Think of a wish that is bigger than you, a wish that comes from the deepest part of your heart. That is the wish to hang on a Tree of Peace.
On Saturday, Sept. 15, from 3 to 4:30 p.m., community members of all ages are invited to participate in a beautiful, touching Peace Week event. Participants will begin the activity at the Santa Maria Valley Discovery Museum by writing and decorating their wishes for peace on paper tags. Next a giant Peace Kite will lead them in a parade down McClelland Street to the Natural History Museum, where participants will take part in a ceremony, and attendees will personally hang their wishes on one of the museum’s two Peace Trees.
The idea for this event was modeled after Yoko Ono’s worldwide Wish Tree project. In Japan, children often tied rice paper wishes to trees in hopes that their dreams would come true. This Peace Week event coincides with the kick-off of the Natural History Museum’s Native Garden project in which the Peace Trees and the added wishes will remain as part of the garden for all to enjoy.
Children, please bring your parents.
Georgia Schrager is the chair of the Native Garden Project at the Santa Maria Natural History Museum and a member of the Peace Week Organizing Committee. Discovery Corner is a weekly column in the Sun, highlighting events, science activities, and more for the Santa Maria Valley Discovery Museum at 705 S. McClelland in Santa Maria. Send comments to discoverycorner@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Sep 13-20, 2012.