Girl Scouts honor children of 9/11
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Four members of Girl Scouts Troop 50310 create a Panhandle Trail memorial in Rennerdale to children killed on two of the four planes involved in the 9/11 terrorists attacks. Children died on Flight 175 when it struck the World Trade Center and Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon. Left to right are: Brittany Reindtler, Ellen Murphy, Sarah Dobbins and Katie Linner.
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Although they were just toddlers when the events of Sept. 11, 2001, occurred, four Girl Scouts from Collier have spent more than half a year creating a permanent memorial to the eight children who died on the hijacked airplanes on that terrible day 10 years ago.
Ellen Murphy, Brittany Reinstadtler, Sarah Dobbins and Katie Linner, all members of Troop 50310, fashioned the memorial near the Sunnyside Avenue entrance to the Panhandle Trail in Collier.
The scouts used recycled street signs and youthful artistic expression for their project, which was Brittany's idea. But all four scouts worked on it to earn their Silver awards, the highest award achievable for Girl Scout Cadettes, ages 11-12. To qualify, Scouts must complete preliminary requirements on the Cadette Journey, identify a community project and devote at least 50 hours to its completion.
"The girls just loved it because they realized there was nothing for the children [who died]," said Madeleine Fotovich, whose granddaughter is a troop member.
The road signs were donated by public works departments in Collier and Carnegie. The scouts spray painted and decorated the signs to form the 25 foot-by-30 foot memorial.
It lists only the first names of the children who perished -- Rodney, Asia, David, Dana, Christine, Zoe, Julianna and Bernard.
The eight children died on two of the four hijacked planes -- American Airlines flight 77 that struck the Pentagon and United Airlines flight 175 that crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center. There were no children aboard the other two aircraft.
Kathleen Dobbins, who is one of the troop's leaders, along with Julie Murphy and C. J. Reinstadtler, said it was decided to list only the first names for privacy reasons.
First Published September 22, 2011 5:09 am
