February 8, 2008
Dear Family and Friends,
On Wednesday evening I had the pleasure of attending the British Memorial Garden Trust's fifth annual Gala. As many of you know, the Trust, led by visionary Camilla Hellman, is creating a lovely garden in New York City’s Hanover Square Park to commemorate the 67 British lives lost on September 11, 2001. Charlie Wolf, who lost his Welsh-born wife, Katherine, spoke very eloquently at the event about the important contribution that Camilla Hellman and her committee have made in honoring their loved ones.
I had the opportunity to visit the garden Wednesday afternoon and was inspired by the progress that has been made since the dedication of the garden’s Center Stone on November 1, 2005 by Charles, the Prince of Wales. Hanover Square has been transformed into a garden lined with curved benches and shrubs. This spring daffodils will fill the garden.
As the National September 11 Memorial & Museum continues to plan the visual and auditory displays for the museum, I am equally impressed by their commitment to convey the story of 9/11 for future generations, while taking into careful consideration the emotional needs of the 9/11 families and age appropriate materials for children.
In closing, this week's Feature highlights the British Memorial Garden. If you haven't had the opportunity to visit the garden at Hanover Square, I encourage you to do so. I'm sure you’ll find it a very peaceful place of reflection that thoughtfully pays tribute to the 67 British victims who perished on 9/11.
Warm regards,
Mary and the VOICES staff
VOICES programs and events
VOICES is hosting five more 9/11 Living Memorial Workshops in February and March, including one for families of victims of the 1993 WTC bombing.
This Thursday, we will have a workshop in Durham, NC. 9/11 family members, rescue workers and survivors are invited to participate. The workshops provide 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. For a list of items we're collecting for the archive, visit VOICES' website.
Registration in advance is required. For more information or to register for one of 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 are organizing workshops around the country over the coming year. Please contact us if you would like us to host a workshop in your area.
Durham, NC
Date: Thursday, February 14, 2008
Please contact VOICES for the workshop's location and time.
New Canaan, CT
Date: Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Time: 10:00am to 4:00pm (by appointment)
Location: VOICES of September 11th, 161 Cherry Street, New Canaan, CT 06840
New York, NY (private, for families of victims of 1993 World Trade Center bombing)
Date: Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Basking Ridge, NJ
Date: Thursday, March 6, 2008
Time: 5:00pm to 8:00pm
Location: Saint Mark's Episcopal Church, 140 South Finley Avenue, Basking Ridge, NJ 07920
Pomona, NY
Date: Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Time: 12:00pm to 3:00pm and 5:00pm to 8:00pm
Location: Rockland County Fire Training Center, 35 Firemen's Memorial Drive, Pomona, NY 10970
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.
9/11 Living memorial: The British Memorial Garden
A Peaceful Oasis in Manhattan
 This week's Living Memorial Feature focuses on the British Memorial Garden in New York, which honors the 67 British victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The idea for the garden at Hanover Square Park in the heart of Lower Manhattan was conceived by Camilla G. Hellman, president of the British Memorial Garden Trust, Inc.
Camilla was in New York on 9/11 and experienced the loss of a personal friend. She felt it was important for families visiting Ground Zero to also have a chance to visit a peaceful place in Lower Manhattan that evokes a sense of enclosure. Camilla immediately thought of a British garden. "I wanted something that had a permanent legacy," she said. "I wanted to do something that would mean something to everybody." The garden is also dedicated to celebrating the strong historic ties of friendship and unity between the United States and the United Kingdom, Hellman said.
A gift to the people and city of New York from the Anglo-American community and friends, the garden was funded by donations from individuals, corporations and foundations. Ground was broken on the $6.75 million project in 2005 and the garden opened to the public in the summer of 2007. The British Memorial Garden was designed by Isabel and Julian Bannerman, leading British landscape architects who are best known for their work for Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales. All of the garden's elements come from the United Kingdom, including stone from Scotland and Wales and benches of English stone manufactured in Northern Ireland. The British Memorial Garden Trust presents free concerts and other events in the garden to promote British heritage, including an Annual 9/11 Memorial Concert. Read the Living Memorial Feature here.
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EVENTS AND INFORMATION FOR THE 9/11 COMMUNITY
Bereavement Group Sessions at A Caring Hand
A Caring Hand, The Billy Esposito Foundation Bereavement Center will hold two bereavement support groups for caregivers and children at its new Manhattan location. The eight weekly sessions will begin Tuesday, February 12. For more information, call Robin Goodman at (212) 561-0622.
February 19 Workshop Openings at VOICES
VOICES has several appointments open for the Living Memorial Workshop scheduled for Tuesday, February 19 at our office in New Canaan, CT. For more information, please contact Michelle Doherty at VOICES of September 11th, (203) 966-3911 or toll free (866) 505-3911.
Funds to Protect New York Subways Increased
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has announced a fifty-six percent increase in anti-terrorism money for New York State, which will finance subway patrols by police with submachine guns and bomb-detecting dogs.
Chertoff, speaking at Grand Central Terminal on February 1, said New York would get $153.3 million -- nearly half of all Homeland Security funding nationwide -- to protect mass transit against terrorism. Read the news coverage:
The New York Times
Times Ledger
Associated Press
9/11 Attacks Changed Way Americans Dream
The terrorist attacks of 9/11 not only caused huge political and social changes, they also altered the dreams of Americans. That's the suggestion from a small study published in the February issue of "Sleep," the Washington Post reported.
Dr. Ernest Hartmann of Tufts University and Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Boston looked at eleven men and thirty-three women, ages twenty two to seventy, who'd been recording their dreams for at least two years. The study found that dreams after 9/11 showed more intense images, but weren't longer, more dreamlike or more bizarre than those before 9/11. Read the complete story in the Washington Post.
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