commemoration since its earliest years. That makes this year's vigil roughly the 40th time the group has stood at the same downtown spot to remember the estimated 140,000 people killed in the 1945 bombing.

The vigil ran from 6 to 7 p.m., according to Massachusetts Peace Action's event listing. It is part of a tradition that extends well beyond the August anniversary. MVPP members have held regular peace vigils in front of Old Town Hall since 2003, when demonstrations began on the eve of the Iraq war. Passersby on Main Street have long seen the group holding rainbow peace flags at the site.

The organization draws members from Andover, North Andover, Lawrence, Methuen, Reading, Lowell, Haverhill, Amesbury, Newbury and Newburyport. According to its website, the group commits itself to education for peace and justice, the prevention of war, an end to arms sales, the abolition of nuclear weapons and protection of the environment.

The group's philosophy hasn't changed much over four decades. "I hope that people will leave with the knowledge that preventing war begins within each one of us, with the need to recognize the violence within us," longtime member Jane Cadarette said in a February 2009 interview. She urged people to "imagine the violence that allows us to have nuclear weapons that will, if used by choice or accident, incinerate millions of people and possibly destroy the planet."

The vigil's focus remains urgent. In January 2025, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set the Doomsday Clock at 89 seconds to midnight, the closest it has been since the height of the Cold War. As of 2025, nine nations collectively hold approximately 12,000 nuclear warheads, with the United States and Russia accounting for about 88 percent of the global arsenal.

Originally called North Andover People for Peace, the group incorporated in 1985 and received IRS 501(c)(3) status. It changed its name about a decade later to reflect its growing regional membership.