If you are near our mountain, I hope you can join us today to plant a peace pole for The International Day of Peace. Here is the story in Sunday's Johnson City Press:
With the installation of a Peace Pole near the community garden at Carver Park, Sam Jones hopes the seeds of religious tolerance will be planted within the community.
“What better thing to plant in a community garden than peace,” she said.
As a member of the United Religions Initiative Cooperation Circle of Northeast Tennessee, Jones wanted to find a way to observe the International Day of Peace and honor the hard work of the gardeners and other members of the community who helped in creating the Carver Community Garden — a project Jones started about three years ago.
The pole will be installed during a ceremony Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Carver Park.
Originally, Jones wanted to host a harvest potluck in celebration of the garden, but when other members of URI informed her that Tuesday was the International Day of Peace, she thought it would be the perfect way to celebrate peace.
Beginning in 1955, following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Peace Pole Project has grown to include more than 200,000 poles around the world.
The group polled people in the Carver area in order to find out the four most common languages spoken in the community. The pole will feature the phrase, “May Peace Prevail on Earth,” written in English, Spanish, Swahili and Arabic on each side of the pole.
With the recent controversy surrounding the proposed Islamic community center and the proposed plans to burn the Quran on 9/11, Jones said the installation of a Peace Pole is extremely timely.
“It’s relevant. It’s real. It represents our community and the International Day of Peace,” she said.
Jones believes Carver represents a special place in the community of Johnson City, as it acts as a “magnet” for a number of different cultures.
Recognizing the diversity in the area is an important step in creating an atmosphere of tolerance, Jones said.
“This is a good thing in our community,” she said.
The ceremony will be followed by a potluck dinner.
For more information, call Jones at 349-6119.
Even if you cannot make the potluck, join us for the ceremony at six p.m. tonight at Carver Park in Johnson City!
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