The Stars and Stripes will wave from more than 3,000 flagpoles for the fifth consecutive year at the Prescott Valley Civic Center grounds during the week of Sept. 10 -16.
Known as the Healing Fields and Honor Flag display, the array commemorates the terrorist attacks on American soil on Sept 11, 2001.
“We must never forget the horrific events of 15 years ago,” said Darlene Packard, a Prescott Valley resident now in her second year as event chair and organizer. “What we do during our Healing Fields of Northern Arizona is more than just memorializing the victims of 9/11. It stresses that we all are soldiers in the war on terrorism, and that our flag is not free.”
Packard says community volunteers will place more than 3,000 individual flagpoles on the grassy area east of the Civic Center at 7501 E. Civic Center Circle. Each pole will have information about individual victims of the terrorist attacks. In addition, flags will honor the Prescott Hotshot firefighting team that died three years ago during the Yarnell wildfire.
“I think what is happening is reflective of the patriotism and national loyalty that we have in our area,” said Prescott Valley Mayor Harvey Skoog. “To have hundreds of people from throughout the area involved speaks volumes about the community and its values.”
“It’s especially appropriate on Sept. 11 that we recognize it was 15 years to the day that the terrorists attacked in three separate incidents,” Packard said.
Special Events Sunday begins at 1 p.m., when officials and community leaders conduct a ceremony at the Theater on the Green at the southeast corner of the Civic Center.
Following the special ceremony, the renowned Prescott POPS Symphony Orchestra will perform a patriotic concert. Directed by Joe Place, the orchestra will perform more than a dozen patriotic and other selections that likely will be familiar to most of the audience. Among them are the Star-Spangled Banner, Stars and Stripes Forever, America the Beautiful and a special commissioned number, Flight of Valor, dedicated as a memorial for the victims of UA Flight 93.
Following its inception after 9/11, The Healing Field and Field of Honor concept has swept across America. More than 500 communities support such displays, according to the Colonial Flag Foundation (CFF).
In a widely broadcast video produced by the CFF, Prescott Valley Town Council member Mary Mallory says, “…so when you have something move you in your heart, and it benefits your community, then I suggest you follow that.”
Elected in March 2011, Mallory spearheaded bringing the Healing Field display to the council and community leaders in 2012. It has gained widespread support since.
Prescott Valley Town Manager Larry Tarkowski praised Mallory for initiating the event. He also said he thought it was especially important that people realize “…being 15 years removed from that tragic event is no excuse to forget honoring those 3,000 innocent victims of religious and political hatred. We must maintain steadfast in pursuit of our American principles while at the same time, we fight for the safety of our homeland.”
“As Sept. 11 nears, I find myself wondering, why it is still so painful?” said Prescott Valley Town Council member Lora Lee Nye. “I have not found that answer, but reflection brings the knowledge that most Americans lost innocence that day. That certainly happened to me, and I have an increasing concern for the world my grandchildren will grow up in. “
She continued, “My abiding trust in our democracy and Constitution comfort me. They remind me that Americans will forever stand against any effort to take our cherished freedoms from us.”
The Healing Field events include:
- 4 p.m., Friday, Sept. 9 Blessing of the Fields
- 7 a.m., Saturday, Sept, 10 5K, 10K Patriot Run and 1-mile Fun Run
- 1 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 11 Memorial Ceremony
- 2:15 p.m., Sunday Sept. 11 Patriotic Concert featuring Prescott POPs
Symphony Orchestra
- All week, Sept. 9-16 Honor Flags on display
For more information, call 928 848-0626 or email healingfieldpv@gmail.com. QCBN
By Ray Newton, QCBN
Photo captions:
Photo by Ray Newton
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