Peace Pole set to go up at Suncoast Community Garden
There’s the Peace Corps, there’s a peace pipe, there’s even a peace train.
So, what is a Peace Pole?
People at Suncoast Community Center will find out on Saturday, Nov. 10, when a peace pole will be installed in the community garden at 10 a.m.
Sue Gillespie, Suncoast outreach resident coordinator, said the whole thing got started thanks to kindly benefactor, who they did not name because she requested anonymity.
“We are blessed with a lady from Fort Myers Beach who was part of building the peace pole at the Preserve at Fort Myers Beach,” Gillespie said. “The lady purchased the pole and we will dedicate it an install it in a ceremony.”
The public is invited and refreshments will be served after the ceremony. That will be followed by a tour of the community center and the garden.
“People will get to see the community center and the garden. The peaceful monument there is a nice gift,” Gillespie said. “Good news is always good.”
The pole will display the message and prayer “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in four languages, English, French, Spanish and German, Gillespie said. She added that she hopes to get four people who speak those languages to speak at the ceremony.
Bobbi Robertson, who has worked to get the garden in great shape, said the peace pole will be a welcome addition.
“The doctor who does work here at the community center donated it to the people in the neighborhood who have donated plants,” Robertson said.
Peace poles have also been erected locally at Lakes Park and Rutenberg Park at the eco-center.
According to Peace Pole Makers USA, a company that makes peace poles, the idea of them was first thought up by Masahisa Goi in 1955 in Japan during a moment of revelation. The first Peace Poles outside Japan were constructed in 1983. They came to the United States three years later.
According to the Peace Pole Project, a peace pole is a hand-crafted monument that displays the message and prayer “May Peace Prevail on Earth” on each of its four or six sides, usually in different languages.
There are nearly 100,000 peace poles in 180 countries worldwide dedicated as monuments to peace. They serve as “constant reminders for us to visualize and pray for world peace,” according to its Web site.
The Suncoast Community Center is at 2242 Case Lane in North Fort Myers. For more information, call 731-9838.