January 11, 2008

Dear Family and Friends,
 
We are off to a great start as we hosted two 9/11 Living Memorial workshops this week - one in Tampa, Florida and the other in Baldwin, Long Island. Collectively over twenty families began the process of creating tribute pages and documenting their firsthand accounts. Those attending included mothers, wives, brothers and sisters as well as fire fighters, policemen and first responders.  
 
My husband, mother and sister joined me at the Tampa workshop and were very moved by the personal stories shared by those attending.  I was surprised to hear my sisters personal attempts to search for Brad long distance, as well as the items she has saved that will be an important part of Brad’s story. Hearing the firsthand accounts of those attending reinforced the importance of our commitment to reach out and support the 9/11 community living outside the tri-state area.  
 
Our staff held our second workshop in Baldwin, New York yesterday hosted by Margie Miller and the staff at 9/11 Forward. The event was well attended and provided another opportunity for families from Long Island to participate in the project. In closing, I want to extend a personal thank you to Mark Kijas for arranging the event in Tampa, Florida and Margie Miller for her warm welcome back to Long Island.
 
I will be in Washington this week and am looking forward to reconnecting with my many colleagues there.
 
Warm regards,

Mary and the VOICES staff
 

VOICES programs and events

VOICES is hosting three more 9/11 Living Memorial Workshops in January 2008. 9/11 family members, rescue workers and survivors are invited to participate. The 9/11 Living Memorial is dedicated to commemorating the lives and stories of September 11, 2001 and the February 26, 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The workshop provides an opportunity to learn more about the 9/11 Living Memorial digital archive and how to create tribute pages in memory of your loved ones or to document your first-hand personal accounts.

Please bring items for our staff to digitize such as photographs, memorial programs, written tributes, and other information. We encourage you to bring quilts, artwork and tangible items that you would like us to photograph for the digital archive. Registration is required. For further information or to register for the workshops below, contact Michelle Doherty at VOICES of September 11th, (203) 966-3911 or toll free (866) 505-3911, or by e-mail to mdoherty@voicesofsept11.org. We will be holding workshops around the country over the coming year. Please contact our office if you would like us to host a workshop in your area.

New Canaan, CT

Date: Thursday, January 17, 2008

Time: 10:00am to 4:00pm (by appointment)

Location: VOICES of September 11th, 161 Cherry Street, New Canaan, CT 06840

New York, NY

Date: Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Time: 10:00am to 4:00pm (by appointment)

Location: 228 E. 45th Street, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10012

New Canaan, CT

Date: Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Time: 10:00am to 4:00pm (by appointment)

Location: VOICES of September 11th, 161 Cherry Street, New Canaan, CT 06840

9/11 living memorial feature

The Pentagon Memorial Park

This week's 9/11 Living Memorial Feature is the Pentagon Memorial park, which will be open to the public in just nine months. The park will consist of 184 memorial units, each of which is dedicated to the 59 passengers on board the aircraft and 125 military and civilian personnel in the Pentagon who were killed that day. Each of the memorial units will have a unique placement within the collective field, organized as a timeline of the victims’ ages, spanning from the youngest, three-year-old Dana Falkenberg, to the oldest, 71-year-old John D. Yamnicky. Each memorial unit will be located on its respective age line—thin metal strips that cross the memorial park. This ordering will develop a powerful understanding of the broad range of the lives lost, from the youngest child to the oldest adult.

According to the Pentagon Memorial Fund's site, "The simple but elegant memorial units will be at once a glowing light pool, a cantilevered bench and a place for permanent inscription of each victim’s name. The interplay between the leaves of surrounding maple trees, light, bark, footpath gravel, grasses, water and the senses will provide an experience in the park that is touching and moving, one that creates a place of peace and remembrance, and allows for individual interpretation by each visitor. The Pentagon Memorial, therefore, serves a much greater purpose than just remembering the 184 people who were killed that day. This memorial will provide a place for future generations to remember and reflect on September 11, and its significance for us and our nation. This memorial will be a place of solace where visitors can renew their faith in, and commitment to the values that we all share."

A statement from the Pentagon Memorial Family Steering Committee says that the memorial "should instill the ideas that patriotism is a moral duty, that freedom comes at a price, and that the victims of this attack have paid the ultimate price." They challenged the designers to create a memorial that translated the tragic events of September 11, 2001 into a place of solace, peace and healing.

The 9/11 Living Memorial digital archive is dedicated to commemorating the lives and stories of September 11, 2001 and the February 26, 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

EVENTS AND INFORMATION FOR THE 9/11 COMMUNITY

Post 9/11 Stress Increases Nation's Heart Disease Risk, Study Shows

People who felt highly stressed following the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001, were at increased risk of being diagnosed with heart problems in the following three years, even if they only saw the attacks on television, according to a new study.

The study, according to its authors, raises concerns about how we communicate risk to people. "We had lots and lots of terror alerts following 9/11...none of which actually panned out," said one of the study's authors, Dr. E. Alison Holman of the University of California, Irvine. "These kinds of terror alerts could potentially be increasing people's stress or encouraging them to worry more."

Read the Reuters news report of the study here.

Is Your Business Prepared?

Is your business prepared for a disaster? The American Red Cross has just issued a brief but highly informative guide called "Preparing Your Business for the Unthinkable". The guide suggests ways to build a business disaster plan, including helpful tips like purchasing a NOAA Weather Radio with a tone alert feature. Download the guide here.