Volunteers prepare flags for 9/11 Healing Field
More than 50 people devoted their Saturday morning to assemble flags for a remembrance of Sept.11, 2001.
Several of the volunteers had not been born when planes crashed into the World Trade Centers 15 years ago.
For the anniversary, the Exchange Club of Hanover will host a week-long Healing Field at West Manheim Elementary School starting Sept. 9 to honor the 2,996 victims of the terrorist attack. The field will feature 3,000 flags, enough to represent each of the lives lost, as well as a release of 3,000 red, white and blue biodegradable balloons by the Hanover YMCA childcare program.
"It's going to be a sight to see," said Billy Wineholt, the event's program chair.
The 2016 Healing Field will serve as the fourth time the club is honoring 9/11 and the second large-scale event following the 10-year anniversary. Proceeds from donations and sponsorships will benefit first responders and programs of the Exchange Club.
With a 100-degree heat index Saturday, volunteers were pleased to be indoors with air conditioning at the West Manheim Township Building. In assembly lines, people sat on both sides of seven tables to run a sleek operation of attaching 3-by-5-foot flags to 8-foot PVC poles. The helpers carefully rolled up the flags before handing them off to be transferred to a trailer for storage.
Linda Lohr, of Hanover, sat at a corner table cutting black ribbons that will be attached on top of each flag to signify the deaths.
"It's a sobering effect," she said.
Lohr said she volunteered because she thought it was a valuable project in the community.
"It's hard to believe it's 15 years," she said. "Time marches on."
Many in attendance expressed the importance of not forgetting 9/11 and making sure to pass that onto the next generations. Groups like the Boy Scouts, Young Marines and Key Club International pitched in and provided a majority of the younger volunteers.
"We can never forget 9/11," said West Brininger, of McSherrystown. "It was a shocking day."
Brininger, whose wife is active duty military, remembered being in Germany at the time the towers fell. He came to volunteer with his daughter, Averiel, and son, Adler, a member of Boy Scout Troop 107 in McSherrystown.
Many Boy Scouts volunteered to fulfill service hours, but the flag assembly was the popular choice and recommended by scouts that had helped out in prior years, Dorthey Carpenter, of Union Township, said.
The Exchange Club did not originally plan on hosting the Healing Field again because of the amount of planning and hard work that went into putting together the 10th anniversary. However, two years ago, Wineholt and co-chair Ed Temple recalled the positive impact on the Hanover community and changed course.
"It just pulls the community together so good here," Wineholt said. "It's by far the best project we do for the Exchange Club, and we do a lot of good stuff for the community for the Exchange Club."
Wineholt was impressed with the turnout Saturday and said he expects upward of 500 total volunteers, including those helping with the setup of the Healing Field.
"Our club could not do this without the help of our volunteers," he said.
The project helps build a sense of community by introducing individuals with shared values, Carpenter said. The event was especially poignant for him, as he recently dropped off his son at military college.
"It's about our country," Carpenter said, surrounded by stars and stripes. "Protecting our country."
If you go
What: Healing Field for the 15th Anniversary of 9/11
When: Sept. 9 through 17
Where: West Manheim Elementary School, 2000 Baltimore Pike, West Manheim Township
Cost: Free
For more information: Visit http://www.healingfield.org/hanover16/
