Is there something missing from official Peace Corps/Washington’s celebration of the 50th?

Every Fall, Oklahoma empties out on one bright weekend and everyone goes to Dallas for the only football game that matters: In the Cotton Bowl – Texas Longhorns vs. Oklahoma Sooners, The Red River Rivalry. Austin comes to Dallas, too. Some people actually manage to have game tickets. There are class reunions; family get-togethers; stories told and retold of triumphs and defeat; old friends and new ones; a celebration of who it is they are. It is big deal.

I think the 50^th Anniversary Celebration in DC will be a little like that. Group reunions, parties, and rumors of parties; stories told and retold; old friends and new; a celebration of us. Except.There is no big game. There is no one event that symbolizes who it is we were and should become. No RPCVs will be reading their Journals of Peace, 24/48 hours in the Rotunda of the Capital- as was organized by Tim Carroll (Nigeria 1963-5) on the 25^th Anniversary of JFK’s assassination. The exhibitions and panels only hint at the consequences of hundreds of thousands of encounters in 137 countries by over 200,000 Volunteers. There is no seminal celebration. I wish that Peace Corps/Washington had planned one. Here is the link to the remaining activities hosted by official Peace Corps/Washington:

http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=about.fiftieth.events

What do you think?