An article by Rosemary Phillips, August 2003
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| Pole of Hope in Grand Forks, BC |
J.J. Verigin, executive director of the USCC (Doukhobor -
Union of Spiritual Communities of Christ) in Grand Forks BC, asked
for help in pulling together an opening ceremony for the Festival
of Freedom at the Forks being held on July 25-27, 2003.
While we sat discussing his vision of a ceremony with a multi-cultural theme, J.J. handed me a file of information on Peace Poles. He had been to a Peace Pole
ceremony in the South Slocan. He had found it very moving and he hoped the Festival of Freedom would also include such a pole and ceremony. We went through the file and looked at examples and noticed that over 200,000 Peace Poles had been erected in 180 countries around the world. The designs varied, but the majority of the poles were a standard eight feet tall, obelisk and had painted or engraved on their sides, in many languages, the words “May Peace Prevail on Earth”.
But the Festival of Freedom at the Forks had more than world peace
as its focus. The theme “Building Cultures of Peace and Respect
for Human Dignity and Ecological Integrity” called for much more
than a Peace Pole.
It was agreed that a Pole of Hope would suit perfectly. But what would it look like, and who would make it? Bill Dergousoff, who had pulled together all the talent for the festival, made mention that Doug Sagal wanted to volunteer in some capacity. This was perfect. Doug builds log structures. What better way to represent Grand Forks and the Boundary than with a log from the land, carefully selected and prepared.
Within hours of the initial phone call Doug had found a special
cedar that he debarked ready. How tall will it be? No idea. It was
all to evolve, organically.
Over the next few weeks Doug appeared at my front door to chat,
discuss the idea, and brought little models of what he thought a
Pole of Hope could be. We talked about the idea of a temporary,
changeable, evolving structure that could be added to, taken away
from, and remain a focal point to be used for any Festival of Freedom
in the future. It was agreed there would be a spiralling of holes
around the pole to insert arms to hold ribbons of the colours of
the rainbow to blow freely in the breeze.
As the pole evolved, so did the opening ceremony. Both were organic,
fluid. Both were designed to bring in the energy of hope, to spiral
love, peace, harmony, respect, dignity and integrity into the festival.
The night before the opening of the festival Doug dug a deep hole
and lay the pole beside it. I was given the privilege of being
the opening act for the whole weekend on the Friday afternoon and
chose to sing the song “Asha”. It is based on four very powerful words taken from different spiritual understandings around
the world: “Om”, Buddhist meaning creation; “Shalom”,
Hebrew for peace; “Asha”, Zoroastrian for following
the path of righteousness or purity in thought, and in Hindi and
Parsee meaning hope; “Inshallah”, Islam for God willing.
While I sang “Asha,” Doug, along with six volunteers
from the audience raised the pole. The Festival was truly underway!
Later that evening Delia Metcalf led 20 drummers with the heartbeat
inviting the life force and the heart into the festival. Marilyn
James, spokesperson for the Sinixt Nation (the Lakes People), welcomed
everyone to the territory; Terry Jacks, known for his multi-million-seller
record “Seasons in the Sun” and also known for his environmental
work, introduced Sophie Thomas, traditional healer from the Carrier
Nation who gave the blessing; Chief White Buffalo Man With Many
Feathers brought greetings from the Okanagan Nation; Patrick O’Doherty
brought greetings from the City of Grand Forks, and so too Tony
Lodder on behalf of the Regional District of the Kootenay/Boundary;
Allie Relkoff and Brydie Todd, accompanied by Tracey Garnett, sang
“Just One Voice” written by Ann Mortifee; John J. Verigin,
CM, OBC, honourary chair of the USCC, brought greetings for world
peace; Friends in Harmony, the Doukhobor Choir from Castlegar, sang
“Arise New Force” and “Shine On”; Lydia
Sawicki of the Boundary Multicultural Society brought greetings
for multiculturalism; six young Japanese dancers, under the direction
of Taki Yamamura from Greenwood, performed traditional dances; Ira
Rilkoff performed two beautiful songs; Nadine Deschiron brought
greetings for the environment; and finally the clear young voices
of Clare and Darbye Turner, Io Hanson, Selena Demenoff, Emily
Garrison and Catherine Chernoff sang “What a Wonderful World.”
As Clare Turner called out, “Everybody join in,” the
audience was invited to sing along with:
The colours of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky,
Are also on the faces of people going by.
I see friends shaking hands, saying, “How do you do.”
They’re really saying, “I love you.”
I hear babies cry. I watch them grow.
They’ll learn much more than I’ll ever know.
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.
(Words and music by Weiss & Thiele.)
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| Pole of Hope - another view |
While everyone sang, Doug climbed the Pole of Hope and was handed
the arms and their coloured ribbons one at a time by volunteers
positioned around the pole. Each arm was placed in its appropriate
hole, spiralling in the energy of peace and hope. Throughout the
weekend the coloured ribbons fluttered away in the breeze.
The pole’s free-form structure leant to imagination and creativity.
People commented, “Well, you get to interpret it whatever
way you want.”
Later, on Sunday evening, as Terry Jacks sang his moving song, “Seasons
in the Sun”, we prepared for the closing ceremony. Doug stood
ready by the pole and drummers waited in the wings to bring completion
to the festivities. As I stood to one side of the stage and sang two John Denver songs, as requested by Doug, he climbed the pole and one by one handed down the arms
and their colours. Each was handed over to a member of the Ladies
Committee from the USCC, to honour their hard work over the weekend
with their great cooking and service, and their faith in providing the seed money for the festival.
To close the festival the drummers once again brought the heart
beat and Chief White Buffalo Man Many Feathers gave an honouring
song and left us with words of love.
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