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The  Peace Pole is an internationally recognized symbol of peace, with its purpose to  promote multicultural understanding and world peace.  The Wellington Rotary Peace Pole is an 8 sided, hand-crafted, wooden pole, eight feet tall.  Each of its sides displays "May Peace Prevail on Earth", in Spanish, English, Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Hebrew, Russian or Japanese. It was carved from western red cedar, a wood that is a renewable resource and environmentally sound. There are more than 200,000 Peace Poles, each dedicated as a monument to peace, in 180 countries all over the world .

From right, to left: "Wellington Mayor, Tom Wenham; Dr. Ian Salzman, Recipient of the 1st Annual Wellington Community Peace Award; Dr. Wesley Boughner Rotary Chair for the Wellington Peace Pole/Peace Park project; and Mr. Mark McLean, Chair of the Annual Community Peace Award".

Wellington, Florida has a population of approximately 62,000 citizens. The Wellington Florida Rotary Club had been working with the  Village Council since  2004 toward the donation of money and land for a Wellington Rotary Peace Park, in which to place a Wellington Rotary Peace Pole. After numerous meetings with the Village Parks and Recreation Board and the Village Council, several locations were considered. The culmination of  much hard work and negotiations, by a number of Rotarians, friends of the Wellington Rotary Club, and the Village Council,  resulted in the   Council approving 14.8 acres of wetlands for a Wellington Rotary Peace Park and the Wellington Rotary Peace Pole. The council  approved  $135,000 toward the construction of elevated boardwalks, and for an open air rotunda that eventually housed the Peace Pole.

Rotary, and Wellington volunteers, hosted a number of Peace Pole awareness projects that were  implemented within the community before the actual Peace Pole dedication ceremony was to take place. These programs were specifically designed to promote  community awareness and participation in the the Peace Pole/Peace Park concept. Working with local educators, "Peace poetry and multicultural Understanding" essay contests were held, and cash awards presented to the winners in each of the the 13 Wellington schools. In conduction to  the local Boy and Girl Scouts, peace merit badges were designed, to be awarded at our annual Peace Ceremony each year. An annual Community Peace Award was designed for the person/organization in Wellington that best exemplifies the concept of conflict resolution, or peace, within our community. A Rotary Peace Festival was organized at one of the high local high schools. Local clergy, representing seven different religions, were requested to give  sermons regarding "May Peace Prevail On Earth" within 2 weeks before the Peace Pole dedication. Peace talks  were given to local civic and community organizations. Brochures were distributed within the community and posters advertised the Peace Pole dedication ceremony in local businesses, schools and places of worship. Bumper stickers, pins and T shirts were distributed throughout the community. The Interact Club distributed peace pins and Peace Park T shirts., and participated in the dedication ceremony. A Wellington Rotary Peace Park flag was designed for the dedication. Community awareness publicity, consisted of 42 editorials, letters to the editor and articles, many accompanied by photographs, in  five newspapers, three magazines and the world wide web.

The Peace Pole awareness activities culminated with the Wellington Rotary Peace Pole dedication ceremony in the Wellington Rotary Peace Park, on United Nations Peace Day, September 21st, 2006.  The ceremony was a non racial, non denominational, non political celebration emphasizing cultural understanding, conflict resolution and the hope for a peaceful world. There were approximately 250 community members in attendance.

The  Wellington  Rotary Peace Park, announces that this is a special place dedicated to these concepts. The park is a serene setting for Wellington citizens, and guests, to meditate, pray or just contemplate the meaning of intercultural understanding and thoughts of  peace. It  is devoted to commemorating and strengthening the ideals of world peace, both within and among, all nations and peoples. The  Wellington Rotary Peace Ceremony is held at the Rotary Peace Park each year, on United Nations Peace Day. The celebration annually links our peace ceremony with thousands of other U.N. Peace Day celebrations throughout the world, all held on this same day, all promoting world peace consciousness, multi cultural understanding and conflict resolution with the universal theme of "May Peace Prevail On  Earth".

