Garden of Reflection 9/11 Ceremony Has Holiday Conflict

Lower Makefield officials will decide soon on how the annual 9/11 ceremony will be held on the 25th anniversary of the attacks this year.

By Dino Ciliberti, Patch Staff

Apr 29, 2026 9:34 am EDT

The 9/11 Garden of Reflection ceremony in Lower Makefield Township will be moving to another date this year due to a conflict with a Jewish holiday. (Lower Makefield Township)

LOWER MAKEFIELD TOWNSHIP, PA — This year will mark the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on America.

For many of those years, the Garden of Reflection has held a solemn ceremony on Sept. 11 at Memorial Park on Woodside Road to pay tribute to the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C., and in a field in Shanksville.

But this year, that could change.

The 9/11 ceremony — in which The Garden of Reflection is the official memorial to the Pennsylvania victims — falls this year on the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah.

Township Manager David Kratzer said that the Lower Makefield Township Board of Supervisors will make a final decision on the dates and times of township events for the 9/11 memorial service at its meeting on May 6.

Kratzer said the township-appointed 9-11 25th Year Remembrance Committee has made the following recommendation:

"The Township should host two events on 9/11/26. One being the traditional morning ceremony and the other being an after-work ceremony with the program concluding by sundown followed by the potential of a candlelight vigil and the ability for the general public to engage in private reflection at the memorial."

That committee recommendation was made at their last public committee meeting on April 20, Kratzer said.

In Bucks County, the Garden of Reflection is a physical reminder of the more than 2,900 lives lost, including 18 victims from Bucks County, including nine from the township.

That represents the highest number of casualties of any municipality in Pennsylvania.

The 9/11 Memorial Garden of Reflection was created and funded by families of the 9/11 heroes and built to honor their memory with twin fountains cascading toward the sky and glass panels etched with the names of the close to 3,000 who lost their lives that day.

Those include Victor Saracini, who was killed when United Airlines flight 175 he piloted was highjacked and flown into the World Trade Center. His wife Ellen works tirelessly year-round on an annual 5K and other events to raise money to support the memorial.