Shanksville - Flt 93 Memorial Chapel, Boulevard of Heroes, Shanksville, Pennsylvania has finalized the schedule for three dedication ceremonies at the Chapel, Rev. Alphonse T. Mascherino, Director, announced today.  The ceremonies are scheduled for the eleventh day of July, August and September at one o’clock.  Local religious leaders will officiate.

   The Blessing of Thunder Bell, the Voice of Flt 93 and of the Perpetual Lamp of Remembrance and the Dedication of a stained glass window donated in Memory of the Heroes of Flight 93 will be central to the observance of Tuesday, July eleventh.  Thunder Bell, the Voice of Flight 93, a one thousand pound cast steel bell, dated 1868, was donated by Harold Knupp of Berlin will be rung for the first time in honor of the Heroes of   Flight 93 by attending officials and members of local Cub Scout Troops.  The sounding of the Bell at the Chapel by visitors will pay homage to those who perished when Flight 93 impacted the Pennsylvania mountains outside Shanksville.

   The Perpetual Lamp of Remembrance, fabricated and donated by local blacksmith and artisan, David Weimer of Somerset will be lighted officially for the first time.  The lamp, hanging ten feet above the sanctuary floor will burn perpetually as a tribute to the Heroes of Flt 93 and as a pledge to maintain the light of freedom.
   An historic antique stained glass window preserved from a Greensburg Temple and donated by the present Temple Emanu El at Greensburg will be dedicated by an officiating rabbi.  The great semi-circular window, ten feet wide and five feet high, mounted inside the Chapel above the entranceway to the body of the chapel is visible from both sides.  The hundred year old window depicts the Star of David in the Great Circle in the center of the design, and the Tablets of the Ten Commandments on one side and the Menorah on the other.  Fabricated in the European fashion of stained glass art, the window represents the high quality of workmanship achieved by American artists guided by European craftsmen.

   Formerly Mizpah Evangelical Lutheran Church, Flt 93 Memorial Chapel building will be blessed on Sunday, August eleventh, in observance of the Centennial of its original dedication in 1902.  Typical country church construction of crossed beams testify to the integrity of the church structure and the intention of the original founders of the parish church that the building should serve for many generations. Their foresight has made it possible for our present generation and the generations to follow to continue to benefit from the sacrifices made a hundred years ago.  Since the parish was discontinued, the church building functioned as a seed warehouse and distribution center. The care, maintenance and preservation of the building by the intervening owner has effectively preserved the church from ordinary deterioration.     The ceremony of the Blessing of the building on the Observance of its Centennial Year will acknowledge the spiritual heritage of the founders of the parish and the building, and will acknowledge the presence in our community of the former parishioners who, for many years maintained and supported Mizpah Church before it’s closing.

  Flt 93 Memorial Chapel will be dedicated as a spiritual memorial to the Heroes of   Flight 93 on Wednesday, September eleventh, the First Anniversary of the 2001 Event.  Appropriate monuments will be in place naming those on board the United Airlines Flight diverted by terrorists from its destination to San Francisco and brought down by the heroic intervention of the Passengers and Crew who valiantly resisted their oppressors.  The names of national and local officials prominent in the recovery from the tragedy and the recovery of the Nation will also be memorialized.
   Flt 93 Memorial Chapel is a non-denominational, secular chapel open to all faiths for prayer, reflection and religious services.  The Chapel will present as part of its regularly scheduled activities a multi-media program to visitors celebrating the Message of Flight 93 and the American Spirit.  Guided by patriotism, inspired by Heroes and empowered by faith, the Chapel is intended to be a place of refuge where God and Country are not separated.  As a destination of pilgrimage, the Chapel will afford an opportunity to reflect on the spiritual blessings of American Democracy and a place for individual recommitment to God and Country.  Scheduled services, especially on Sunday’s and national holidays and the eleventh of each month will honor the memory of all those who perished.  Scheduled services will be conducted by  religious leaders and pastors.  Pastors visiting with their own flock, especially when they are leading pilgrimages from their own parishes to Shanksville are welcome to arrange to conduct services with their parishioners at the Chapel.  The Chapel will be available for private services, weddings and renewal of wedding vows by married couples attended by their own clergy or officiate.
   In addition to the Multi-media program and religious services, the Chapel will present featured speakers, religious speakers and educators and a program of chorales and music and hymn-sings and patriotic music lead by visiting church choirs and musicians.  The Chapel is open to the public during renovation and reconstruction, and is open the eleventh of each month and Saturday’s and Sunday’s during construction.

   All dedications, July, August and September require advance tickets for reserved seating.  Owing to the limited capacity of the Chapel, arrangements have been made to erect tents with closed circuit TV coverage of the ceremonies inside the Chapel.  All requests for seating must be in advance, in writing.  Two tickets maximum per request.  Tickets for each event must be requested in individual envelopes mailed separately. Please include name, address and contact telephone number for each ticket requested. (Tickets are non-transferable and Identification may be required for admission on the days of the ceremonies. Self-addressed stamped envelopes are to be included for confirmation.  Reservations will be assigned according to post marks. Mail requests to: Flt 93 Memorial Chapel Tickets;   P. O. Box 142 Shanksville, Pennsylvania 15560;  phone: 814 - 444 - 8339 or 814.444.1935.