Student’s Push for a Peace Pole in Golden Valley

Hopkins High School Student Eve Clarkson wants a Peace Pole to be installed near the Golden Valley water tower. The pole will be white with the words “May Peace Prevail on Earth” inscribed on the sides in different languages.

Bringing a Peace Pole to Golden Valley

The Golden Valley Farmers Market kicked off its summer season on Sunday with vendors filling up the parking lot near city hall. Eve Clarkson plans to be part of the market in August when she sells her special soup mix called “Peace Soup.”

“This is a jar of Peace Soup in a Mason Jar,” explains Clarkson, who is also the teen representative on the Human Rights Commission in Golden Valley. “I’m going to sell these and ask for a suggested donation of $10.”

Money earned from the Peace Soup will appropriately go toward the installation of a Peace Pole, which is a white pole with the words, “May Peace Prevail on Earth” inscribed on the sides in different languages. The Peace Pole Project started in Japan in the 1950s. Since then, people have installed peace poles at a variety of sites around the world. Locally, a peace pole stands inside the cafeteria of the Osseo Learning Center in Brooklyn Park.

Clarkson would like the Peace Pole to be white with the peace message inscribed in eight languages.

“I was enthusiastic about Eve Clarkson’s idea for a peace pole in Golden Valley. It seems like a great fit,” says Gillian Rosenquist, who is on the Golden Valley City Council. She has known Clarkson and her family for quite awhile. She helped Clarkson get the project started, which required seeing if the pole could be considered Public Art. “When she brought it to me, I said it would be a great idea for the new Golden Valley Arts group who works with artists and people who would like to donate art.”

First steps toward a Peace Pole in Golden Valley

The Golden Valley City Council heard from Clarkson and her mother, Juliana, at a meeting on June 5. They must still give final approval on the project. The proposed location for the peace pole is near the Golden Valley water tower.

“It would go outside in a place when people are driving through our city. They would see the message that they are welcome no matter what language they speak,” says Rosenquist.

A Peace Pole costs upwards of $300. To pay for it, Clarkson will sell her Peace Soup at International Day at the Golden Valley Farmer’s Market on August 12. She also plans to apply for micro-grants to help fund the project.

Shannon Slatton, reporting