August, 2006


Dear Friends of The Memoria Project,

After a very busy year, we wanted to reconnect with you for an update on our accomplishments and where we’re heading with the Memoria Project, as well as announce a five-year commemoration which will be held at the memorial site in Highlands on September 11, 2006.

In March, 2005, we were fortunate to raise a total of $50,000 through a fundraiser held at the New York Stock Exchange to further assist in the engraving process and to bring the creation phase of the memorial to a close. For the remainder of 2005, our all-volunteer board poured its energies into several meetings in Highlands where we worked out concerns with local veterans and the town council over the placement of the memorial. We are happy to announce, after much hard work and many design revisions, the Council of the Borough of Highlands unanimously approved permanent installation of the Memoria Project in Veterans Memorial Park, on April 5, 2006.

This spring saw a great deal of effort on the part of our volunteers to conduct a final review of the victims’ names as they are designed to appear on five granite stones that will complete the memorial. The final proofs draw authority from the most current data held by the New York Medical Examiner, accounting for many changes and omissions which have occurred during the past five years. Corrections are currently being integrated into the final computer model of the stones, which will be used to produce stencils for the physical engraving, planned for late summer or early autumn.

On September 11, 2006, we will hold a commemorative gathering at the memorial with the theme: A Celebration of Life. In remembering that day, we want to recall our departed friends and family as the vital, integral parts of our lives that they continue to be. We will observe the process of communal and individual healing that has shaped our lives so prominently during the past five years. We invite families and individuals to come picnic with us at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Highlands after 4:00 P.M, followed by a brief service with guest speakers at 6:30 P.M.  The service will include Father Kevin Keelan, who has counseled victims' families over the past five years.

We hope our project continues to inspire feelings of hope and healing at the time of this landmark anniversary.

Sincerely,

Evan Urbania
Executive Director
The Memoria Project, Inc.