West Windsor panel says a reflecting pond and oriental-style bridge in the arboretum would be the best way to memorialize community members lost in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
By: Gwen Runkle
WEST WINDSOR After a brainstorming session and field trip to the Ron Rogers Arboretum, across from West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South, the township Ron Rogers Arboretum Committee decided Wednesday that a reflecting pond and oriental-style bridge in the arboretum would be the best way to memorialize community members lost in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
Township Council President Alison Miller resurrected the committee two weeks ago and charged it with coming up with ideas and designs for a memorial.
Rob White, committee member and architect who designed the Ron Rogers memorial in the arboretum, came up with three grid-patterned modern sculpture designs symbolizing the void or hole left where the World Trade Center once stood, but it was Helen Rancan, committee member and member of the township Environmental Commission, who put forward the idea of a reflecting pond and bridge.
Although not at the meeting, Ms. Rancan emphasized in a letter to the committee that she believed the memorial should focus more on continuing to live rather than loss.
The committee agreed.
"The symbolism is wonderful," Mr. White said. "And what’s also great about Helen’s idea is that it won’t detract from Ron’s memorial. It fits in perfectly with the atmosphere of the arboretum."
The memorial to Mr. Rogers was unveiled in April. He died in September 1999 at age 69. He was a preservationist, operated the Rogers Christmas tree farm in Grover’s Mill, was chairman of the Environmental Commission and was a director of Friends of West Windsor Open Space.
The committee envisions the reflecting pond to be 60 feet long, 15 feet wide and relatively shallow with an hourglass shape. The pond would be trimmed with pavers or fieldstone to match the memorial walkway stones already in the arboretum. Benches would be placed around the pond along with trees donated by the Maurice Hawk School, part of a tree-planting project that started two years ago.
Committee Chairman Harley Pickens stressed that the committee is still in the very early stages of planning for the memorial. The committee is not sure where the names of those affected by the tragic events of Sept. 11 would be placed and there is no timetable established for when the project will be started or completed, he said.
Mr. White suggested the names be placed on the planks of the bridge, while Mike Schuit, committee member and president of Friends of West Windsor Open Space, suggested names could be placed on the pavers surrounding the pond or on stones in the pond.
Dan Dobromilsky, township landscape architect, will be drawing up sketches of the reflecting pond and bridge for the committee’s next meeting on Tuesday.
The committee encourages the public to send donations for the construction of the memorial to Friends of West Windsor Open Space, attention Sept. 11 Memorial, P.O. Box 73, Princeton Junction, NJ 08550. Checks should be made out to FOWWOS and all donations are tax deductible. For more information contact Mr. Pickens at (609) 799-0060.
In other news, the township has tentatively scheduled a fundraising concert to take place at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North on Oct. 18. Details are still being worked out through the joint efforts of the regional school board and the municipalities of West Windsor and Plainsboro.
Tickets will be sold for the 900 seats in the theater of West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North and musical presentations will include performances by the high school’s chorus and Wennie Niu, a local singer and musician from the Central Jersey Chinese American Association.

