Dowling Gardens Peace Pole

On World Peace Day last fall, a group of Dowling Gardens residents gathered to dedicate a Peace Pole installed in their back gardens. 

A Peace Pole is a multi-sided, handcrafted monument displaying the message “May Peace Prevail on Earth,” usually in different languages and symbols.  There are over 200,000 Peace Poles around the world in 180 countries in places as diverse as Ground Zero in Manhattan, the North Pole, and along the Jordan River in Israel.  Wherever there are people who want peace, the Peace Pole stands to remind them to pray and work for peace.

The Dowling Peace Pole is a seven-foot high, 4-sided wooden monument and was dedicated in memory of former resident John O’Neill.  Reflecting John’s Irish heritage, one of the sides carries the peace message in Gaelic and another reads “May Peace be in our homes and communities.”  The fourth side shows a series of footprints and reminds us that peace is a universal longing common to all people regardless of race, gender, religion or ethnic background.

In the spring, residents planted flowers around the Peace Pole.  Alas, the multi-colored snapdragons proved to be a favorite of the deer who visit the gardens at night.  It’s been an on-going challenge finding flowers deer don’t like. 

Art Show

Dowling Gardens shares a campus with St. Thomas Aquinas  College and through the years, a good neighbor policy has developed between the two.  STAC students share their computer skills with Dowling residents and STAC art majors conduct painting classes.  A recent art show displayed the work of our resident artists and drew an admiring host of family and friends to view the result of the weekly classes.

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190 Kings Highway • Box 276 • Sparkill, New York • 10976 • (845) 365-1662

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