More Peace Poles
EARTH DAY “Walk About” Sunday April 22, 2012:
Three Peace Poles were dedicated at Atlanta Masjid (AM), Villages of East Lake (VEL) and Drew Charter School (DCS) in East Lake, Georgia USA. Each unveiling involved many participants as the photos below will show. The ceremonies were all unique & inspirational with Boy Scout Troop 302 & their leader Melba Potter along with VEL resident Leila Moore leading the way across State Hwy. 260 Glenwood Ave. down East Lake Blvd. DeKalb South Precinct Police and Atlanta Zone 6 Police made it possible for the walkers, who carried signs “May Peace Prevail On Earth” safely cross Glenwood. Atlanta Community Liason Unit “Crime Stoppers” were at the end of the walk at DCS.
The organizers were Andrea Kay Smith PartnershipsInPeace.org , Jennifer McCrary EastLakeFoundation.org, Imam Mansoor Sabree & Zaheerah Aleem AtlantaMasjid.com, Melba Potter, Adrienne Johnson, Shirley-Sapp Davenport VillagesOfEastLake.org, Khari Diop sehort.org Southeastern Horticultural Society, Principal Don Doran, Terrilyn Ali & Tamara Mosely DrewCharterSchool.org, Walter Lee – EastEnd Neighbors (EEN) & Glenwood Pedestrian Safety Initiative (GPSI), Owner Candace Apple PhoenixandDragonBookstore.com, Fred Stevens EastLakeCommons.org, Video by Marion Davenport. Sheila O'Rear – Neighborhood Watch DeKalb South Precinct attended. She is a visible supporter of our community activities to reduce crime. Paula Flowers feeds the homeless @ Eagle Grocery. Jeff Childers KeepAtlantaBeautiful.org brought trashbags & gloves for trash pick-up on the walk. He picked up the most trash at an eyesore Citgo Gas on Glennwood. GeorgiaOrganics.org donated “Local Food Guides.”
In addition we had a large array of organizations & stores that donated T-shirts, food, water, candy and Peace Pole supplies. WholeFoodsMarket, Walgreens, Publix, PEDS.org, N. DeKalb Mall, HandsOnAtlanta.org, Custom Signs Today @ Loehmans Plaza, DareComputer.com, AlexisSuitcase.com. DeKalb Commissioners Larry Johnson & Kathie Gannon attended. Interviewer Kalin Thomas AtlantaInterfaithBroadcasters aibTV.com created a segment for her show “Life Plus” questioning Andrea, her brother Randy, Mary Gazaway & Bert Skellie about seniors staying active & relevant to be aired soon. Peace Buttons were handed out to over 100 attendees donated from both Candace Apple and Fumi Johns Stewart worldpeace.org. The Peace Pole dedications offered a slice of life, crossing all lines of race, religion & age for a transitional neighborhood successfully recovering from years of urban decay.
Earth Day planning committee with South Precinct police around Andrea's Peace Pole
Earth Day planning committee Drew Charter School
Peace Pole dedication Atlanta Masjid
Peace Pole dedication Villages of East Lake
Peace Pole dedication Drew Charter School
Peace Pole – East Lake Community Learning Garden - Atlanta, Georgia USA Jan. 14, 2012
A Peace Pole was dedicated January 14, 2012 at East Lake Community Learning Garden www.EastLakeGarden.org 56 2nd Ave SE Atlanta, GA 30317 (near Hosea Williams & 2nd Ave) with activities for the kids like planting peas, feeding goats, eating snacks & making puppets www.southernartistry.org/Damon_Young. The garden is being coordinated by Southeastern Horticultural Society www.sehort.org with collaboration from East Lake Foundation www.eastlakefoundation.org & other sponsors & volunteers. The 4 languages on the Pole are the most widely spoken in the world – Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, Arabic and English. Photographer is Chris Whitlock. Left to right: Jennifer McCrary, East Lake Foundation's Resident & Community Support Program Mgr - Villages of East Lake (VEL), Melba Potter - Pres. Garden Committee VEL, (behind her) Adrian Johnson - Harambe (Swahili for coming together) Gardeneer (VEL), Ms. Shirley Cleaves – Harambe Gardeneer (VEL), Khari Diop – Community Environmental Educator for sehort.org, Lauren Patrus – volunteer assistant to Khari, Andrea Kay Smith www.AtlantaPeaceTrails.com, Imam Mansoor Sabree & son Ayub Sabree www.atlantamasjid.com of Al-Islam & Mohammed Schools, Tamara Mosely – Harambe Gardeneer and www.drewcharterschool.org , Fred Stevens www.eastlakecommons.org resident – dedicated 2001 Peace Pole at Atlanta Friends Meeting House, Kate Chura – Exec. Dir. sehort.org
Peace Pole – Open Door Community - Atlanta, Georgia USA Feb. 13, 2011
