Rotary Club of Mon-Yough River Valley completes peace pole project
The peace pole honors past Rotary International President and Monessen native Stephanie Urchick.
For the MVI
Colorful rocks created by students in the Charleroi and Monessen school districts are embedded in the base of the Peace Pole. Submitted
Members of the Mon-Yough River Valley Rotary Club recently put the finishing touches on a project to erect a peace pole at the entrance to Monessen City Park honoring past Rotary International President and Monessen native Stephanie Urchick.
The volunteers installed a permanent brick and concrete base dotted with a display of inspirational messages painted on river rock by students from the Charleroi Area and Monessen school districts.
Similar poles calling for peace and harmony have been installed around the world.
The Monessen pole bears the message “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in English, Greek, Italian and the East Slavic language Rusyn, reflecting the city’s rich immigrant history.
The volunteers completing the project included Greg Bednar, Bernie Bandini, Sue McFarland-Bandini and Rotary Club President Donna Vesely. They were joined by Monessen City Council member Karen Cosner, who serves as director of Parks and Public Property.
“This project stands as a permanent and meaningful tribute to Stephanie, her lifelong dedication to Rotary and its mission of promoting peace, understanding and service throughout the world,” Vesely said. “We are enormously proud of Stephanie and her successes during her past year leading Rotarians everywhere.”
The peace pole was dedicated in the spring in the park where Urchick played as a child.
During Rotary’s international convention in Calgary, Alberta, Urchick officially completed her year of traveling around the world as the leader of the 1.4 million Rotarians in 200 countries.
Urchick has served as partner and chief operating officer of Doctors at Work LLC, a consulting and training company. She holds a doctorate in leadership studies from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She is active on numerous community boards and committees and has been honored by organizations including Zonta International and the Sons of the American Revolution.
A Rotary member since 1991, Urchick has traveled to Vietnam to help build a primary school and to the Dominican Republic to install water filters. She studies several Slavic languages, has mentored new Rotarians in Ukraine and coordinated a Rotary Foundation grant project in Poland.
