Peace Pole Dedication Ceremony at Aims Community College.

Posted by Edward "Ted" Gilliland

The Rotary Clubs of Greeley sponsored a new Peace Pole on the promenade at Aims Community College. We were welcomed by Marsi Liddell, President of Aims College. Karoline Woodruff gave a wonderful history of the peace pole project. District Governor, Mike Forney, shared some thoughts about peace which included International President Tanaka's theme for the year, Peace Through Service, and referenced one of the President's speeches which noted that " world peace is found in the heart of each of us and spreads to our family and on from there". Centennial President, Fred Brown, and 10 other members of our club were in attendance to support the dedication of the new Peace Pole on Campus.

This dedication ceremony is one of the physical and permanent ways that our club can honor the goal of Peace Through Service. Following the Four Way Test in your family, your business and in your relationships throughout the community is the invisible and best way to spread Peace.

History of the Peace Pole: By Karoline Woodruff

A Peace Pole is a monument that displays the message "May Peace Prevail on Earth," usually in a different language on each side. The message is referred to as a peace prayer but is not specific to any religion, rather universal to all. The Peace Pole Project was started in Japan in 1955 by Masahisa Goi, who dedicated his life to spreading the message of peace, in response to the bombings on Hiroshima.

Sine then, more than 200,000 poles have been placed around the world, in over 180 countries on all continents to promote a Culture of Peace.

Peace-Lovers of all faiths have been involved in Peace Pole dedications, including the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Jimmy Carter, and Coretta Scott King, as well as presidents, mayors, and citizens around the world.

They are in simple places, such as gardens, schools, churches, mosques and synagogues, and extraordinary ones, such as at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, Mount Everest and the Headquarters of the United Nations. They are promoting healing of conflict in places like the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, the border between Israel and Jordan and Ground Zero in New York.

By planting a Peace Pole in our community, we are linking with people all over the world who have done so in the same spirit of peace.