Natives
for Flight 93 Permanent National Memorial Park
“Going Native One Dollar at a time!!”
In a meeting on January 22,
2008, Joanne Hanley, Executive Director – National Parks of Western PA and
Superintendent of Flight 93 National Memorial, and King Laughlin, Flight 93
National Memorial Campaign Manager from Washington, DC,, we were asked to set
up local and national programs with our organization to help for funding the
stages of the construction of the Flight 93 permanent National Memorial
Park. For those not familiar with the
crash site or plan, the actual impact site will be left unmowed/untouched except
for a native planting of wildflowers and native grasses. After planting, the field will be left to go
natural.
Our “Let’s Go Native”
campaign runs through April of 2009 and this is such a wonderful
opportunity!! I would like to see all of
our Garden Clubs Statewide and Nationwide challenged to donate $1.00 for each
member in their club. According to the
national listing that could possibly give $198,595.00 to the Capital Campaign
for native wild flowers and other native plantings. Please visit the Web site of the Flight 93
National Memorial Campaign (http://www.honorflight93.org) to see the
full design plans and the “Bowl” to lead you to the Sacred Ground, which will
be planted with native wildflowers. I can forward more information if needed.
The Bowl
The central feature of the
Memorial will be contained within a naturally occurring Bowl surrounding the
crash site, “The Field of Honor”. The
interior of the Bowl will be planted with a mix of wildflowers and grasses and
maintained as a meadow.
The Sacred Ground
The Sacred Ground will be
the focus of the Memorial as this area is the final resting place of the
passengers and crewmembers of Flight 93 and holds the memory of their
courage. The public will be able to view
the area from a plaza, framed by a sloped wall. The field at the crash site will be planted
with low-maintenance grasses and seasonable blooming bulbs and wildflowers. The desired visitor conditions for this zone
are contemplation, reverence and accommodation of remembrances.
All visitors to the
Memorial will come to see the Sacred Ground, where the collective acts of
courage and heroism culminated for the passengers and crewmembers of Flight
93. By contributing to the wildflower
field in the Sacred Ground, you will be preserving a living piece of history of
Flight 93 and the primary feature of the Flight 93 National Memorial: the crash
site.
In recognition of the
support given to the Capital Campaign, the Flight 93 National Memorial Visitor
Center will showcase the contribution of the National Garden Clubs among other
notable donors. In addition to this
lasting recognition, the Campaign can also offer other recognition methods to
the Garden Club, including a logo or write-up on the website, a feature in an
addition of eGoParks!, the online
newsletter of the National Park Foundation, a feature in the Campaign
newsletter and a press release.
I would love to see us step up to this wonderful challenge
and “Go Native” one dollar at a time…..
Thank you for your interest in Flight 93 National Memorial
Park,
Sheila Croushore, President - Somerset
Garden Club, District VI, Garden
Club Federation of Pennsylvania
Contact information:
Sheila Croushore, 814-444-0967, sheshore@verizon.net
Questions for King Laughlin or Victoria Tagliabue,
202-354-6488, vtagliabue@nationalparks.org