Peace Pole at Price Center in San Marcos, California-USA
July 16, 2025
Photos: Daily Record photo by Shannon West
In the Price Center garden, something peaceful has sprung up amongst the beautiful flowers. The Rotary Club of San Marcos erected another of its Peace Poles there Wednesday morning.
Matthew Cortez and Peter Baen. Daily Record photo by Shannon West
According to a press release issued by Rotary, more than 200,000 peace poles have been installed around the world with the initial pole planted in Ishikawa, Japan. Now in San Marcos, this “silent visual,” as Rotary describes it, will pass the message of prevailing peace on the planet to anyone who visits the center.
This new Peace Pole includes the message, “May Peace Prevail On Earth,” in three different languages: English, Spanish and, the language of the original inhabitants of San Marcos — Coahuiltecan.
Rotary chose July 16 to erect the Peace Pole to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the first detonation of an atomic bomb at the Trinity Site in New Mexico.
“We’re trying to acknowledge that the advent or the beginning of nuclear research as a weapon has been really serious, so the need for peace is that much greater,” said Peter Baen, Rotary board member, adding that there still could be much value in nuclear energy for the future.
Carondelet Dember read from a poem called Morning of Peace by Thich Nhat Hanh.
“The Earth, our green planet, presumptuous beauty, sparkling and proud, yet oh so fragile. In her, I discover myself. Walking mindfully on the earth, a grassy path, my feet make the promise to embrace the early morning and touch the peace of the present moment,” she read. “We celebrate a morning of peace. At the same time, I see places of deep suffering, where men imprison men and make each other suffer. The waves of discrimination, hatred and greed, inevitable causes of catastrophe, crash upon the earth. Chicks of the same hen wear different colors in order to fight with each other. Heart rending cries declare the horrors of war. Brothers and sisters, the beautiful earth is us. I embrace her and hold her tenderly against my chest; breathing together in the same rhythm, we restore our calm, our peace.”