As guests arrived at the Saturday afternoon party to celebrate the 80th birthday of Burlington activist, philanthropist and filmmaker Robin Lloyd, they were greeted at the garden gate by a wooden bowl filled with origami birds tied to strings. A handwritten sign suggested, "Hang a peace dove somewhere!" This small, symbolic gesture was just one of several acts of solidarity that guests could undertake to honor Lloyd's milestone. At one end of the dinner buffet, a card table was lined with political pamphlets, including pledge cards to support one of Lloyd's latest projects: a forthcoming documentary by Massachusetts filmmaker Robbie Leppzer, titled Theater of the Possibilitarians: The Story of Bread & Puppet, which chronicles the Glover-based political theater troupe. It was classic Lloyd: One doesn't visit her longtime home in Burlington's Hill Section and expect to be a passive observer. Once you enter her sphere of influence, everyone steps up and plays a part, no matter how small. Doreen Kraft, executive director of Burlington City Arts, is one of Lloyd's oldest friends and collaborators; for more than a decade, the pair traveled together through Haiti and Central America making films. At the birthday party, Kraft shared the story of how, upon meeting Lloyd in Rochester, Vt., in the early '70s, Lloyd asked her to help give an arts presentation at a local church. Five months after the event, the two were still there, sewing banners with church members. "That's one of the most magical things about Robin," Kraft said. "You go somewhere new, and you can end up ensconced in a new adventure." For most of her adult life, Lloyd has thrown herself into all kinds of adventures, hanging her "peace doves" across the land. A documentary filmmaker could recount the history of the American social justice movement in the last half century just by tracing the many projects, organizations and grassroots campaigns in which she's been involved. The fruits of Lloyd's labors were well represented at her party. The 60 or so guests, who sipped wine and nibbled appetizers in her garden, hailed from a cross-section of organizations that she either founded or has supported. At one table sat a group of white-haired activists from the Women's International League of Peace and Freedom, a peace organization cofounded in 1915 by Lola Maverick Lloyd, Robin's paternal grandmother. Robin has long been a financial contributor, board member and activist…
As guests arrived at the Saturday afternoon party to celebrate the 80th birthday of Burlington activist, philanthropist and filmmaker Robin Lloyd, they were greeted at the garden gate by a wooden bowl filled with origami birds tied to strings. A handwritten sign suggested, "Hang a peace dove somewhere!" This small, symbolic gesture was just one of several acts of solidarity that guests could undertake to honor Lloyd's milestone. At one end of the dinner buffet, a card table was lined with political pamphlets, including pledge cards to support one of Lloyd's latest projects: a forthcoming documentary by Massachusetts filmmaker Robbie Leppzer, titled Theater of the Possibilitarians: The Story of Bread & Puppet, which chronicles the Glover-based political theater troupe. It was classic Lloyd: One doesn't visit her longtime home in Burlington's Hill Section and expect to be a passive observer. Once you enter her sphere of influence, everyone steps up and plays a part, no matter how small. Doreen Kraft, executive director of Burlington City Arts, is one of Lloyd's oldest friends and collaborators; for more than a decade, the pair traveled together through Haiti and Central America making films. At the birthday party, Kraft shared the story of how, upon meeting Lloyd in Rochester, Vt., in the early '70s, Lloyd asked her to help give an arts presentation at a local church. Five months after the event, the two were still there, sewing banners with church members. "That's one of the most magical things about Robin," Kraft said. "You go somewhere new, and you can end up ensconced in a new adventure." For most of her adult life, Lloyd has thrown herself into all kinds of adventures, hanging her "peace doves" across the land. A documentary filmmaker could recount the history of the American social justice movement in the last half century just by tracing the many projects, organizations and grassroots campaigns in which she's been involved. The fruits of Lloyd's labors were well represented at her party. The 60 or so guests, who sipped wine and nibbled appetizers in her garden, hailed from a cross-section of organizations that she either founded or has supported. At one table sat a group of white-haired activists from the Women's International League of Peace and Freedom, a peace organization cofounded in 1915 by Lola Maverick Lloyd, Robin's paternal grandmother. Robin has long been a financial contributor, board member and activist…