A Peace Pole “May Peace Prevail On Earth” was dedicated at The Open Door Community 910 Ponce de Leon Ave in Atlanta, Georgia 30306 www.opendoorcommunity.org on Sunday February 13, 2011 in honor of Frank Ostrowski (5/17/30 – 1/25/10). His wife Sarah Lopez and their sons Jim & Mike chose these four languages (with more to be added later like Braille.) English; Swahili - to reflect the African American Community; Spanish - in addition to Sarah's bilingual heritage, to also acknowledge the Latino community; Hebrew - because Frank was a biblical scholar - his concern about peace in the Middle East, and because of the Christian foundation of the Open Door. Narrowing the languages down was difficult because Frank was a linguist having studied Latin, Greek, French, German, Italian and a little Spanish. Frank's early vocation as a priest motivated his desire to serve the poor. After years of parish work, he was selected to go to Rome to do graduate work in theology. After choosing to leave the priesthood, he pursued a career as a psychologist and continued his service to under-served populations, and to devote much work toward nonviolence and issues of peace and social justice. He was a UN representative and a member of F.O.R. (Fellowship of Reconciliation), deeply involved in Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution (non-violence & ending armed forces). His 2006 publication of “Beyond Systems: Achieving Peace Through Our Shared Humanity” was well received. He said “..... pursuing peace, we ourselves must have peace deep within our hearts. Peace will tolerate no counterfeits.” Mistress of ceremonies Sarah Lopez gave a stirring overview of Frank's life. Andrea Kay Smith presented the history of the Peace Pole originating in Japan after Hiroshima then handed out Peace buttons to everyone in Frank's honor. Some of the guest speakers were Pastor Eduard N. Loring “Cry of the Poor” with his wife Murphy who foundered Open Door. Mary & Frank Hamilton who sang inspirational songs. Some of the guests were senior Janet Ferguson, Gail Lash www.TourismForPeace.org, Liliane Kshensky Baxter (F.O.R), Betsy Rivard with United Nations, homeless residents of Open Door, and a large group of family and friends. Ponce de Leon is a major street in Atlanta, so many people will see the Peace Pole as they drive by or walk in the community.
Peace Pole – Sautee-Nacoochee, Georgia USA
One day Glenn Carroll www.NoNukesYall.org & Andrea Kay Smith were making suggestions for the upcoming Spirit-work weekend to honor 5 decades of working for peace, justice & environmental issues by their longtime friend 85 year old peace activist Adele Kushner, when the idea of dedicating a Peace Pole came up. From that one small seed idea came the necessary energy to produce a community-wide event August 8, 2010 @ 2:00pm at the Sautee-Nacoochee Center in Georgia www.snca.org. At the lovely ceremony that included music & the sharing of peace stories, a Peace Pole, handcrafted, by AJ Wolff www.peacepoleartist.com was unveiled at the “Peace Tree” there. “May Peace Prevail” was painted in ten languages: North side - Japanese, Russian & Chinese. East side - Thunderbird symbol of Nuclear Watch South, Cherokee & English. South-side - Spanish, Hindi (Gandhi) & French. West side - Sunflower (Seeds of Peace) symbol, Hebrew & Arabic (Sanskrit). Organizers were Glenn Caroll, Julianne Wilson www.thrivingconnections.org , & Joanne Steele (guitarist & Tree of Peace storyteller) & Bob Steele (installed Pole), with “Women of Heart” drumming & chanting, and many people telling stories about Adele. Andrea gave Peace Buttons to everyone. Bobbie Paul with WAND www.wand.org & Carol Williams (lawyer who helped stop power lines in Sautee) drove up from Atlanta to join in the ceremonies. Spirit-work members Joan King www.joanking.gamountains.net and long time friend of Adele and peace activist Lorraine Watkins www.talkingstick.gamountains.net also attended. Afterwards refreshments were served inside the main SNCA building where Adele was honored, being joined by her sister & niece from Atlanta. Glenn reminded us about global nuclear disarmament, pausing in memory of the bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki 65 years ago & sharing that for the first time ever the UN (Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon presenting 1000 paper cranes) participated with Mayor Akiba & City Council President Fujita at the Hiroshima Int'l Conference Center on August 6th in Peace Park.
