Congress allocates $750,000 for Bucks County 9-11 Memorial; committee reaches fund-raising goal
Ellen Saracini couldn't hide her excitement as she took a phone call from Washington, D.C., Friday morning while attending a fund-raising meeting at Shady Brook Farm. On the other end of the line was Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick's office with some good news.
Just moments before, the U.S. Congress had voted to approve a major appropriations bill that included $750,000 for the Bucks County 9-11 Memorial Garden of Reflection in Lower Makefield.
"This is huge," said an exuberant Saracini, after hanging up the phone. "We've all been working really hard to make this happen. Now, what everyone has been working toward, what the community has been behind, is going to come to fruition and all of our loved ones will now be memorialized."
The memorial garden, with its twin fountains and memorial rail etched with the names of the 17 heroes from Bucks County who died in the attacks, is now under development at Memorial Park in Lower Makefield Township. Completion is scheduled for early spring with a dedication planned for June.
"It's important for people to be able to understand the magnitude of what happened on September 11th and this will be a place, not just for today but for generations to come, where people can reflect and remember the people and events of that day," said Saracini, of Lower Makefield.
The memorial will feature a series of concentric circles, representing eternity, all leading visitors on a spiral journey through life and continuing into an inner circle where the twin fountain, symbolizing the towers of the World Trade Center, will represent healing and rebirth.
"We're trying to create not just a historical reminder of what happen, but a place of hope -- one that combines the need to reflect on the loss of life but also on the need to have hope for the future," said Yardley architect Liuba Lashchyk.
The outer most concentric ring will be made up of 17 shade trees, one for each of the souls from Bucks County lost in the attack. "The trees symbolize rebirth and provide hope," said Lashchyk.
"People have been wonderful with their donations, from the very smallest to the largest, but now we will be able to complete what we envisioned," said Grace Godshalk, who also serves on the committee and who lost her beloved son, William, on 9-11.
Godshalk added, "We have been able to accomplish something great that all of New York, with all of their high-powered people and corporations, have not been able to accomplish.
"I am ecstatic that the Congress has given us this appropriation and that they recognized the importance of this memorial, not only to the families who lost loved ones here in Pennsylvania, but to the people who have lived through this for the last four years, to give them the spirit to move forward," said Godshalk.
The two women especially thanked Fitzpatrick for "taking on our crusade and explaining to Congress the importance of this memorial."
Saracini said Fitzpatrick has been an ardent supporter of the garden since his days as a county commissioner.
"He was the first one to say this needs to be a Bucks County memorial," said Saracini. "He understood the importance of loved ones, of family, of community, of being together, of forming a unity and he has not waned at all in any of his thinking. And when he became our congressman, he vowed to be behind the garden.
"This is just a monumental step that he has taken," added Saracini, "but he is now insuring that what our community has, what our community needs and what our community wants is able to happen."
Fitzpatrick secured the funding through the Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act of 2005, which passed the House by a vote of 392-31.
"I am honored to have been able to assist the memorial foundation in securing funds to honor the victims of the September 11th attacks," said Fitzpatrick in a press statement released late Friday. "Seventeen of our friends, neighbors and family were killed that day. A part of Bucks County will forever be tied to September 11th and our heroes deserve a fitting tribute."
Saracini said despite the generous outpouring of donations from the community to the tune of more than $600,000, "we had just enough to do basic construction. This means that we can finish our dream and that our loved ones and the more than 2,700 others who died on 9-11 will now be remembered here in Bucks County."
In addition to paying for security lighting and other amenities that had to be set aside when the initial bid was awarded in September, the new funding will pay for a Remembrance Walk leading into the memorial. The walk will include a continuous stainless steel rail holding glass panels containing the names of the more than 2,700 souls who died on 9-11 in New York, Washington, D.C., and in western Pennsylvania.
"That has been very important to us because it's not only important that we represent who we lost here in Bucks County - our dear loved ones - but that everyone is remembered," said Saracini. "Now we'll be able to walk to the center of the garden and go through a journey that enables us to look at and remember all the ones who were lost. Now we're able to have that visualization there."
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