Although it is her first time appearing at the annual Tullytown September 11th Memorial, it isn’t the first time Pat Guth of Langhorne has done something special for the occasion.
On September 11, 2001, Guth lost her closest friend from college, Yolanda Dowling, in the terrorist attacks. Dowling had just finished her job in the South Tower of the World Trade Center on September 10, but didn’t finish cleaning out her desk. She returned to the tower to finish cleaning up the next day. Dowling was on the 92nd floor of the South Tower when the United Airlines Flight 175 slammed into it.
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Since then, Guth has made a point to do something special to honor Dowling every year. This is the first year that Guth and the Women’s Choir of Bucks County, which she directs, was invited to Tullytown’s annual reflection ceremony.
“Every year, I look for some way to honor Yolanda’s memory. This seemed like the ideal way to honor her,” Guth said.
Dowling was a musician, so singing was a perfect fit, Guth said.
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“Needless to say, it means a lot for me to be here,” Guth said, moments before leading the choir in song.
Dowling and Guth both attended the Westminster Choir College in Princeton.
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Throughout the rest of the night, Tullytown’s Mayor David Cutchineal led the program for singers and speakers.
“For some of you, it was like how many felt when President Kennedy got assassinated. You remember where you were, what you were doing, and what came after,” said David Pearl from the town’s fire company.
David Pearl, who served extensively in the U.S. Air Force, spoke about the importance of educating people who are too young to remember the tragedy first hand. “It’s our mission to educate the young,” said Pearl.
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The Tullytown memorial has been around since the attacks. On the night of the attack, residents of Tullytown gathered in the borough park to sing in remembrance. Fifteen years later, the event has grown into a full, formal event.
