THUNDER BAY -- Living in Canada it is sometimes easy to take peace for granted.
However that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be properly appreciated.
The city’s three Rotary clubs came together Saturday morning at Prince Arthur’s Landing to commemorate the United Nations’ International Day of Peace, which is held at every Sept. 21.
Kevin Holloway, past president of the Port Arthur Rotary Club, said peace is an important subject to reflect upon.
“We see conflicts on the news and they may not be that close to us, we’re a little bit removed, but by having a ceremony we can spend a few minutes thinking about the importance of peace,” Holloway said.
“We’re very lucky living in Thunder Bay and in Canada that we don’t have conflicts and we’re not worried for our own personal safety.”
The celebration was held a day early this year, due to Sunday’s scheduled running of the Thunder Bay Marathon: Miles with the Giant.
Rotarians wanted to celebrate the day around their peace pole, which was installed on Saul Laskin Drive overlooking the Sleeping Giant last year.
It bears an inscription of “may peace prevail on Earth” in both English and French, as well as Ojibwa.
Sharon Badanai, who is a member of the Fort William Rotary Club, served as the master of ceremonies for the celebration.
She said peace, and the now one-year-old peace pole, allow people to think about making a difference on the local level.
“You can take the time to reflect on yourself and things you can do for your community and country,” she said.
“By us being able to put our own peace pole up we can to take part in the fellowship of peace that is going on throughout the world and the world is in a state where we need all the peace we can get.”
Holloway closed the ceremony by leading a rendition of the classic John Lennon song, “Give Peace a Chance.”
He said there are valuable lessons to be learnt from the 45-year-old song.
“If everyone in the whole world was able to put aside their differences and find compromised solutions to very important issues, and the reasons why they’re fighting, everything is negotiable once you learn about the other parties and learn to trust them,” he said.
“Having the ceremony gives people a reminder there’s always another way besides violence.”
