The tranquility of Girsh Park has just been enhanced by the recent installment of the Rotary Club of Goleta’s Peace Pole.
Erected in June near the Pat O’Malley Fieldhouse near the park’s center, the nearly seven-foot-tall pole reads “May Peace Prevail on Earth,” in eight different languages, as well as braille, that surround all sides of the pole.
“I can’t think of a better message for our community and having that radiate out from here,” councilmember Luz Reyes-Martín told the News-Press.
Reyes-Martín added that the City of Goleta will work with the Rotary Club of Goleta to add another Rotary Peace Poll sometime next year.
This Peace Pole is joining 250,000 other Rotary Clubs in a Rotary International effort to bring a peace presence to local communities worldwide. The Pole was also erected in partial recognition of the Santa Barbara Rotary Club’s 90th anniversary.
President of the Rotary Club of Goleta, Roger Aceves, told the News-Press that the project took a year to put up the pole. Girsh Park felt like a natural choice given the amount of children present who will see and take in the Pole’s message, said Aceves.
“My hope is that they will see what it represents: peace in the community,” Aceves told the News-Press.
