Small gathering for ceremony held at Peace Pole in Moses Lake
CASEY MCCARTHY | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 1 month AGO
Louis Logan and Joye Lucas were both involved with the original installation of the Peace Pole in Moses Lake in 1989, coming together again for the peace ceremony on Sunday afternoon.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald
The Peace Pole was installed in Moses Lake next to the Moses Lake Public Library in 1989
A small group of individuals gathered near the Peace Pole in Moses Lake on Sunday, reading short excerpts about peace and holding a brief discussion on the idea.
Louis Logan reads a brief history of the Peace Pole in Moses Lake, and a little bit of history on Peace Poles around the world, at a small ceremony that was held on Sunday afternoon.
MOSES LAKE — A small group gathered near the Peace Pole beside Moses Lake Public Library on Sunday afternoon for a small ceremony to discuss thoughts on how to better work toward peace in society today.
Louis Logan is a resident of Moses Lake and was involved in installing the Peace Pole originally in 1989. The Peace Pole reads “May Peace Prevail On Earth” on four sides in four languages: English, Spanish, Russian and Japanese.
Logan led the ceremony on Sunday with a small group of people gathered around, reading quotes and passages on the idea of peace and discussing the history of the Peace Pole.
The group read passages from noted individuals throughout history, from Albert Einstein to Martin Luther King Jr. Logan opened up the discussion to the crowd as individuals shared thoughts of their own on the current state of the world.
The English side of the panel had become worn over the years and was recently replaced by Logan before the ceremony.
“This was the panel that was weather-worn, so I thought we needed to replace it,” Logan said. “I did that the other day, so that’s what kind of instigated all of this.”
Louis Logan and Joye Lucas, a fellow attendee, were both part of the original group of community members that got the Peace Pole installed in 1989. At the time, he said, tensions were high due to the Cold War.
“Now, to me, a lot of the issue is the polarization of our country,” Logan said. “The whole thing we talked about today is how do we have a peaceful society, yet still remember the needs and justices and freedoms of all.”
Originally, he said the people who put in the Peace Pole were hoping to have gatherings like the one on Sunday on a more regular basis, offering a chance for people to come together and find common ground.
Logan said it was great being able to just do something after the event on Sunday. After watching the Seattle Seahawks play earlier in the day, he said, a lot can be learned from sports.
Just like the opposing sides come together to shake hands and offer congratulations after the game, he said, people in society must be able to do the same with their own issues and concerns.
