CLINTON — Clinton’s Stop the Hate/Show the Love WALK, held annually in conjunction with the global observance of the United Nations International Day of Peace, will take place on Thursday, Sept. 15.
“The WALK is held on the Thursday closest to the Sept. 21 International Day of Peace,” explained Mardell Mommsen of the Clinton Peace Coalition. The walk begins at 5 p.m. at Clinton Community College. Following the opening ceremony and welcome by CCC president Karen Vickers, walkers will proceed to Ashford University.
Mayor Rodger Holm will declare Sept. 21 “United Nations International Day of Peace in Clinton” at ceremonies in the peace garden on the Ashford campus at the conclusion of the walk.
The closing ceremony around the Peace Pole also will include statements from representatives of faith groups — Christian, Islam, Buddhist and Jewish — addressing peacemaking from their faith perspective.
The highlight of the pre-WALK festivities at CCC will be the display of posters created by Clinton fifth-grade students to illustrate their ideas of what world peace would look like and a release of butterflies by representatives of Clinton’s Bickelhaupt Arboretum. The closing at Ashford will feature brief presentations by representatives of the many faith communities present in the Clinton area and music from the Ashford Spirit Choir.
The International Day of Peace was established by the U.N. General Assembly in 1981 for commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace within and among all nations and people.
On Wednesday, Sept. 21, the Sisters of St. Francis will observe the U.N. International Day of Peace with a public vigil in their chapel at The Canticle, 841 13 Ave. N., from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. There will be a free, public program at 7 p.m. featuring diplomat, author and professor Kathryn Koob of Waverly, one of the former Iranian hostages.
For more information on the Stop the Hate/Show the Love WALK and the International Day of Peace celebration, call Sisters of St. Francis, (563) 242-7611 or visit www.clintonfranciscans.com.
