It’s a tall reminder to be kind to each other.
Several Rotary Club of Innisfil members recently spent time erecting permanent Peace Poles outside Gilford United Church and the Royal Canadian Legion branch in Belle Ewart. The club sees this initiative as a powerful catalyst toward bringing the community together in a time of global uncertainty and rising tensions.
“Every club’s been asked to do a peace initiative because times are turbulent right now; we’ve gotten approval from these places and they were very open to letting us celebrate their space,” club president Susie Parker said of the 12-foot poles. “We’re just trying to do a visual and reminder for the public that we’re dedicated to that process of making sure people are healthy, safe and inclusive. We want peace moving forward. There’s so much war right now. We want people to look at this and say ‘This is a great place, we’re lucky to be here.’”
The Gilford pole is painted with blues and greens and yellows and dotted with flowers. At the legion, the pole dons poppies and other flowers and butterflies, and is topped with an Indigenous Medicine Wheel.
But what, exactly, is a Peace Pole? This monument is intended to display the message "May Peace Prevail on Earth” in the language of the country where it is placed. It also often shows three to seven additional languages meaningful to the host site.
There are an estimated 250,000 such poles erected throughout the world.
Placement furthers Rotary's goal of inspiring unity among people of all cultures and backgrounds, Parker said.
“There could be people in our community dealing with family that they can’t find,” she said. “They’re worried about family members or friends in different countries. There’s terrible stuff happening that’s not going away. We just want (these residents) to know we stand for them, we care for them and we hope things settle down soon.”
The Gilford and Belle Ewart poles were the second and third constructed by the club so far — the first went up at the Innisfil ideaLAB and Library’s Lakeshore branch in the fall.
Long-time Innisfil resident Jamie Hardie is the artist who designed that initial pole.
“I've always volunteered to help out Rotary; I like the things they do,” he said. "It's people who just want to do good. I was more than happy to do it. It's fun. I threw it onto sawhorses in my driveway and ended up meeting all kinds of new neighbours. Peace is important to me. I would like to think peace is important to everybody. But periodically, you get the reminder we find reasons to disagree."
In the coming months, the club also plans to put up three more poles — one at the Rotary Trail behind the Innisfil Recreational Complex and two more at yet-to-be-finalized locations.
“We care about the world and our community,” Parker said. “We're really excited to get these things in the ground. We don’t often get the chance, in the public eye, to make a permanent mark for Rotary and the world. It’s a feel-good moment.”
More details on the initiative can be found at rotarypeacepoles.world.
