Thank you Cathy and the Garden Club! We appreciate your efforts! Best, Cookie Martin
On Thu, Aug 10, 2023 at 10:29 AM Cathy Moritz <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello Lincoln Residents -- > > Over the 36 years since the Peace Pole was installed at Station Park, the > phrase "May Peace Prevail On Earth" on its signs, in English and Japanese, > had almost completely faded away. > > The Lincoln Garden Club was recently able to purchase replacement signs > from May Peace Prevail On Earth International. This organization has been > involved in the placement of about 300,000 Peace Poles around the world > since the mid-1980s. We were informed that Lincoln's pole was one of the > very first installed. The rather fraught but eventually successful story of > Lincoln's Peace Pole in a 1988 Lincoln Journal Article is given below. > > New signs were attached to the pole this week and are looking great. > Please come visit Station Park to see the refurbished sign, relax and rest, > or meet friends in its beautiful surroundings. The Garden Club volunteers > have maintained the park for your enjoyment for the last 51 years. There > are flowers in bloom from April through September, and we have benches, a > table and chairs, and a water fountain for your convenience. > > Best end-of-summer wishes to everyone, > > Cathy Moritz > > STATION PARK VOLUNTEERS > > LINCOLN GARDEN CLUB > > ------------------------- > > *Article from The Lincoln Journal, Jan-Feb 1988, vol II, no. 6, p. 14* > > *MAY PEACE PREVAIL – THE PEACE POLE* > > By Beverly Eckhardt > > At the Special Town Meeting of October 2, 1984, the Town, acting on a > petitioned warrant article, voted to accept the gift of a “Peace Pole” from > the Japanese Government. Although some voters had not been able to erase > the anger and fears built up in the years of the Second Great War and its > aftermath, the consensus was that such a symbol of new directions should > not be rejected. The terms of the article stipulated that the pole should > be erected in a “prominent and aesthetically pleasing location,” so that > passing pedestrians might note it and ponder its message. The selectmen > were given the responsibility to find the appropriate placement and see the > necessary work was done. > > Simple thing to plant a plain pole, one would think. The fact that the job > was not as simple as it seemed is evident from the passing of three years > from the acceptance to the actual positioning. And visible though the > location may be to people on foot, the passing motorist can easily miss the > fact that something has been added to the mini-park between Lincoln Guide > Service and Ridge Road. > > Lincoln has many prominently visible spots, and, of course, many aesthetic > ones. The problem was to find a combination of the two attributes on a > piece of Town-owned land not controlled by the regulations of the Historic > District. The Lincoln Library was suggested early on. The hitch was the > Library is in the Historic District, and it is very difficult to add > anything in the Historic District zone. (Ask the Council on Aging about its > efforts to put in a sign at Bemis Hall cautioning against the blockage of a > handicapped access!) Another choice, the Mall area, seemed to offer lots of > visibility, since it serves more people than any other location in Town and > would certainly qualify for having prominent places. However, that land > does not belong to the Town. Because the Land Conservation Trust holds the > Mall property, the Town would have to seek a deed to any piece of it, and > before any deed could be grated, a survey would have been required. The > $100 expense money voted at the 1984 meeting would obviously not cover > legal fees and the costs of a surveyor, so no pole at the Mall. > > Finally, the Planning Board and Selectmen conferred with the Garden Club > to agree on a spot at the mini-park across the street from the Mall. Early > in December 1987 the Peace Pole was finally installed in the corner of the > fence bounded by Lincoln and Ridge Roads. The pole, a white stele, has the > message “May peace prevail on Earth” printed alternately in English and > Japanese on its sides. The Garden Club intends to make plantings around its > base come spring that will both beautify the setting and better define the > separation between fence and pole, and its members hope the site will > continue to be an attractive and peaceful oasis in the midst of Lincoln’s > bustling business district. > > For more about the May Peace Prevail On Earth movement and the origins of > the Peace Pole, see *https://www.worldpeace.org/history/ > <https://www.worldpeace.org/history/>* > > > > -- > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > To post, send mail to [email protected]. > Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/ > . > Change your subscription settings at > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. > >
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