By Gretchen Keiser

Tolling church bells, eerie shadows on the ground, and a human chain depicting the magnitude of the arms race are among the signs that Atlanta-area peace groups have chosen to keep the 40th anniversary of Hiroshima/Nagasaki dramatically in mind.

Churches have been invited to “toll the human cost of the arms race” by ringing their bells for one hour beginning at 8:15 a.m. August 6. This was the time when the first atomic bomb was dropped over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.

The tolling bells, which will serve as an audible reminder of the anniversary as people make their way to work that Tuesday morning, are also a symbol of the human cost of the arms race, said Carol Cummings of the Atlanta chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility, one of the sponsors. The bell repeats an isea originated by Doctor Victor Sidel, president of the American Public Health Association, she said. He uses a metronome to dramatize the fact that every two seconds a child dies from malnutrition or preventable disease somewhere in the world while hourly $100 million is being spent on arms worldwide.

On August 6, people in the Atlanta metropolitan area will also find ghost-like shadows painted on the ground, on steps and elsewhere. This “Shadow Project” will be carried out by local artists under the sponsorship of Performing Artists for Nuclear Disarmament, and is part of a nationwide effort to draw attention to the human toll of nuclear weapons.

Alan Gussow, an artist from Congers, N.Y., said he was inspired to found the “Shadow Project” by a photograph taken in Hiroshima. The photograph showed a human outline similar to a shadow that was burned into some steps 250 yards from where the first atomic bomb struck, Gussow said, in an interview with the National Catholic News Service.

“God only knows who it was. The person had vaporized, leaving their shadow and a profound impact on me,” Gussow said.

The “Shadow Project” is expected to involve painters across the United States, in Canadian provinces and 24 foreign countries, who will do their work during the night for August 5 or early morning hours of August 6 organizers said. The special work will use a temporary whitewash that will create an aura around the figures of men, women and children as they would look if they, also, were struck at the heart of a nuclear blast.

In Atlanta, the Performing Artists for Nuclear Disarmament has been meeting weekly to gather stencils necessary to make the “Shadows” and to test their paint mixture and make sure it is washable, said Bill Fleming, director of PAND. “We’ve had children, adults and dogs and some babies all come and have their shadows made,” said Fleming.

In addition, more stencils will be made the night of August 4 during a benefit concert to support the “Shadow Project.” The benefit will be held from 8 p.m. to midnight at the Metroplex, 388 Marietta St., N.W., featuring the groups Operator and I.C.B.M. A $3 donation is requested.

Those who want to help with the “Shadow Project” are asked to come to the PAND office on the evening of August 5. The office is located in the former Grant Park elementary school, Room 209 at 750 Kalb Street in southeast Atlanta. For further information, call 622-2206 or 377-4670.

Peace groups also are organizing a “human graph” to represent the difference between the mega-tonnage of the atomic bombs used on Hiroshima and Nagaski and the mega-tonnage of nuclear weapons currently stockpiled. The demonstration is being organized in the Buckhead Park at Roswell Road and Peachtree Street in northeast Atlanta, at 7 p.m. on August 6. For further information contact Nuclear Freeze/Jobs With Peace at 586-0460.

At the churches of St. Francis Assisi in Blairsville and St. Paul the Apostle in Cleveland, solemn vespers will be said at 4 p.m. on Sunday, August 4 to commemorate the Hiroshima anniversary and to support the efforts for peace.