May peace prevail

A quiet yet robust wish for peace rose from Highlands, on July 29 when a new Peace Pole was unveiled.  The year-long effort to establish a tribute to peace is a joint project of the Mountaintop Rotary Club and the Rotary Club of Highlands, joining  250,000 communities worldwide that host Peace Poles. 
Rotary Presidents Cath Connolly Hudson and Randy Foster gifted the 12-foot Peace Pole to the Town of Highlands. At the dedication, Mayor Pat Taylor expressed his gratitude to Rotarians for initiating a conversation about peace in this important way.
Every installation is unique, but all include the phrase “May Peace Prevail On Earth” in languages appropriate to its respective community. In Highlands, the phrase is written in Cherokee, Gaelic, Spanish, and English. The dedication ceremony included brief remarks by Jessica Jenkins, Rigo Ortega, Alistair Fox, and Cath Connolly Hudson, each of whom quoted a poem, prayer, or song emblematic of their culture.
Children from Highlands Community Child Development Center sang “It’s A Small World” against a backdrop of hundreds of colorful pinwheels, peace doves, peace signs, and hopes for peace made by students from The Bascom, the Boys and Girls Club, The Gordon School, HCCDC,  The Literacy and Learning Center, and individual Highlands residents. 
Highlands’ unique culture was highlighted at the beginning and end of the dedication, when the solemnity of the occasion was marked by soulful airs played by bagpipers Margaret Tooke and Glenn Morris.
The idea for increasing the number of Peace Poles in North Carolina came from Western North Carolina’s Rotary 2024-25 District Governor Connie Molland, who had the vision of illuminating Rotary’s commitment to worldwide peace in this manner. Molland, who attended Highlands’ dedication, expressed her personal appreciation and noted  Rotary International’s work to create environments of peace through education, mediation, advocacy and individual peace projects. The 2025-26 Rotary District Governor, Alex Portelli, was also in attendance.
Randy Foster noted that the creation and installation of Highland’s Peace Pole was made possible with the talent of architect Jim Ward, landscape architect Hank Ross, contractors and suppliers Robi Decking, Yonah Mountain Timber Frame, Rigo’s Stonework, and Bryson’s Grading, Tate Landscaping and Reeves Ace Hardware.
Highlands’ Peace Pole is located at the Community Building, adjacent to the Ball Field on Route 64.
History 
The first seeds for a Peace Pole were planted in Ishikawa, Japan, where a small gathering of peace workers joined Masahisa Goi to listen to his philosophy and visions for a better world. Masahisa Goi encouraged creative ways in order to carry the message to public view. 
In 1976, the idea of placing the Peace Message and Prayer on poles began to gain popularity. This was the first impulse that led to the beginnings of the Peace Pole Project.