Ok here at First Friday Main Line we all know and love Ricki Peterson of Creative Way...apprently our feelings are felt by others as she shows up this week in the Suburban and Wayne Times "Reader of the Week"! (we didn't know that the Suburban covered non- Wayne people, so we find this really cool!)

Stay tuned for hot news for us on our Love-ly theme for February 1st, 2008, which is First Friday Main Line and "Main Line Loves You", but here read about our own darling Ricki:

Reader of the Week: Ricki Peterson
A passion for peace
By Rachel Perry

Ricki Petersen, it seems, has never been shy about expressing her passion for the things that she believes in. That’s why when she displayed an anti-war sign in the window of her Bryn Mawr shop, Creative Way Needlepoint, and subsequently lost a few customers, she wasn’t fazed.

After all, for the outspoken and thoughtful activist and mom of two, it was more important to be open and honest about her convictions, even at the risk of decreased business.

“In terms of activism, it’s really an interesting issue,” she said. “This business pretty much applies to people who have means available to them and that generally means that they believe that supporting the status quo is in their best interest. When I became involved, we noticed a fallout in business.

“I got to a point where I didn’t really care about being politically correct with my clientele,” she added....“I firmly believe that you have to start in your own back yard,” she said. “That doesn’t mean going to Iraq and lying down in front of a bulldozer. It simply means having conversations with people here.”

Although Petersen has switched the focal point of her activism to a more local cause, she said that the Peace Coalition is still active.

Lately she’s been busy fighting a case of land use that has popped up near her Bryn Mawr home. The Bryn Mawr Hospital and Main Line Health, she said, had plans to use some of their property — land that was formerly used residentially — to build a strip of businesses starting near the hospital and extending to Lancaster Avenue.

As a homeowner and a business owner, Petersen opposed the retail strip.

“It wasn’t about saying no; it’s about what’s best for everyone, not just what’s best for the land-development wing of Main Line Health,” she said. “I’ve lived next door to the Bryn Mawr Hospital for 30-plus years. There should be some consideration for the residents.

“In my own back yard, I can do something,” she added, noting that much to her relief, the project has been turned around.

But, said Petersen, the demolition of the houses that were on that property has resulted in the loss of 86 trees, and her house has been hit twice by lightning; the tree in her yard is now the tallest tree around.

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