Los Altos Voices for Peace was a sponsor of and an active participant in the 2004 Los Altos Community Picnic August 29. Many came to visit the LAVP table and sign up for the mailing list, pick up donated books on peace issues, and mark their country of origin with a flag on a large map.
The highlight of the day for LAVP was the official dedication of the Peace Pole which LAVP had donated to the City earlier in the year and which was planted at the main library entrance. A Peace Pole has the words "May Peace Prevail on Earth" inscribed in several languages. The Los Altos Peace Pole has the inscription in English, Mandarin, Spanish, and Arabic.
Ye Olde Town Band introduced the event with a medley of peace, civil rights, and religious tunes. Mayor Moss thanked LAVP for the donation. Katrina Smathers talked about the history of the Peace Pole movement: there are at least 200,000 of them now all over the world, from the magnetic North Pole to dense population centers. Some have been dedicated as part of an act of healing, such as near the Columbine School in Colorado and near the site of the World Trade Center in New York, others as an expression of outreach, as when the athletes from each nation participating in the Olympics received one to bring home to plant in their own country. Bernice Fisher read from an inspiring sermon by a Rhodesian minister on the importance of building and promoting peace even when such efforts are ridiculed or condemned.
A childrens' choir of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI) group in Los Altos entertained the audience with two songs about reaching out to others. David Watkins introduced SGI, a world-wide Buddhist organization dedicated to peace and non-violence. Then over 60 people walked over to the library to see the Peace Pole and view the exhibit on peace through non-violence inside the library.