Celebrating the placement of the new Peace Pole at the Sautee Nacoochee Center are (in rear, from left) Carol Williams, Bobbie Paul, A.J. Wolff, Joanne Steele, Lillian Hall (with drum) Glenn Carroll, Judy Arnold.
Kneeling from left, Andrea Kay Smith with Adele Kushner standing behind her, and Hannah From, child holding a string of folded peace cranes.
The 2 Photos Below: Sunday June 13, 2010 Atlanta Peace Trails (APT) & Trail of Dreams (TOD) united to kick off the 13 Moon Walk 4 Peace Inaugural Walk to benefit Spirit of Truth Foundation (501c3) which is coordinating a Walk Around America beginning in Atlanta 10-10-10. The walk began at Atlanta City Hall “Niki” statue on Mitchell St., which was donated by Athens, Greece for the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics. The walk included many people walking with flags along APT Trail A finishing at Martin Lutheran King Memorial. The group photo includes some participants in front of “Niki” on that blistering hot day. Andrea's brother Randy Smith took the photo. In the other photo are (left to right) Andrea Kay Smith (APT), Karen Watson & Audri Scott-Williams (partners in TOD) 13moonwalk4peace.org trailofdreamsworldpeacewalk.com
The 3 Photos Below: June 20, 2010 Father's Day a Peace Pole was dedicated at Peace Lutheran Church 1679 Columbia Dr. Decatur, Ga 30032 #404-289-1474 - Rev. Victor Belton PastorBelton.com .
The languages are English, Spanish, French, & Arabic to represent the diverse congregations, which also include Grace to Grace Lutheran Church with Rev.
Jacques Estimphile (Haiti), and Sudanese Lutheran Church with Rev. Bafel Paul Deng.
The Peace Pole was given to Andrea Kay Smith as a thank you gift from WorldPeace.org which has planted hundreds of thousands of Peace Poles
around the world. Andrea then learned from her friend Ann Brown with Healthy Belvedere that a Community Garden was being planted at Peace Lutheran, so the decision was made
to donate the Pole there as Andrea & Ann through Glenwood Pedestrian Safety Initiative (GPSI) WalkGlenwood.org had also offered a Photo Voice project at Peace Lutheran in 2007.
Church Outreach Director John “JL” Brooks & his son John Brooks III coordinated with Andrea the installation of the Pole & Gardens & cleared the hillside area to
make it look beautiful with bricks for steps donated by Tom Younker DareComputer.com & his wife Ja Vonn McPhearson. The owner of Phoenix & Dragon Bookstore, Candace Apple
donated Peace Buttons for everyone, and shared the ribbon cover from her a previous dedication of the Sandy Springs Peace Pole. The ceremony involved many people, songs, prayers,
and personal experiences that were shared, culminating with youth Jeremiah Vrudny removing the ribbons around the Peace Pole for the “reveal” & walking around the grounds of the
Peace Pole where two sunken gardens were planted with recycled plants from Andrea's “Friendship Garden.” Mr. Ice Cream Man, Roger Daugherty brought refreshments for
everyone i-scream.me
Group around Peace Pole back row: John ”JL” Brooks, Charisse Singh, Buddhist Bee Blossom, Jeremiah Vrudny, Pastor Victor Belton, Candace Apple, Roger Daugherty, Kit Brockmann, John Brooks, III. Front row: Andrea Kay Smith, child Miles Henderson & his sister Stephanie Henderson.
