Ken Haselrig of Dovecote Missions shows one of his doves to students from Connoquenessing Valley Elementary School during a dove release at the Zelienople Rotary's Peace Day ceremony on Tuesday.

ZELIENOPLE — The Zelienople Rotary held a World Peace Day ceremony at the park gazebo in the Community Park on West Beaver Street Tuesday afternoon.

The International Day of Peace is observed around the world on Sept. 21. The holiday was declared by the United Nations General Assembly to be devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace through observing 24 hours of non-violence and cease-fire.

“We are excited to add this observance as an annual event in Zelienople,” John Avolio, club president, said in a statement. “Rotary Clubs throughout the world are committed to a focus of fostering peace and creating awareness of the need for conflict prevention and resolution.”

The event featured a display of 1,000 paper cranes hanging from the gazebo. They were folded by community members earlier in June in honor of former Rotary members Tom and Marie Grant, who died in December 2020.

“Tom and Marie had a vision to add a peace pole to our town, to create a place where the community could gather and reflect about promoting peace and living in harmony,” said Kathy Corcoran, former president of the Zelienople Rotary. “We held a memorial service for Tom and Marie three months ago and dedicated the peace pole and memorial bench in their memory.”Corcoran said she read about World Peace Day online and found that the Rotary International chapter also celebrates the day.“They had a whole thing on World Peace Day and its history,” she said. “They're using today as a way to encourage girl empowerment.”Eight signs created by students at the nearby Connoquenessing Valley Elementary School with quotes and sayings promoting kindness were also hung around the park. Emily Budney, a Rotary member, worked with teachers at the school to have their students contribute to the display.“I have a second-grader, and so I reached out and asked the principal if she thought the classes would be willing to do a board,” Budney said. “We had each child put their handprint on it, and come up with a slogan or phrase that they thought would be meaningful for their class. We were really fortunate, because it was short notice and school has just started.”

“Emily did an amazing job of connecting with the school and getting the different grades to create the signs,” Corcoran said.Ken Haselrig of Dovecote Missions released a flock of doves during the ceremony.Children and their families had the chance to meet and pet a dove before the flock was released.The Rotary also handed out Dove candies and encouraged kids to take one “piece of peace” for themselves and one for a friend.Don Ridgely, a member of the Zelienople Rotary, attended the ceremony and said he was “glad that he came.”“It was a really nice event,” he said. “It was nice seeing the kids waving to the doves.”

Jesse, 6, Adam, 7, and Maxwell, 7, of Connoquenessing Valley Elementary School sit by a sign made by students at the school for the Peace Day ceremony on Tuesday at Zelienople Community Park.photography by Julia Maruca/Butler Eagle

The 1,000 paper cranes displayed Tuesday were created by the community as part of a memorial for Rotary members Tom and Marie Grant, who died in 2020.