Organizers seek solace in a field of flags

By James McGinnis, Staff writer
Published August 17, 2011, in the phillyBurbs.com
http://www.phillyburbs.com/my_town/bensalem/organizers-seek-solace-in-a-field-of-flags/article_511b27b9-afad-5f00-904d-e52092ecb837.html

LEVITTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA—Office workers abandoned the independence of each cubicle to stand shoulder to shoulder around small TVs.

The more fortunate mothers and fathers could run home to be with anxious children.

The truly lonely sat in idle cars on busy streets with the windows rolled down and some doors left opened.

It’s said that no man is an island. Very few wanted to be on Sept. 11, 2001.

Ten years later, officials in Bensalem want to ensure that everyone has somewhere to go.

Township workers and volunteers with the Bensalem Kiwanis plan to offer solace in a Field of Flags at the park behind the municipal building at 2400 Byberry Road. The park is to be adorned with 911 American flags.

Kiwanis has plenty of the stars and stripes in stock. In 2008, the group began offering a $25 flag placement service. Volunteers will plant one 3- by 5-feet flag on your property during select national holidays. The money goes to support Kiwanis programs.

In Bensalem, for the Sept. 11 anniversary, attendees are also invited to bring any photos or memorials of loved ones and friends lost during the attacks.

The Love Fellowship Choir based in Bensalem has also offered to perform patriotic hymns from its Grammy Award winning gospel albums.

“We’re inviting the veterans groups to take part,” said Dawn Dawis, community affairs director for the township. “We’re going to provide people with an opportunity to join us in a moment of solitude and commemoration. Basically, we want to provide people with a place to go.”

The Field of Flags event is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m., Davis said. Officials said they aren’t sure how long it will last. Most other events in the region are planned in the early morning hours of Sept. 11 when planes hijacked by radical Islamic terrorists crashed into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and a field outside Shanksville, Pa.

“We wanted to provide a place for people to go during the later part of the day,” Davis said. “We also have a phenomenal video that we put together. We interviewed our employees, asking them how their lives were changed on that day. This video will be playing on the stage.”

Any other groups interested in participating in the township event are asked to call the community affairs department at 215-633-3631. Additional information will also be posted on the township’s website, www.bensalemtwp.org.