Vol. XI, No. 12 December 2002
NOAA REPORT

Stitches Help Heal Hearts, Preserve

Memories, Honor September 11 Heroes

—By Marilu Trainor

A beautiful, hand-crafted quilt sewn by two NOAA employees and other volunteers from around the nation to honor victims of the World Trade Center disaster was presented to victims’ families and officials of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department Nov. 15. The quilt pays tribute to 38 officers who were killed in the line of duty on Sept. 11, 2001, during the attack on the center. The two NOAA employees, based at the National Weather Service’s western region headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah, were among a group of 400 volunteer quilters who sewed seven quilts to honor the victims of the disaster. Under the auspices of a group known as “America’s 9-11 Memorial Quilts,” the volunteers began work more than a year ago to preserve the memories of the more than 3,000 victims and bring healing to the hearts of the victims’ families. Andrea Bair, the Weather Service’s western region climate program manager, was the team

leader for the port authority quilt. She traveled to New York to present the quilt to the families and the port authority police department at the former World Trade Center site. The quilt includes fabric patches Bair made with photographs of all 38 fallen officers and the port authority’s K-9 dog. Bair said, “Working on the quilt has been such a personal privilege. We began work by designing our layout within one month of the tragedy. Sewing began in February 2002 and involved hundreds of

hours of work by quilters from five states. More than 150 different fabrics were used to create the patchwork, [which] was designed in the traditional style known as the ‘courthouse log cabin’ style.” The quilt is adorned with mementos of the port authority police department, including badges, buttons from police uniforms and the department slogan, “Pride, Service, Distinction.” The quilt also includes an appliquéd rendering of the New York skyline, in which each building is made from a separate piece of fabric, plus two hand-sticthed poems. Photos of the fallen officers are mounted on a red field and are surrounded by contrasting blue and red fabric strips with hand embroidered names and ranks of all the officers. The centerpiece of the quilt, a port authority police shield, was cross-stitched by Karen St. Clair, the Weather Service’s western region budget officer. It took her three months to create the large shield and another two months to make a similar depiction of the

Statue of Liberty. St. Clair recruited her mother, Joan Foltz, also of Salt Lake City, to create an embroidered American flag. “Working on the symbol gave me a special connection to the families and their sacrifices,” St. Clair said. “I hope that the love and affection that is displayed in the quilt gives the families a sense of the appreciation that is felt by all of us.” On accepting the quilt, port authority police superintendent Charles D. DeRienzoin said, “This is an extraordinary gift that comes from the heart and soul of America. On behalf of our police force and the families of our heroic brothers and sisters who made the ultimate sacrifice to save lives on Sept. 11, I would like to express our profound gratitude.” Bair said the port authority plans to display the quilt publicly at its headquarters in Jersey City. She said another gigantic quilt, known as the “Victims’ Quilt,” will feature photos of every known victim of the terror attacks. That quilt will measure 10 feet by 60 feet and will contain all 3,000+ faces and names. The quilters hope it will be preserved and displayed for the families at the proposed World Trade Center memorial park in New York City or an appropriate museum to permanently safeguard the memory of all who perished in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. Weather Service western region

director Vickie Nadolski added, “Andrea and Karen have dedicated their hearts to this project. They created a fabric of love that will become part of American history. They chose to memorialize those workers who perished for knowing what they had to do to protect others.” Following the dedication Bair said, “After visiting Ground Zero and meeting several of the families, I knew every hour I spent working on the quilt was more than worth it. I was truly overwhelmed and touched by their reaction to seeing the quilt for the first time. I was speechless when three of the families gave me special pins that they had made in honor of their loved one. To say the least, the event was very emotional for me, and for the families who were present at the dedication.”