Lower Makefield officials have responded after a fundraising arm of its Sept. 11 memorial park announced the cancelation of the nonprofit's candlelight vigil Friday on the 25th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks.
On its website,the nonprofit 9-11 Memorial Garden of Reflection, Inc. stated that its evening "Remembrance in Light” candlelight ceremony, which has been held every five years, “will not happen this year.” The memorial park and nonprofit were originally envisioned and created by family members of some of the 18 people killed in the 9/11 terror attacks with ties to Lower Makefield.
But township officials released a statement noting that while there is no night event this year, the township will hold two ceremonies: in the morning
and a second evening ceremony will take place at the Garden of Reflection Memorial Park at 1950 Woodside Road.
The township also confirmed in its statement that candles made to mark the anniversary will be distributed to attendees and candle and fountain lighting will occur shortly after the evening ceremony ends around 7:30 p.m.
The park will remain open Friday night for community use for individual and communal reflection, Township Manager David Kratzer Jr. confirmed.
“We were surprised and saddened to hear that the 9-11 Memorial Garden of Reflection Inc. the nonprofit corporation independent from Lower Makefield Township is claiming that the Township will not hold a remembrance ceremony for Sept. 11,” the township statement said.
The conflict between the township and the nonprofitstarted earlier this year after the Garden of Reflection was denied a permit for its "After Darkness…Light” themed ceremony.
In its denial, the township stated that this year Sept. 11 falls on the first night of Rosh Hashanah, one of the holiest holidays of the Jewish calendar.
The holiday begins at sundown and typically involves families attending evening prayer services and families gathering for a symbolic meal.
The nonprofit members, though, contended that the evening ceremony was created for the families who lost loved ones on Sept. 11, 2001 and who find the morning ceremony, which marks the unfolding events of that day, too painful to attend.
Members maintain that previous supervisor boards agreed to allow the nonprofit to hold a formal nighttime remembrance ceremony every five years, and that Jewish families that celebrate the Rosh Hashanah can opt to attend the morning ceremony.
The group threatened to withhold its $50,000 annual contribution to the township, which helps defray park maintenance costs, if its permit for the nighttime event wasn’t approved.
Supervisors ultimately approved a compromise plan to hold the usual morning event and a late afternoon event that will end before sunset, but allow individuals to remain in the park afterward for an informal candlelighting..
The Garden of Reflection nonprofit contacted the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania which sent a letter to the township’s solicitor in July arguing that denying the group access to the park amounted to a violation of the free speech right under the First Amendment.
ACLU representatives met with the township in August in what Kratzer called a productive discussion and he believed an “amicable resolution” was reached.
In its statement, though, the nonprofit said it abandoned plans for its ceremony citing not enough time to pursue legal action and plan an event “worthy of what this milestone anniversary deserves.”
“We made the harder choice. We gave up this ceremony this year, not because it was right, but because it was the only choice left to us that protected both this community and the dignity of the families we serve,” according to the announcement.
Crime and Courts Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at jciavaglia@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Garden of Reflection nonprofit, Lower Makefield at odds over 9/11 ceremony