At I-Scream ice cream truck left to right: Charlyn Thomas, Deidre Green, Miles, Roger, Kat, Sonya Martinear, Pastor Belton, front: Ulysses Elijah
The 3 Photos Below: Planting a Peace Pole April 18, 2010 at Sandy Springs Fulton County
Public Library on Mt. Vernon Rd & Johnson Ferry Rd in the Reading Garden
was a collaborative project by Arts Sandy Spring (Laura Jones, Reading Garden Chair ArtSS
and Bernadine Richard, President), Candace Apple (owner Phoenix & Dragon
Bookstore), Heards Ferry Girl Scout Troop #26304,
Riverwood International Charter School (who read 16 languages most
spoken at Riverwood), Franklin Pond Student Quartet, Ridgeview Singers
from Ridgeview Charter Middle School (director Dr. Susan Messer). The
labyrinth that surrounded the Pole was made by Cross Roads Second Chance
North School (Jack M. Burris, Community Liaison). Sandy Springs Women's
Club donated the land for the whole garden to Fulton County where the
Peace Pole resides. Rabbi Mario Karpuj (Congregation Or Hadash) did the
closing. The highlight was when the Girl Scout Troop along with Laura
Jones' children Bryce & Annalise individually took the ribbons from the
unveiling & ran around the perimeter of the Reading Garden with ribbons
flying in the air. Over 200 people attended.
Languages: Arabic, Chinese, Creole, English, French, Hebrew, Hindi,
Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Thai,
Vietnamese.
The Photos above, from top to bottom:
Around the Sandy Springs Peace Pole with Lawrence Buchthal, Candace Apple, Jack Burris, Tricia Garrett, Andrea Kay Smith, Carole Schumer.
Girl Scout Troop #26304 with Candace Apple & children Analise & Bryce around Peace Pole.
Laura Jones in the middle with ribbons flairing out to the Girl Scouts, as a male student says “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in his native language with Franklin Pond Student Quartet looking on.
Georgia Mountains Unitarian Universalist Church, 439 S. Park Street, Dahlonega, GA www.gmuuc.org Brenda Cook, contact person 706-864-0661. The Pole is planted in a corner flower box in front of the church. The 7 foot Pole has 10 languages, English, Spanish, French, Romanian, Tagalog, Hindi, Swahili, Afghanistan, Hebrew, Iranian. The languages were chosen for the Peace Pole are related to the current areas of war and the most common world languages as well as places in the world where we have UU partner churches. The pole was dedicated May 31, 2009. Peace Pole created by AJ Wolff out of redwood that she brought across the country on top of her SUV.
Briar Vista Elementary dedicated a Peace Pole in June, 2009 by Jeff Streiff (as he unties veiling fabric). Andrea met Jeff & his wife Sarah at Barhai Unity Center, when Gail Lash, PhD invited Andrea to hear guest speaker Afaf Stevens. When Jeff received a Peace Button from Andrea, he inquired about a Peace Pole which within one year he installed at the school where he teaches, and where Andrea's son attended in the 1970's.
Over the years, Andrea collected many interesting stories about the fate of the peace buttons. Her research determined that cashiers were the most likely to ask for them. Andrea would be checking out of a grocery store, and the cashier would ask what the button said. After saying, Andrea would ask if they would like to wear it. Like passing the peace, Andrea would take her button off and pin it on the cashier. Amazingly, when Andrea would return days later, the cashier would still be wearing the peace button. She always told the cashier that when they gave their button away, they could call her (giving them a PIP business card), and Andrea would give them another. This happened often, to the point that over the years Andrea handed out over a thousand buttons.
The obvious places Andrea shared the peace buttons were at Earth Day events of the PIP Peace Center, at Peace Rallies, and at different peace events. Andrea was always pleased to find people still wearing them at other events, sharing stories of their own experiences of passing the peace. On any given day, she kept a supply in her bag to give away because someone was always asking about them.
The peace buttons also opened the door to talk about Peace Poles “May Peace Prevail on Earth” ™ which Andrea planted around metro Atlanta. Many Peace Poles were planted because of receiving a peace button, like the day Andrea visited a Bahai' Unity Church with Gail Lash, PhD, and met Jeff & Sarah Streiff. Jeff was a teacher at Briar Vista Montessori Elementary School in NE Atlanta, where Andrea's son had attended years ago. Within a year of receiving his button, Jeff had coordinated a Peace Pole in front of the school. Andrea attended the dedication with a tear in her eye, remembering her many years of volunteering in her son's school when Mr. Stevens was principal. It was like a full circle of cosmic energy for her. The peace button project continues in 2010 to great success.
Contact:
Andrea at Partnerships in Peace, P.O. Box 18101 Atlanta, GA USA 30316, phone: 404-377-8004, email: Peace101@mindspring.com
or Gail: gail@tourismforpeace.org