Success Stories
1995
30th Anniversary
Peace Pole Gardens
Senator Bill Bradley of New Jersey autographs the flag he had flown over the US Capitol in honor of America the Beautiful 30th Anniversary in 1995, as he started his annual “Beach Walk” to urge protection of the NJ Coastline. In honor of our 30th Anniversary the America the Beautiful Fund received a gift of 200 Peace Poles from the North American Peace Pole Project. The peace poles are inscribed with the words “May Peace Prevail on Earth” on two sides and, with the message “May Peace Be in Our Homes and Communities” on the other two sides. Over 100,000 poles in 100 countries around the world have been presented to schools, city halls, churches, hospitals and parks.
The America the Beautiful Fund gave four peace poles to America the
Beautiful Gardens in each of the 50 states at ceremonies where each person wrote a peace message on a small pieces of paper which were all stored inside the Peace Pole before it was planted.
Sister Delores Brand and Sister Evelyn Jegen at the Peace Pole planted at the Cenacle Retreat House in Warrenville, IL.Worldwide leaders, who include President Jimmy Carter and numerous governors and mayors, Pope John Paul II, Mother Theresa, John Denver, Marcel Marceau and Ken Keyes, have dedicated the peace poles. They have been placed in extraordinary places, such as the Magnetic North Pole, Canada; Confucius’ Burial Site, Taiwan; Pyramids of El Giza, Egypt; Findhorn Foundation, Scotland; Table Mountain, South Africa; and Gorky Park, Russia.
A Peace Pole was planted in New Iberia, LA at the dedication of the “Willie E. “Bunk” Johnson Memorial Plaza, turning a junk and drug strewn vacant lot into a garden and park honoring one of America’s great jazz artists who was born nearby.