On a warm Sunday evening, people of all ages, ethnicities, and faiths packed the sanctuary of the Temple Beth Israel to get ready for the second annual Claremont Interfaith Working Group “Walk for Peace and Friendship.”

The event was hosted by diverse congregations in the Pomona Valley east of Los Angeles who have declared September a month of interfaith celebrations.

After warming up with a group sing-along of Hebrew and Arabic songs, about 500 marchers walked along Claremont’s Towne Avenue in a line that stretched for blocks.  Carrying colorful homemade signs and banners, they flashed peace signs at passing motorists and got a lot of horn honks and thumbs-up in return.

Walking for a couple of miles over two hours, the marchers made stops at the Good Shepherd Lutheran church, the Shiite Muslim City of Knowledge school, and the Islamic Center of Claremont for presentations, music and a meal.

Reverend Dr. Thomas K. Johnson of the Claremont School of Theology said organizers deliberately chose to hold the event on the weekend of September 11 as a way to focus on unity and healing, and to celebrate the end of Ramadan and the beginning of Rosh Hashanah.

“It’s really about saying how can we build again these bridges that help to create peace. For everyone.”