The recent senseless vandalizing of the West Windsor 9/11 Memorial at the Ron Rogers Arboretum is a reminder of how fragile some of our most important public symbols can be. Until the story appeared on the front page of the Trenton Times on November 4, I’m sure a large portion of the residents of West Windsor had no idea that we even had a memorial, let alone where it was or what it looked like. Well, now is the time to enlighten those who live here, but pay little attention to what surrounds them in their home “town.”
It’s too bad that it takes an event like this one to inform so many — especially those thousands who have moved here in the past decade — of such a singular and symbolic memorial as this one. But it’s been in our midst for a long time. In fact, it was dedicated on April 22, 2002, to the seven West Windsorites who lost their lives at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Ours was one of the first permanent 9/11 memorials created anywhere. If there was ever a truly community project, it was this one, and, aside from their voluntary contributions, it cost the citizens of West Windsor virtually nothing.
By pure coincidence, a hard-working citizens’ committee was already in existence on that fateful date to promote the recently completed “Ron Rogers Arboretum.” In the late 1990s Ron Rogers had been a founding member of the Friends of West Windsor Open Space (FOWWOS) and had been a strong advocate of the preservation of open space and woodlands. He had often mentioned that he would like to see an arboretum somewhere in West Windsor. Since he spent most of his spare time cultivating evergreens that he sold as Christmas trees on his own property in Grovers Mill, he knew his trees, and was eager to have that knowledge put to use for the township’s benefit. When he passed away in 1999, an arboretum committee was formed without delay.
The committee decided that the “Coward tract” and the adjacent “Press woods” would be the ideal location — right at the corner of Clarksville Road and Route 571. Before its realignment in the 1960s, Route 571 followed what is now Hendrickson Drive, and divided the Coward farm in two. The south section of that farm was where WW-P High School South was built. The section north of Route 571 abutted the former farm of Barnet Press, which by then had become a forest again. Together, the two properties constituted over 20 acres.
With the guidance of township landscape architect Dan Dobromilsky, the plan took shape. It featured a winding path of stone pavers set in the lawn amidst the specimen trees, including at least one of every variety of oak that grows naturally in this portion of New Jersey. The oak was Ron Rogers’ favorite tree. The stone pavers were sold by the West Windsor Lions Club as a fund-raising venture in which individuals could have their names and messages cut in the stone.
When the arboretum was completed it featured a stone monument designed by local architect Rob White with a bronze replica of Rogers’ familiar field hat hanging from an upper corner. The hat was designed by sculptor Michelle Post.
The Ron Rogers Arboretum was dedicated on Arbor Day, April 21, 2001.
But less than five months later was the fateful day that led to a permanent change in the use of the arboretum site: 9/11.
Within a few days of that fateful event and when it was learned that seven local residents had been lost, the arboretum committee was reconstituted to discuss possible ways for the community to respond. The committee was supplemented by members of the FOWWOS board and other citizens as well as members of the West Windsor leadership, including Mayor Hsueh and Township Council President Alison Miller, who was a member of the arboretum committee and proposed reconvening it for this purpose.
Community response to the idea of a permanent memorial to those lost was immediate and positive. At the time there seemed to be little point in debating the issue. As one who was deeply involved from the beginning, I have always wondered why any community would have hesitated under the circumstances. Yet even today, over a decade later, many nearby communities have still not marked this singular event permanently.
The general idea and layout of the 9/11 Memorial as it was built was mainly the idea of Helen Rancan, a vice president of FOWWOS. As it does today, it consisted of twin ponds with a waterfall and bridge between them. Overflow water leaving the lower pond enters Canoe Brook, which flows down through the wooded portion of the Rogers Arboretum, and enters Grovers Mill Pond after passing under North Mill Road. Engraved stone pavers that bear the names of the victims are set into the walkway near the ponds.
Nearly the entire memorial was designed and built with volunteer labor and donated materials. The only charge was for the engraving on the stones. It was remarkable that so many contractors who were working on building projects in West Windsor at the time provided labor and materials as needed until the job was finished. Ground was broken to begin construction on November 21, barely two months following the event.
The completed memorial was dedicated on Arbor Day, April 27, 2002, with a large crowd in attendance.
For many years following its dedication, an annual ceremony was held to commemorate the 9/11 event. In the beginning this included a candle-light walk from Town Hall to the memorial. Although public interest in this event gradually diminished, the memorial is still visited by many who do not want to forget.
Another memorial also exists at the arboretum site. It is the gazebo up the hill from the 9/11 memorial toward Clarksville Road. It was built there in memory of Lisa McNair Woodbury, a well-known scholar-athlete at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South in the class of 1983. She died of cancer in October, 2002. Her memorial was built by her parents and dedicated on November 29, 2003.
As for the recent vandalism, it should be mentioned that the West Windsor Department of Public Works did an outstanding job in quickly restoring the damaged areas to near perfect condition. They knew exactly what to do, and completed the job without delay.
