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A Rotary Peace Pole in Beaumont
One message, several languages, planted in the middle of our town. Beaumont-Cherry Valley Rotary’s first Peace Pole was dedicated on June 26, 2026 at the Albert A. Chatigny, Sr. Community Center — and it is there for anyone to visit, any day.
The Inscription
A Peace Pole is a simple thing: a tall marker carrying one sentence, repeated on each face in a different language. The languages aren’t decoration. They are chosen to reflect the families who actually live in the community where the pole stands.
English
Spanish
Vietnamese
Hmong
Arabic
Morongo Band of Mission Indians
We’re confirming the exact wording of each translation with native speakers before publishing it here. The sixth face carries the message in the language of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, whose ancestral homeland includes this valley.
At the base of the pole, an engraved stone set into the concrete reads “Dedicated by Beaumont-Cherry Valley Rotary Club — June 26, 2026,” beside the Rotary wheel and the City of Beaumont seal.
Why a Peace Pole
Peace Poles stand in more than 180 countries — in schoolyards, on courthouse lawns, outside places of worship, in parks. Rotary clubs have planted thousands of them, because peace is not a side project for Rotary. It is one of Rotary International’s core areas of focus, alongside clean water, disease prevention, literacy, and economic development.
Beaumont-Cherry Valley Rotary has spent seventy years doing the local, practical version of that work: scholarships, a free Thanksgiving dinner for seniors going on 55 years, first responder recognition, park clean-ups. The Peace Pole is the part you can walk up to and touch.
It doesn’t ask anything of you. It just stands there, in six languages, making the same request.
June 26, 2026
On a warm Friday morning, neighbors, club members, and community leaders gathered at the Albert A. Chatigny, Sr. Community Recreation Center to unveil Beaumont’s first Peace Pole.
After a welcome from President Doug Emery, an invocation by Rev. Scott Mason, the Pledge of Allegiance led by Matthew Pistilli, and Rotary’s Four-Way Test recited by Bruce Murrill, Foundation member Robin Knight introduced the morning’s speakers. The Morongo Band of Mission Indians offered a ceremony honoring the land, followed by remarks from state, county, and city officials.
Then the moment everyone came for: Bruce Murrill and Matthew Pistilli — who had set the pole in place the evening before — along with Mayor Jessica Voigt, Geronimo Holmes of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, and Interact student Ammen Newwab, pulled back the cover to a round of applause. Members and Interact students kept the morning running, serving pizza and refreshments to the crowd.
Watch: the Bird Singing Group blessing ceremony
Behind the Build
The pole did not arrive on a truck fully formed. Bruce Murrill and Matthew Pistilli carried the project from an idea in a board meeting to a finished monument — and set it in the ground themselves the evening before the dedication.
From specifying the pole size, ordering, getting the pole powder coated and labelled, determining languages, buying cement and mulch, coordinating the hole being dug by the city, and then installing, framing, mixing cement, pouring the concrete, spreading mulch and so much more. WOW. We couldn’t have done it without their hard work and dedication. Thank you, gentlemen. Doug Emery, Club President
The Peace Pole Project
The Peace Pole Project is an ongoing club initiative. The plan is to place poles where people already gather — and where students will walk past them every day.
Come See It
The pole stands outside the building, in the landscaped bed near the entrance walk. There is no admission, no gate, and no schedule — it is a public monument on public grounds. Bring your kids. Read all six faces.
Get Involved
Every Peace Pole is paid for and installed by club members and community donors. If you would like to sponsor the next pole, help install it, or simply find out what this club is about, we meet Thursdays and visitors are always welcome.
