Celebrating 85 years of peace: International Peace Gardens

"Living a peaceful legacy. We're celebrating 85 years of peace on July 14 and 15." These words welcome visitors to both the International Peace Garden website and to the 85th anniversary celebration.

This weekend would be a great time to visit the Peace Garden, especially if you haven't been there for a while. The International Peace Garden's 2,400 acres straddle the border between the United States and Canada, about 110 miles northeast of Minot. The Peace Garden was opened to visitors in 1932 and welcomes an average of 150,000 people a year. It is a place to gather and experience the promise of peace that was created 85 years ago. The International Peace Garden is the result of ideas originally born at international botanical and horticultural conferences shortly after the end of World War I, which was termed as the war to end all wars.

The Manitoba Post tells a wonderful story about opening day. "July 14, 1932, 85 years ago, 50,000 (some say as many as 75,000) people travelled over gravel roads in Model T Fords, by horse and buggy and on foot to take part in the opening of the International Peace Garden. Considering that the population of North Dakota at the time was only about 676,000 and the population of Manitoba was probably just around 300,000, this was a mind-boggling attendance. Their parked vehicles reached to the horizon. The memory of the Great War was still fresh in the minds of many and this Garden was seen as a beacon of hope that such an event would never occur again."

To commemorate that symbol of peace and the everlasting friendship between the United States and Canada, the Peace Garden has planned a day of celebration that is promised to be fun for the whole family, in a place with no boundaries. You see, once you're inside the Peace Garden, you are able to move across the border from Canada to the United States as if the border doesn't exist. As a matter of fact, it doesn't exist in the International Peace Garden.

Peace Garden staff have activities planned for everyone, including buggy ride tours, guided tours of the succulents and cactus collection in the greenhouses and garden workshops. Vendors of all kinds will be available to set up their booths of arts, crafts, antiques and flea market items and artists will also be demonstrating their art processes.

Kids activities include face painting, watermelon eating contests, bounce houses and lots of outdoor games. There will be food trucks and vendors on the premises to relieve pressure on the restaurant run by the Peace Garden.

What can you expect when you arrive at the Peace Garden, on any given day?

Typically, the first week in June, 150,000 flowers are planted at the Peace Garden, and they are best viewed in full bloom from mid-July through August. At the entrance, visitors are greeted by one of the very first additions to the park, a stone cairn that serves as a tribute to the friendship between the Canada and the United States and an unique 18-foot clock, decorated with flowers. This large clock is composed of between 2,500 and 5,000 flowers and was donated to the garden by the Bulova watch company in 1966. It was a duplicate of the famous Bulova Floral Clock at Berne, Switzerland. It was replaced the summer of 2005 with a new clock from St. Louis, Mo.

On the more developed American side of the garden is the Interpretive Center. Housed in a glass structure, the Interpretive Center is an open and airy 2009 addition to the grounds and is home to a conference center, gift shop, an up-and-coming library, the Border Walk Cafe and a conservatory that houses around 6,000 cactuses and succulents.

Outside the conservatory is the formal gardens with a fountain where more than 100,000 annual flowers are planted. Visitors within the park can hear the chimes of the Carillon Bell Tower every 15 minutes during the summer months as a tribute to war veterans. The 9/11 memorial is directly across from the formal gardens with beams from the fallen World Trade Center towers.

The Canadian side of the park is offers a more natural setting. People enjoy exploring the park on foot and canoeing and kayaking in the lake. Although many people come to the Peace Garden to spend the day, camping facilities are available so that you can spend a few days enjoying the peace.