The Peace Pole outside the Wilton Library was unveiled on September 23, 2016. It was donated by the local Rotary.
According to a local news source:
"Wilton Rotary Club unveils first Peace Pole at library
“May Peace Prevail on Earth.”
This is the message that the Wilton Rotary Club wants to bring to town through 12 Peace Poles installed at schools, businesses and town facilities.
The four-sided poles have the message written in English and three other languages — such as French, Tibetan and Punjabi, out of 25 world languages represented, overall.
The first Peace Pole was unveiled at Wilton Library Tuesday night, on the eve of International Peace Day. The formal ceremony began with opening remarks from Wilton Rotary Club Board Member Carol Johnson.
“With our Peace Poles, we will be joining tens of thousands of communities in 180 countries that share our vision for world peace,” Johnson said. “We hope that the presence of these Peace Poles in Wilton will serve as a reminder that ‘we need to be the change in the world that we want to see’ and ‘to let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.’”
The ceremony continued with “This Little Light of Mine” performed by preschoolers from Connecticut Friends School and concluded with the official unveiling by Second Selectman Michael Kaelin, who spent eight years with the library as president, vice president and trustee.
More than 50 people gathered for the formal ceremony, including town and school officials, state legislators, members from sister clubs and other community members.
Elaine Tai-Lauria, executive director of Wilton Library and Rotary member, said the Peace Pole is a meaningful addition to the library.
“We view libraries as a place where people can come together to appreciate many different cultures and people, so we’re honored to be chosen as the first place,” Tai-Lauria said. “The languages that we chose for our pole are a reflection of foreign language items that we found to be in highest circulation.”
The Peace Pole at the library has the message written in English, Spanish, Chinese and Hindi.
Other poles will be installed at Miller-Driscoll School, Cider Mill School, Middlebrook School, Our Lady of Fatima, Wilton High School, the Wilton Family YMCA, Trackside Teen Center, Wilton Center Travel, the Law Offices of Elizabeth Edwards and 190 Old Ridgefield Road, which houses Gregory and Adams, Fairfield County Bank, and MCL Ventures.
Johnson and Tai-Lauria started planning the project with fellow rotary members Susan Goldman and Christene Freedman in April and received support from the board of education, planning and zoning committee, and the Board of Selectman shortly after.
“We were inspired to something different to bring some awareness,” Goldman said. “The idea grasped us in a good way.”
The Wilton Rotary Club hopes the project will grow beyond the initial 12 Peace Poles and encourages businesses and organization to purchase poles so that the Wilton community can help achieve “World Peace Through Understanding,” one of the Rotary’s six main tenets.
“Those four words means so much. If we all strive to understand each other a little better, maybe someday, we can reach that goal,” Johnson said. “We’re hoping this is just the beginning.”
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