Peace Poles Around The World

There are more than 250,000 Peace Poles in 180 countries all over the world, dedicated as monuments to peace. Peace Poles are in simple places, such as churches and gardens. Others are located at extraordinary places, such as at the Pyramids of  Giza, Egypt; the United Nations Assembly, N. Y.; the International Monetary Fund, Washington, D.C.; UNESCO, N. Y.; the World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland; the World Trade Organization, Geneva, Switzerland; and the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna Austria. These Peace Poles serve as constant reminders for us to visualize and pray for world peace.

Mayors, clergy and civic leaders throughout the world have planted Peace Poles to dedicate their areas, cities and towns to world peace. Both political leaders, such as former U.S. Presidents Jimmy Carter Bill Clinton and religious leaders, such as Pope John Paul II, Mother Theresa and the Dalai Lama, have dedicated Peace Poles.

What Is A Peace Pole?

“The Peace Pole is the internationally recognized symbol of peace, with it’s purpose to promote multicultural understanding, conflict resolution and world peace consciousness.”

A  Peace  Pole  is  a hand-crafted  8   foot  high  pole, planted, in the ground, or on a base, and carved out of Western Red Cedar, with natural plant resin oil. It has 8 sides, with a Plexiglas plaque on each side that displays the message and prayer, “May Peace Prevail on Earth”, on each of its eight sides, in different languages. The Wellington Rotary Peace Pole has English, Spanish, Japanese, Hebrew, Hindi, Chinese, Arabic and Russian on the sides.

Wellington Rotary Peace Park
          
The Wellington Rotary Peace Park, containing the Wellington Rotary Peace Pole, announces that this is a special place dedicated to peace on earth. February 6th, 2006, the Village of Wellington, respecting the cultural diversity of our citizenry and the promotion of multicultural understanding and world peace consciousness, approved 14 acres of wetlands and grassy areas to be used as a passive park to promote the objectives of the Peace Pole. This park has been named the “Wellington Rotary Peace Park”, after the local civic organization that championed it’s cause. It is located between the Palm Beach County Library and the new Eldridge Gale Elementary School. The temporary location of the Peace Pole is located at the eastern end of the park, at the corner of Royal Fern & Birkdale.

The Wellington Rotary Peace Park, dedicated September 21, 2007, hosts platform walkways over the wetlands, with an open air gazebo that houses the Peace Pole and dedication marker. Surrounding the rotunda are flags from  the United Nations, the United States, Rotary International, the Wellington Rotary Peace Park, Florida and the Village of Wellington.

The Annual Wellington Rotary World Peace Ceremony

The annual Wellington Rotary World Peace Ceremony is a non racial, non denominational, non political celebration that fosters cultural understanding, religious diversity and the hope for a peaceful world.

The ceremony is celebrated on the United Nations International Day of Peace, September 21st of each year at the Wellington Rotary Peace Pole/Peace Park. On this day, citizens from Wellington, and surrounding communities, are invited to join together at the Peace Park, to link our community with people all over the world that are also promoting world peace consciousness and multicultural understanding  at their individual peace ceremonies within their countries.

Many community projects have been designed to involve Wellington residents in the celebration of the Wellington Rotary World Peace ceremony and to raise community awareness for world peace consciousness. Millions of people, from all over the world, gather around their community's Peace Poles each year on September 21st to pay their respect to the concept of “May Peace Prevail On Earth”, the motto of the worldwide Peace Pole movement.

The ceremony is an exciting and emotionally moving event, with honor guards and taps announcing the beginning of the ceremony, student winners reciting their poetry and essays on world peace, the display of the winning student World Peace posters,  music, presentation of the Rotary Peace scout merit badges, the Annual Wellington Rotary Peace Award, the Wellington Rotary School Ambassador Conflict Resolution Awards  and the culmination of the annual release of 30 white peace doves. This is an event designed for adults and children, for families and for individuals. The Wellington public is encouraged to attend this event. Come and join us, and the millions of citizens from around the world that gather together at more than 200,000 other World Peace ceremonies, on this U.N. International World Day of Peace, Sept. 21, as we foster the movement toward world peace.