9-11 Garden of Reflection ceremony and committee changes cause rift – Bucks Round-Up – April 23, 2026
9-11 Garden of Reflection ceremony and committee changes cause rift
Ellen Saracini, the widow of Captain Victor Saracini, the pilot of United 175 that crashed into the South Tower in New York on September 11, 2001, has worked with friends for 25 years to create and maintain a lasting memorial for all the victims of the 9-11 tragedy – the Garden of Reflection in Lower Makefield Township. And now the original committee is in dispute with township supervisors over the type of ceremony that will take place on September 11, 2026 – the 25th anniversary. It began when the township denied the nonprofit Memorial Garden organization that Saracini chairs a permit to hold its usual “Remembrance in Light” ceremony at 7 p.m. until a concluding candlelight vigil after sundown. Cited was Rosh Hashanah, the start of the Jewish High Holy Days which begins at sundown and falls on September 11 this year, and the township’s new 25th anniversary committee focusing on another plan. When their permit was denied, Saracini and two other members of the nonprofit memorial organization, Eric Stark and Beth McNamara, resigned from the new planning committee. Also part of this debate is township Supervisor Judi Reiss, who lost her son, Joshua, on 9-11. Saracini and Reiss remain at odds over the 25th anniversary memorial ceremony and the after-dark candlelight vigil. Reiss and Saracini, once on the same side and sharing heartbreak, remain apart even on a compromise offer. The remaining new committee members met last Monday and voted with one abstention to recommend the supervisors approve a morning ceremony on 9-11 and an evening ceremony to begin at 5:30 and run until 7:30, ending with a candle-lighting ceremony before sundown. The candlelight vigil after dark has special meaning, Saracini argues, and she asked again that the private memorial organization be allowed to have its after-dark commemoration. Township Manager David Kratzer told the group that that would conflict with the township’s planning. The township supervisors are expected to vote on the 25th anniversary memorial plan on May 6 and also invite leaders from the federal, state, and county governments to participate. “It’s not about the victims or the victims loved ones,” Saracini said. “It’s now a political opportunity.”
A second death reported at the Bucks Correctional Center
The Bucks County Coroner’s Office and the Bucks County Correctional Center are investigating a second death at the correctional center in Doylestown Township. It was reported that a 30-year-old man was discovered experiencing a medical emergency in his cell Tuesday morning, but emergency medical treatment was not successful. The name of the inmate was not released pending notice to next of kin. This is the recent second inmate death at the Doylestown facility. On March 21, Ashley Gushue, 37, was pronounced dead at Doylestown Hospital, where she had been taken by ambulance after suffering a “medical event,” county authorities said. Her death remains under investigation.
FDR Middle School sale postponed
The Bristol Township School Board voted 8-1 Monday to postpone the closing of the former Franklin Delano Roosevelt Middle School until March 31, 2027. The extension gives the buyer, Crystal Windows and Door Systems, more time to finalize development plans and fulfill municipal application obligations for the 31.7-acre site on Veterans Highway, the district has said. The FDR Middle School closed its doors in 2023, following the opening of the renovated Benjamin Franklin Middle School on Mill Creek Road. The agreement between the school district and the company to sell the property for $18.3 million was reached in spring 2024. The proposed window fabricating facility is expected to generate about 300 jobs in Bristol Township.
Pat Wandling is a veteran journalist, formerly of The Bucks County Courier, and was a mainstay on WBCB for over 20 years.
