Peace and peacebuilding is a core value of Rotary and the Pocatello Centennial Rotary Club put this in the forefront of their community! They place three peace poles in Pocatello and Chubbuck, along with an interpretive sign that gave the history, the reason for the languages, and the Peace Poem: May Peace Prevail on Earth.
The Club obtained a district grant to help fund the project and matched the district grant with club funds from their fundraising they lead by selling beverages at the Grays baseball games. The peace poles contain seven languages of early residents of the area: English, Shoshone, Italian, Greek, Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish.
Residents and visitors will see the peace poles and the signages at Lookout Point in downtown Pocatello, OK Ward Park next to Brooklyn’s Playground, and at Cotant Park in Chubbuck. Here are pictures and the narrative that is on the interpretive signs. Pocatello Centennial Members are celebrating the support they received from two City Mayors, the community, and are prominently sharing the important message in the poem. Way to go Pocatello Centennial!
May Peace Prevail on Earth
With a blinding flash a 900-foot-wide fireball exploded above Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945. Along with a second atomic bomb dropped a few days later in Nagasaki, the attack led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, ended World War II, and reshaped the nature of war and peace. A decade later, the Japanese spiritual teacher, philosopher, and poet Masahisa Goi began spreading the message “May Peace Prevail on Earth.” That simple yet profound message has spread. In the 1970s, people began inscribing the phrase on poles, and today, more than 250,000 peace poles exist worldwide. Rotary members have dedicated many in parks and public spaces.
The Centennial Rotary Club of Pocatello has planted and dedicated peace poles in Lookout Point, OK Ward Park, and Cotant Park. The poles contain the message in seven languages representative of Pocatello’s ethnic background: English, Shoshone, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, Italian, and Greek.
The International Day of Peace was established by the United Nations in 1981 and is celebrated on September 21 each year for the purpose of strengthening the ideal of peace within and among all nations and people. Peace affects almost every aspect of our lives. In 2025, over 130 million people are displaced because of conflict, violence, persecution, and human rights violations; half of them are children.
Rotarians refuse to accept conflict as a way of life. We are a humanitarian organization with peace as a cornerstone of our mission. Through service projects and support of peace fellowships and scholarships, Rotarians take action to address the underlying causes of conflict, including poverty, discrimination, ethnic tension, lack of access to education, and unequal distribution of resources.
Source: Pocatello Centennial Rotary Club
