Zelienople Rotary pays tribute to late members in recognition of World Peace Day
ZELIENOPLE — More than a dozen doves flew over Zelienople Community Park in a touching tribute to peace on Friday afternoon, Sept. 20.
The dove release by Ken Haselrig from Dovecote Missions was an appropriate wrap-up to the fourth installment of the Rotary Club of Zelienople’s International Day of Peace observance. World Peace Day is officially recognized every year on Sept. 21.
The annual event also honors two former members of the rotary club, Tom and Marie Grant, who died three weeks apart in December of 2020.
“They were just very active members in rotary at all levels of the organization,” said Kathy Corcoran, a longtime member and former president of the club. “They were huge proponents of peace. It was very important to them to have a place in our community where people could gather. So we took their wish and made it a reality.”
A memorial bench and international peace pole were placed just outside of the gazebo in the park to lift up the couple’s lifelong work of spreading a message of peace all around the world. The peace pole has the message “May Peace Prevail on Earth” etched in four languages: English, German, Albanian and Japanese.
One of the many missions of the rotary club is to assist in eradicating polio. Tom Grant himself survived polio before marrying Marie. The pair were also devoted ambassadors for ShelterBox, a nonprofit organization that specializes in disaster relief around the globe. The couple visited all seven continents.
“It’s important for us to keep this going in their memory,” said Robin Fleming, an active member of the club. “Tom was such an active Rotarian despite the fact he had this crippling disease. I think a lot of us in the club actually became members because of them. They reached out to people to get them to join. They were big on traveling and meeting people from other countries and bringing people here from other places to show that we’re all the same.”
Around 15 children who attended the event were read stories and had the opportunity to pet the doves before they were released en masse. Afterward, the children crafted cranes out of origami under the gazebo.
The Rotarians also presented Connoquenessing Valley Elementary School principal DeeAnn Graham with a $400 check that will go toward the school’s library.
Corcoran made clear Zelienople’s Rotary Club of around 45 active members hopes to continually expand the celebration of peace in the coming years.
