TRURO, N.S.
Thirty-one years after it was first launched, a torch run dedicated to world peace continues.
And on Sunday, Peace Run torch bearers will once again be passing through the Truro area. They will also be stopping at the Salmon River bridge to rededicate the structure with a plaque as an International Peace Blossom Bridge.
“And it’s much more beautiful and simpler, this one,” regional coordinator Sarita Earp said of the new plaque.
The Peace Run has been going since 1987 and the Salmon River bridge was dedicated with the original plaque in 1989. But Earp said it was vandalized and removed about 15 years ago.
She described the event itself as a “… simple, grass roots, volunteer peace run” that touches the hearts of those who participate or who come out to cheer the runners on.
“We carry the torch and we take it into communities and we love to take it to the kids, since they are the future,” she said. “Peace begins within the heart of each person … it all starts with one individual to another. It’s like sowing seeds.”
The run is held bi-annually although it does not follow the same route each time. The last time it passed through the Truro area was in 1994.
The 10-member international team, representing six countries, carry an Olympic-style torch and run a relay sharing the torch with those who wish to offer a thought or prayer for world peace. Since it began, the event has blossomed to include more than 140 countries.
In the words of founder, Sri Chinmoy, a visionary, athlete, philosopher, artist and musician who dedicated his life to advancing the ideals of world peace: “The Peace Run is our way of saying that world peace must begin within the heart of each of us, and that only by transcending the barriers that divide us from our
better selves as well as from others, will our world be a true Oneness-Home.
“How can we have peace?” he asked. “Not by talking about peace, but by walking along the road of peace.”
The team is scheduled to arrive in Bible Hill on Sunday, at 12:15 p.m. They will run from Tatamagouche and come into Main Street, Bible Hill at the Salmon River Bridge. After the rededication, the runners will continue on along Queen Street to Willow Street and toward Hilden. They are scheduled to arrive in Brookfield at 1:36 p.m. and Stewiacke at 3 p.m.
FACTS:
The North American team left the United Nations, New York City, in mid-April, relaying the Peace torch along a route of more than 11,000 miles.
The four-month continuous relay will link Mexico, Canada and the U.S., arriving back in New York mid-August. Since the 1987 inaugural Run, more than six million people have participated.
Many world figures, including Pope Francis, President Nelson Mandela, President Mikhail Gorbachev and Mother Teresa, have commended the Peace Run and held the Peace Torch.
