The Peace Pole

Joseph Keehn designed and completed a six-sided peace pole as an Eagle Scout project and donated it to the Bensenville Park District for installation at Breiter-Palm Park. Installed in October 2006 and dedicated April 22, 2007, the seven-foot-tall custom pole is made of western red cedar and bears the inscription "May peace prevail on Earth" in Braille and in six languages reflecting Bensenville's history: English, German, Polish, Potawatomi, Spanish, and Urdu. The Potawatomi inscription is translated as "Let there be peace on Earth." Keehn collected $2,250 in monetary and material donations from local residents, merchants, and community groups to pay for the project. After material donations, the cost of the project was less than $600, and Keehn donated the remaining $1,666 he raised to the Bensenville-Wood Dale Food Pantry. The peace pole was relocated to its current position in summer 2022 with the installation of a new playground, and the original plexiglass inscriptions were replaced with aluminum ones in spring 2023 after the original sustained damage.

Bensenville, Illinois · United States