Zelienople Rotary Club, Connoquenessing Valley Elementary School recognize International Peace Day
ZELIENOPLE — White wings fluttered into the sky as a dozen doves took flight on Friday, Sept. 19, drawing cheers from a chorus of fourth-graders who were gathered at Zelienople Community Park.
The dove release ceremony by Ken Haselrig served as a climactic finale to Rotary Club of Zelienople’s fifth annual International Day of Peace event.
For the first time, members of the club secured a partnership with Connoquenessing Valley Elementary School to deliver an afternoon of storytelling and crafts in recognition of International Day of Peace, which is celebrated annually around the world on Sept. 21.
“I think that anytime we get the opportunity, especially young people but even adults who take the time, to think about peace and kindness and being mindful, it never hurts,” said Emily Budney, a former member of the club who recently moved to Texas, but flew back specifically for the event. “The more we can tell these children that it’s OK for them to have the big feelings that they do and give them ways to process through those feelings is always worth our time. I think it’s just incredibly important.”
Zelienople Rotary president Cindy Slayback addressed students and faculty before passing off the microphone to Budney, who captivated the crowd by reading two books related to peace and understanding on Earth.
The club also presented a check for $400 to members of the school’s administration that will go toward buying new books for the library.
That all led up to the dove release, which members of the club said is always a memorable moment.
“I love reading the book, but it’s the part I look forward to,” Budney said. “It’s just very symbolic and a very freeing feeling. I think it kind of wraps everything up and it’s just beautiful imagery that the children can take with them.”
The immediate area around Zelienople Park Gazebo is decorated with a memorial bench and a Peace Pole with the inscribed words “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in four languages: English, German, Albanian and Japanese.
Those artifacts are in honor of late Rotary club members, Tom and Marie Grant, who died in 2020.
Past president and club member Kathy Corcoran said the couple’s contributions to the club and their efforts to spread peace across the world are immeasurable and should be remembered.
“I can’t help but think of Tom and Marie Grant because they made the Peace Pole possible,” she said. “They just cared so much about this community.”
Regardless of what is going on elsewhere, members of the club are doing what they can to set an example locally.
“It’s so important with what’s happening today in our world that we remember as Mother Teresa said, ‘Peace begins with a smile,’” Corcoran said. “If we can at least start talking, we can have a dialogue and find out that we have more in common than we expect.”
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Origami birds decorate the gazebo to help signify peace during the Zelienople Rotary Club’s fifth annual International Day of Peace at Zelienople Community Park on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Homemade signs by students line the sidewalk entrance during the Zelienople Rotary Club’s fifth annual International Day of Peace at Zelienople Community Park on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Homemade signs by students line the sidewalk entrance during the Zelienople Rotary Club’s fifth annual International Day of Peace at Zelienople Community Park on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Students observe and point at the signs they helped make during the Zelienople Rotary Club’s fifth annual International Day of Peace at Zelienople Community Park on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Ken Haselrig, owner of Dovecote Missions, shows students one of the doves he will release during the Zelienople Rotary Club’s fifth annual International Day of Peace at Zelienople Community Park on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Ken Haselrig, owner of Dovecote Missions, shows students one of the doves he will release during the Zelienople Rotary Club’s fifth annual International Day of Peace at Zelienople Community Park on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
