Rotary Club of Monroeville to host International Day of Peace celebration

The Rotary Club of Monroeville is preparing for its first International Day of Peace event.

The event will be hosted at the Peace Pole in Monroeville Community Park West at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 21.

In 1981, the United Nations General Assembly declared every third Tuesday of September as International Day of Peace. In 2001, it was moved to be observed annually on Sept. 21.

The purpose of this global observation is to give people an opportunity to discuss the ideals of a peaceful world. It also serves as a 24-hour period of global ceasefire for groups in active combat.

“Because of this international declaration, peace-building organizations around the world also take on the responsibility of spreading the word and ideals. The Rotary Club of Monroeville is designated and certified as a peace-building club. That is why we have a particular interest in promoting peace,” said Diane Milowicki, club member and chair of the event.

The club has invited speakers including elected officials, faith leaders and community leaders. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Anthony Kane, director of the Center of Excellence in Diversity and Student Inclusion at Duquesne University. Kane has years of experience studying diversity, equity and inclusion and has applied his knowledge to his work at Duquesne.

“Our Rotary team members brainstormed to figure out how to set the tone and our goals for the event,” said Milowicki. “Through that brainstorming, we decided that we did want to have a youth engagement and speakers that promoted those ideas. We wanted them to bring the concept of peace home. What does it look like not only in our world, but in our community?”

There will be a number of musical performances, including the Pittsburgh Steeline, official drum line of the Pittsburgh Steelers. When selecting performers, the event’s committee had the goal of representing multiple cultures through music.

“We wanted to feature music that would inspire people and that would be representative of different cultures, different forms of musical expression,” said Milowicki. “We believe that music is a universal experience regardless of your background, your ethnicity. Music is a uniting element in our world, so we wanted to try to incorporate music as much as we can.”

The Peace Pole was installed in 2021. It displays messages of peace in 37 languages, representing the diversity found in Monroeville and surrounding communities. Rotary club members hope to one day turn the grass area around the pole into a Peace Garden. Their goal is to create a space for community members to reflect and refresh.

“It is our goal to really build up that area and to designate it as Monroeville Peace Garden,” Milowicki said. “We have a Rotary district grant for funding to install benches, landscaping and signage that will identify the location around the Peace Pole as a Peace Garden.”

Each year, the UN sets a theme for International Day of Peace. This year’s theme is “End Racism. Build Peace.”

The Rotary Club of Monroeville plans to match the theme and make their event an annual occurrence.

Rotary International is a service organization that promotes integrity, and advances world understanding, goodwill, and peace through our fellowship of business, professional and community leaders.

For more information regarding the event, visit www.chamberorganizer.com/monroecounty/mem_81323779 or contact Diane Milowicki dianemilo@gmail.com.