Wagga push for peace has spread around the globe

Like most people, he wanted a world where humans across the planet lived in harmony.

But as one man in one Rotary club in one city in one country, Mr Quinlivan believed in a different approach to global harmony.

Mr Quinlivan’s belief was that peace needed to start in a small way: Peace in the home, peace in communities.

“World peace is not a dream,” he once said.

“Peace begins with us reaching out to our neighbours, by opening our hearts and bridging the differences between people and communities.”

In the early 1990s, the Kooringal Rotary Club member was the driving force behind the establish of Rotary’s Peace City project.

On February 23, 1993, Wagga was declared a Rotary Peace City, the first in the world.

Mr Quinlivan’s dream, supported by all Wagga Rotary clubs and Wagga City Council, was to see this public declaration replicated around the world.

As that first Wagga action approaches its 25th anniversary, the Peace Cities movement has indeed made its way around the globe.

Mr Quinlivan’s story in many ways mirrors the formation of the Rotary organisation itself.

The first Rotary Club was formed when a lawyer named Paul Harris called the inaugural event in what became regular meetings of three business acquaintances in downtown Chicago in the United States in 1905.

It’s said the members chose the name Rotary because initially they rotated subsequent weekly meetings to each other's offices, although within a year, the Chicago club became so large it became necessary to adopt the now-common practice of a regular meeting place.

In April 1912, Winnipeg, Canada, became the first city outside the US to have a Rotary club established, with London following in August of the same year.

The establishment of a presence in Canada and England saw the service club’s name amended to include “international” in the title.

There are now more than 34,000 Rotary clubs around the world, but the organisation has retained its goal of bringing together business and professional leaders in order to provide humanitarian services, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and to advance goodwill and peace around the world.

Tony Quinlivan, who died in 2015, wanted to see peace begin from a grassroots level.

At the time of his death, fellow Rotarian Ray King told The Daily Advertiser that Mr Quinlivan, a man of “very high principles”, had an unwavering devotion to the concept of peace.

“Most of his volunteering carried with it that devotion to a to a cause and this deeply religious person, who had a sense of rightness of the world, I think the idea of peace is something that really grabbed him,” Mr King said.

“Once he had that vision, he stuck with it and believed it was right. There’s no stopping a man like him when he gets a vision like that.”

Mr Quinlivan’s vision not only still exists, but it is growing. There are now 62 peace communities in 20 countries, many of which have dedicated peace symbols.

Wagga is still home to the very first Rotary Peace City symbol.

The Kooringal Rotary Club organised to have the black marble monument made and installed, and it still stands on the banks of the Wollundry Lagoon on The Esplanade.

Wagga’s Fred Loneragan, a former Rotary district governor, describes the Peace City project as a “success story around the world”.

“If every community around the world was a peaceful community, there wouldn’t be war,” Mr Loneragan said.

Other communities in the region – Coolamon, Lockhart, Leeton and Cootamundra – have since become Peace Cities and unveiled their own peace monuments.

Deidre Tome, one of the organisers of 25th anniversary celebrations being held in February 2018, said Rotary peace communities around the world had chosen to recognise their status by erecting a symbol of peace, which had included everything from a plaque on a rock to a whole park.

But the Peace City movement involves more than just a declaration and a public memorial.

Each year these communities also hold annual events – peace awards – to recognise others who are working within their communities.

The actual date of these events varies from country to country, but are all held on days of significance to Rotarians.

Wagga’s is held on February 23, in the Victory Memorial Gardens and overlooking the peace symbol.

Mrs Tome said the ceremony acknowledges the “ongoing efforts of those who enhance the lives of others within our community through their volunteer work,” she said.

“The peace projects carried out by secondary school students and local citizens nominated for a Rotary Club awards for community service are recognised.”

Wagga will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Peace City declaration on February 23 and 24, with two days of activities being held.

Events planned for the celebration include a procession of flags from the Wagga Civic Centre to the peace symbol, where a ceremony for the reaffirmation of peace.

There will be a mayoral reception, a multicultural interfaith service and a gala dinner.

The Royce Abbey Peace Oration and another event - Towards Peace, A Discussion - will also be held.

Towards Peace, A Discussion is one of the pivotal events of the celebration.

The goal is to draw members of the wider community into a discussion on what Wagga residents can do to bring peace to the city, and beyond.

Anyone from the community who would like to be involved in this discussion is asked to contact the organisers by emailing rotarypeacewagga@gmail.com

The hope is that this discussion forum will reinforce the philosophy shared by Mr Quinlivan that peace begins in communities.