West Sacramento City Hall Peace Pole Dedication Ceremony for IDP, CA, USA.
September 21, 2026
On International Day of Peace on 9/21/26 we welcomed participants at our Peace Pole Dedication Ceremony for our newly installed Peace Pole at West Sacramento, California City Hall.
We opened with a First People’s Land Acknowledgement of the Patwin Indians, an indigenous Native American group who inhabited the western banks of the Sacramento River for thousands of years before European settlement.
Dignitaries West Sacramento Mayor Martha Guerrero and City Council Member Dr. Dawnté Early shared their vision of peace.
Officiant and Peace Pole Activist Susan Rueppel, West Sacramento
Mayor Martha Guerrero, founder of Peace Poles for Schools U.S.
Army Major (Ret.) Reneé Marie.
Peace Pole with blue ribbons of peace tied on by participants.
Our City Hall Peace Pole features the phrase “May Peace Prevail On Earth” in the 8 languages most commonly spoken in West Sacramento: Spanish, Russian, Hindi, Tagalog, Mandarin Chinese, Vietnamese, and Hmong. We also announced the City of West Sacramento Proclamation officially declaring West Sacramento a City of Peace.
The Peace Pole Gardens Project Vision and Mission were shared, as well as information about Peace Poles for Schools.
Participants shared what peace means to them, and how they express peace in their families and communities.
Officiant Susan Rueppel, then shared her vision of peace and how she expresses it in the world: “I express peace in our community by installing and dedicating our West Sacramento Southport neighborhood Peace Pole at our community garden, and this Peace Pole at City Hall today, by being a Peace Pole Activist and the Steward of the Peace Pole Gardens Project, and volunteering to guide other people and organizations to plant and celebrate their own Peace Poles.”
In closing Rueppel invited participants to continue to hold peace in our hearts, our thoughts, and our actions, creating ripples of peace throughout our community and the world, and shared three quick and easy ways to be in action for peace in the next few minutes.
- Help yourself to the buttons on the side table saying “May Peace Prevail on Earth” that have WorldPeace.org on the bottom. Go to their nonprofit website to learn about peace activities around the world, order your own Peace Pole, and check out the Peace Pals International page with peace programs and projects for youth.
- Join me in tying tie a blue ribbon – representing peace – on our Peace Pole, and
- Enjoy members of the Schanteuses choir Amanda Johnson, Julie Williams, and Mo Mobley as they sing GRANT US PEACE in Latin while we tie ribbons on our Peace Pole.
May Peace Prevail On Earth.
Peace Within Us. Peace Between Us.,
Susan Rueppel 916-397-5800
Peace Pole Activist & Peace Pole Gardens Project Steward