The Rotary Club of Erin celebrated the planting of a Peace Pole in the Village of Erin on Sunday, July 16. The planting dedication coincided with Erin Rotary’s Summerfest Event.
A second Peace Pole was planted at Victoria Park in the Village of Hillsburgh on Saturday, August 19 to coincide with Hillsburgh Family Fun Day.
(From Left to Right, Sohail Naseer – Rotary District Governor-Elect, Jeff Duncan – County Councillor, Town of Erin, Mary Cunningham – Chair, Rotary Club of Erin Peace Committee, Ted Arnott – Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, MPP Wellington-Halton Hills, Kathi Dick – Chair, Rotary District Peace Committee, John Brennan – Councillor, Town of Erin, Cathy Aylard – Councillor, Town of Erin, Steve Schafer – Rotary Club of Erin, Peace Committee Member, Bridget Ryan – Councillor, Town of Erin, Michael Dehn – Mayor, Town of Erin)
What is a Peace Pole?
A Peace Pole is an internationally recognized symbol of the hopes and dreams of the entire human family, standing vigil in silent prayer for peace on earth. Each Peace Pole bears the message May Peace Prevail on Earth in English, one in Anishinaabemowin, and one in French. There are an estimated over 250,000 Peace Poles in every country in the world dedicated as monuments to peace.
Peace Pole Plantings (Dedication)
Planting a Peace Pole brings people together to inspire, awaken and uplift the world’s human consciousness. Peace Poles remind us to think, speak, act in peace and harmony, and stand as a silent visual for peace to prevail.
Attending the Peace Pole Plantings will be representatives from The Rotary Club of Erin and elected representatives from the Town of Erin, local elected representatives for the province, including Ted Arnott MPP, and other invited officials.
Background on Rotary Peace Initiative
The Rotary Club has been promoting peace for a very long time. At the 1914 Rotary Convention, Rotarians from Hamilton, Ontario, proposed that the International Association of Rotary Clubs (now Rotary International) “lend its influence on the maintenance of peace among the nations of the world.” The Rotary Club also sent consultants and delegates to the conference which founded the United Nations in the 1940s. Today, we promote Peace through our community work around the world, sponsor the education of peace experts through Peace Fellowships, and promote peace through the Institute for Economics and Peace.
Among our other initiatives, we are a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, which has reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent since our first project to vaccinate children in the Philippines in 1979.
Global Rotary Peace Poles
Check out the Global Peace Pole Map.