Peace Pole Planted at Daystar Life Center in Crystal River, Florida, USA

June 11, 2025

One of Rotary International’s goals is to “build a culture of peace throughout the world.”

They do this with their service projects within the clubs’ communities as well as projects internationally.

They also plant Peace Poles, monuments that display the message: “May Peace Prevail On Earth,” an affirmation of peace written in the language of the country where it is placed.

A Peace Pole also displays the message in other languages that are meaningful to the host site.

The Central Citrus Rotary Club recently planted a Peace Pole at Daystar Life Center in Crystal River.

Besides English, the message on the Peace Pole is also written in Spanish, Tagalog (language spoken in the Philippines) and Hindi.

“Peace Poles are now recognized as the most prominent international symbol and monument to peace,” said Eric Hoyer, Central Citrus Rotary current president, at the dedication of the Peace Pole Wednesday, June 11. “They remind us to think, speak and act in the spirit of peace and harmony. They stand as a silent visual for peace to prevail.”

He added that the four languages they chose to be on this Peace Pole “unite us with people throughout Citrus County. These languages were chosen to represent Citrus County; other Peace Poles are representative of their areas and may have entirely different languages. But all peace poles represent the same idea – to bring people together in the interest of peace and harmony.”

According to the Rotary International website, “Peace Poles are intended to inspire unity among people of all cultures, ethnicities, and backgrounds.

“The message May Peace Prevail On Earth, authored by the late Masahisa Goi of Japan after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and is now an international message of peace with over 250,000 Peace Poles in every country in the world, dedicated as monuments to peace.”

Hoyer said they chose Daystar as their hopefully first of many locations for a Peace Pole planting after club members heard a presentation from AnnMarie Briercheck, Daystar executive director, and County Commissioner Holly Davis, about the Citrus Hope homeless shelter community project.

Daystar is not a prominent location, like a library or park, Hoyer said, but a lot of people go there to receive services and they’ll see it. And that’s a start.

They hope to plant more poles around the county as they’re invited to do so.

“Peace starts with each one of us and then spreads out to our clubs,” Hoyer said. “Caring is the foundation of peace. Taking care of people, family members, the neighbor next door, our community and our world should be the job of all Rotarians.”