Pennswood’s original Peace Pole has found a new home In August, 2001, Pennswood accepted the gift of a Peace Pole from The Peace Center in Langhorne, and it was located on the circle garden right outside our Community Building’s front door. Its message was “May Peace Prevail on Earth” on 4-sides in different languages, including English, Spanish and Japanese (which, after 20 years, had been bleached by the sun). The idea began in Japan in 1955 where the first Peace Pole was constructed in 1983. The peace pole symbolizes the heart-felt wish “for peace in the world for all children everywhere,” that there will never again be a Nagasaki or a Hiroshima or a Pearl Harbor. In 2001, two “Hibakushas”—adults who survived the atomic bomb that was dropped on their cities when they were children—spoke at Pennswood as part of an eight day tour that included Washington, DC, Atlantic City, Princeton, and Valley Forge. There is now a vast network of more than 230,000 peace poles that have been dedicated in over 200 countries. Last year we were joined by two children, Jack and Lydia Ciccimaro (ages 10 and 8), who spoke at our commemoration of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. When the decision was made to replace our peace pole, the children asked to have our old peace pole for their garden, so it has found a good home. Our new peace pole is six-sided with two rows of plaques, allowing “May Peace Prevail on Earth” to be represented in 12 languages. It will be dedicated on Thursday, May 30, 2024, at 1:00 p.m. with a program to follow in Penn Hall at 1:30 p.m. featuring Mira Nakashima, noted American architect and furniture maker. Kay Marik, Quakerism Committee