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Rotary Club Well Represented at Peace Park Assembly

Author: Patrick Plantenberg, Rotarian Townsend Tree Board Chair, Townsend Rotary Club

Rotary Club Well Represented at Peace Park Assembly

Patrick Plantenberg

Rotarian

The Rotary Club of Townsend was well represented at last weekend’s Waterton Glacier International Peace Park Association (WGIPPA) Annual Assembly held in Kalispell and Glacier National Park at Lake McDonald.

The Rotary Clubs of Alberta and Montana proposed in 1931 uniting Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta and Glacier National Park in Montana as the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, the first such park in the world. It was intended not just to promote peace and goodwill between nations, but also to underscore the international nature of wilderness and the co-operation required in its protection.

Five local Rotarians attended the assembly, including our own Montana District 5390 Governor-Elect Jeff Langlinais, Jen Dalrymple, Jeanine Stone, Patrick Plantenberg, and Mary Mistek. Jen Dalrymple is Vice President of the association and at the assembly Jeanine Stone volunteered to be on the Board of Directors.

There were many excellent presentations at the assembly, and the highlight of the event was the Hands Across the Border ceremony, where Americans on one side of the 49th parallel shake hands with the Canadians on the other side of the 49th Parallel and recite the Pledge of Peace. The WGIPPA Pledge of Peace is a formal commitment by Rotarians and participants in the Waterton Glacier International Peace Park Association to uphold peace, liberty, freedom, and equal opportunity, and to refrain from taking up arms against one another.

The official wording, as used at the WGIPPA assembly, is:

“In the name of all we hold sacred, we will not take up arms against each other. We will work for peace, maintain liberty, strive for freedom, and demand equal opportunities for all. May the long existing peace between our nations stimulate other peoples to follow this example.”

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PhotoCredit: Townsend Rotary Club
Image 1 Caption: From Left: Jeff Langlinais, Jeanine Turner, Jen Dalrymple, Mary Mistek, Pat Plantenberg Townsend Rotary Club Photo