Rotary Club of Lake Forest Park announces contest winners in "What Peace Means to Me" competition

K-2 Winner Dahlia Mitchell

ROTARY CLUB OF LAKE FOREST PARK

“WHAT PEACE MEANS TO ME” CONTEST WINNERS

The Rotary Club of Lake Forest Park is proud to announce the winners of the 2021 “What Peace Means To Me” Contest. 

A panel of four Rotarians judged all of the entries in each of five categories (Kindergarten to 2nd Grade, 3rd to 4th Grade, 5th to 8th Grade, 9th to 12th Grade, and Adult) and were very pleased with the thoughtfulness and the wide range of genres that were represented: haiku, digital illustration, essay, poetry, and artwork.

We hope to make this an annual event and look forward to seeing next year’s entries.

We invite and encourage everyone interested in Rotary to investigate how we support the Rotary motto of “Service Above Self” and our Peacebuilder Mission by attending one of our meetings. The Rotary Club of Lake Forest Park meets every Wednesday via Zoom. Our virtual Coffee Klatch begins at 7:45am and the Meeting begins at 8am, ending promptly at 9am. 

To join the Zoom, please use this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2257977384

We sincerely thank everyone who entered the Contest!

The winners are as follows:

Kindergarten to Second Grade Category: Dahlia Mitchell - see drawing at top of article

Third to Fifth Grade Category: Eve Goldman

Peace

A cool breeze blowing in my face, the shade of a towering oak tree, and
the soft grass surrounding me.

The swing of a hammock and the slight thip, thip, thip, thip of pages
turning in a book.

The laughter of my friends and the smiles on each of their faces.

Hands of all colors and shades joining together making an unbreakable
chain and no fighting between countries.

Looking out the window to snow flakes falling from the sky.

Art.

Music.

That’s what peace means to me.

Sixth to Eighth Grade Category: Angelina Vaughn

Peace

Peace is the blue sky and the birds whistling a jovial song.

Peace is the laughter and smiles of the cheery people.

Peace is calm and blissful. Like the glistening blue lake.

Peace is the feeling that you’re not alone, even when daunting
challenges and trials come your way.

Peace is like the wind blowing through your hair, wild and free.

Peace is like a song, being carried in the wind, filling up the trees with
glee, and making their branches sway about.

Peace is the sun and green grass, glowing with tranquility.

Peace is where there is equity for everyone, and everyone is
supported.

Peace is for everyone, and everyone deserves peace.

Ninth to Twelfth Grade Category: Flora Cummings

Beneath the Surface

A thousand paths of
quiet infinities
threaded through the cobalt depths,
Weave between pillars of
haloed light
illuminating the unbroken
seamless blue of
darkening water,
This imperfect mirror of
a fading sky
the world above,
As gathering night bleeds shadows
into to sea

A thousand words of
introspective silence
merged with a calm, intangible
state of existing,
The weight of the world
no longer matters,
floating in the water,
Suspended in place
in time, in thought,
Simply another drop
lost in a vast ocean,
without purpose
or destination

A thousand moments of
untethered turmoil
claims the fierceness of
a seething tempest,
Waves shatter
and clouds are torn
to the beat of thunder and rain,
But,
the storm on the surface
calamitous, unyielding
means nothing
to the eternal infinities
within

Adult Category: Alison Leigh Lilly

The Myth of the Neutral Tool

It has happened again — a man or a boy, and a gun. It's still happening, even now. If not here, then somewhere, in this country, in this world. There is almost no end to it. There is almost no space between one moment and the next, between the pain and the noise it makes.

What do we do now?

There are times when I am so deep in anger, anxiety or sorrow that there is nothing else I can do but turn back towards the animal I am, turn back to the earth and my own earthy body that is a part of it.

Outside, the rain is falling as fog rolls in from the ocean. Waves push and pull at the shore. There is almost no space between one wave and the next. I try to still my body, and listen. Back and forth. Rise and fall. My lungs fill with air and then empty again. My body pushes hard against its edges as if it might break open — then pulls back into itself, flinching, recoiling from the raw sensations of sound and sight and skin. The world pushes in on me, heavy and noisy at first — then pulls away again into the quiet, incomprehensible confusion of everything that is beyond me.

. . . 

To read the rest of this essay winner in the Adult category, all of the winning entries can also be found HERE