Clarksville, TN – Clarksville Rotary Club’s Jill Moore recently welcomed about 100 guests to a Peace Pole Installation at Rotary Park.
“A peace pole is a commitment,” Moore said. “That we are a community that is going to collaborate, a community that is absolutely resolved to solve our conflicts with respect and with peace, and teach our children to do the same.
It’s a symbol that every voice matters, and that we are going to take that seriously and do everything we can to bring multiple voices, multiple perspectives, and people from many different places together, as we continue to build Clarksville into the community that we want it to be.”
The afternoon was filled with poetry readings, including one written by a Clarksville Christian School student. A message from Rotarian President Melanie Thompson, and to culminate the ceremony, folks representing different countries spoke the words “May peace prevail on earth” in their countries’ native languages.
On the pole, those words were written in the eight most-spoken languages in Clarksville-Montgomery County. Pam Powell read a selection from The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry. CCS student Victoria King read a poem that she wrote.
Clarksville Rotary President Melanie Thompson thanked everyone for being there. “Today we plant more than a pole,” Thompson said. “We plant a promise. The promise that peace is possible, and that it begins right here in our own community. This peace pole is a reminder that respect, kindness, and understanding are the foundations of peace.
After the readings and the international presentation, everyone had a chance to paint peace rocks, then joined in a hike during which they placed them along the trails.
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