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Seniors for Peace to dedicate pole
The Vindicator
Photo
Members of Seniors for Peace meet with Keith Kaiser, second from right, horticulture director at Mill Creek MetroParks, to admire the peace pole that will be installed and dedicated in a brief ceremony at 11 a.m. Friday in Fellows Riverside Gardens. Seniors for Peace members are, from left, the Rev. Jim Ray, Shirley Megown and Norma Coe Anderson. The message, “May Peace Prevail on Earth,” is in eight languages.
celebrations
At Mill Creek MetroParks
Mill Creek MetroParks has a two-fold celebration Friday. It is National Public Gardens Day and a peace pole from the Seniors for Peace will be dedicated.
Peace pole: Brief ceremony at 11 a.m. in the Family Garden at Fellows Riverside Gardens, located on north side of the parking lot at the D.D. and Velma Davis Education and Visitor Center. The Rev. Jim Ray of Seniors for Peace, the group behind the peace pole, said peace poles are “visual reminders of our responsibility for achieving peaceful solutions to local and global conflicts.” He added that placement in the Family Garden provides a wonderful setting for a teaching moment about peace.
Garden Day: A tour of the gardens will be at 2 p.m. and a guide will point out highlights, share anecdotes and history. More than 45,000 tulips are in bloom.
Background: National Public Gardens Day aims to raise awareness of America’s public gardens and their role in promoting environmental stewardship, education, plant and water conservation.
Information: Call the gardens at 330-740-7116.
By LINDA M. LINONIS
YOUNGSTOWN
The message, “if you want peace, work for justice,” continues to inspire members of Seniors for Peace.
Though the years may have grayed their hair and slowed their pace a bit, time hasn’t diminished their devotion to working toward peace.
To that end, the group will “plant” a peace pole during a brief ceremony at 11 a.m. Friday in the Family Garden of Mill Creek MetroParks.
The Rev. Jim Ray of Poland, retired Presbyterian campus ministry whose last assignment was at Youngstown State University, said the aluminum pole projects the message, “May Peace Prevail on Earth,” in eight languages. They are Arabic, Chinese, English, Hebrew, Seneca, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish and Swahili.
He said Seniors for Peace meets for a brown-bag lunch monthly to keep tabs on peace activities and long-time friendships. He and others were members of the Peace Council of Youngstown, which began in 1981. It is now Peace Action Youngstown, part of a grassroots movement throughout the United States.
The Rev. Mr. Ray said about six months ago discussion brought up the idea of a peace pole. Contributions made it a reality.
The peace pole in the Youngstown park will join tens of thousands of peace poles in 180 countries all over the world, according to the Peace Pole Project website, www.peacepoleproject.org. Mr. Ray noted the Peace Pole Project was begun by Masahisa Goi, a Japanese man, as a response to the bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He is founder of the World Peace Prayer Society.
Different motivations brought and kept Mr. Ray and Norma Coe Anderson of Cornersburg and Shirley Megown of Austintown in the peace movement.
Mr. Ray said he was “born again” after hearing the “I Have a Dream” speech by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “It transformed my life,” the retired minister said, noting the speech motivated him to become active in non-violent demonstrations for a variety of causes including peace.
Anderson attended an ecumenical event at St. John’s Episcopal Church many years ago and heard a talk by William Sloane Coffin Jr., a Christian clergyman and peace activist. She said he encouraged the audience to “promote peace through local causes” and she decided to do so as a member of ACTION, Alliance for Congregational Transformation Influencing Our Neighborhoods.
Megown said she heard a talk by a nun who worked with Archbishop Oscar Romero, who was assassinated in El Salvador. The Catholic priest championed the rights of the poor and worked to eliminate violence. Megown said the talk inspired her to focus on peace. That decision was reinforced when Megown visited South Africa after apartheid ended. Megown is president of Church Women United of the Youngstown area.
Keith Kaiser, horticulture director at Mill Creek, said the peace pole fits perfectly with the role of gardens ... to provide a place of peace, reflection and beauty. And the peace pole dedication will fit into the celebration of National Gardens Day, also being observed Friday. He said the park welcomed the opportunity to have a more permanent peace pole.
Megown said the peace pole’s new home in the Family Garden will “allow the peace pole to be seen daily and remind people of the work for peace and justice.”
“In the hearts of people, they want peace,” Mr. Ray said. The peace pole stands as a beacon.