Brianna Moosa, a Seneca Valley student who attended a week-long Rotary event for high school students, speaks to the attendees of the Cranberry Township Sunrise Rotary Monument to Peace unveiling Wednesday, Sept. 21, at the Cranberry Township Municipal Center on International World Peace Day. Christine Border/Special to the Eagle

CRANBERRY TWP — A tradition that began in Japan nearly 40 years ago continues to make waves across the world.

Families and neighbors gathered Wednesday night to witness the Sunrise Rotary Club’s unveiling of a peace pole in honor of International Peace Day at Cranberry Municipal Center.

The event launched at 6 p.m. with a flag ceremony led by Cub Scout Troop 403. It culminated in the presentation of the peace pole monument, with the message “May Peace Prevail on Earth” written on each of its four sides in different languages: English, Spanish, Japanese and Hebrew.

Many attendees wrote their own wishes for peace on paper butterflies they pasted on the wall beside the pole.

“The Rotary Foundation has been committed to doing good in the world,” said Zachary Covington, Rotary Club leader. “As members of 1.4 billion people in the world, this means eradicating polio, providing sanitation, building shelter for the homeless or displaced, and yes, even sitting at the table of the United Nations.”

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