The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

The International Day of Peace was established by the General Assembly of the United Nations and is celebrated throughout the world on September 21 each year.

This year The Charlotte House has decided to mark the day by joining other communities in an art installation called Pinwheels for Peace. Annika Vik, an employee with St. James Family Center and The Charlotte House, has been tasked with organizing the event.

“Peace Day is a big deal in the rest of the world,” Vik said. “It’s not just about war. It’s about letting go of anger. It’s about reducing violence, including domestic violence and sexual violence.”

The Pinwheels for Peace website takes it farther. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be associated with the conflict of war, it can be related to violence/intolerance in our daily lives, to peace of mind. To each of us, peace can take on a different meaning, but, in the end, it all comes down to a simple definition: a state of calm and serenity, with no anxiety, the absence of violence, freedom from conflict or disagreement among people or groups of people.”

Pinwheels for Peace was masterminded by two art teachers who began it as an art installation in Florida.The event has grown each year and the two teachers hope that four million pinwheels will be planted worldwide this year, according to the website.

The theme for the pinwheels this year is “Who will you make peace with?”

St. James Family Center, the leadership class at Wahkiakum High School as well as a Sunday school class at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church are involved in the project, which involves making and decorating pinwheels. Even one nine year old student has stepped up and requested that he might present the project to his class, according to Vik.

On Friday, the pinwheels will be placed above SR 4 next to the Wahkiakum School District access road.

For more on the project, check out pinwheelsforpeace.com or contact Annika Vik at 795-6401 or 795-8612 if you would like to participate.

“Hopefully,” Vik said, “it won’t rain!”