Date: June 4, 2009
Contact: Rosemary Martinelli, 412-622-6433
Contact: George Hazimanolis, 412-622-1366
PLANS FOR FLIGHT 93 MEMORIAL HIGHLIGHTED ON ONQ MAGAZINE
PITTSBURGH -As plans for the memorial for Flight 93 progress, WQED’s OnQ takes a look at what visitors will see when it opens to the public. The Flight 93 feature airs on Thursday, June 4 at 7:30pm on WQED-TV.
In the years since September 11, 2001, a temporary memorial has marked the spot where United Airlines Flight 93 plunged to the ground near Shanksville, Pennsylvania in Somerset County. Now, a permanent memorial is in its final stages of planning and pre-construction. OnQ shows detailed images of what visitors will experience and also reports on the efforts of the community and its volunteers who have given of themselves to make this newest of the national parks a reality.
In addition to the Flight 93 Memorial, most people are unaware that southwestern Pennsylvania is home to four other parks in the National Parks system: Johnstown Flood National Memorial near Johnstown; Ft. Necessity National Battlefield near Uniontown; Friendship Hill National Historic Site in Pt. Marion; and Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site near Ebensburg. The common thread among all the parks is that citizen involvement was the impetus to preserve these historical treasures for future generations. Therefore, OnQ will also produce a half-hour special to air later this year which will highlight these five southwestern Pennsylvania sites by knitting together their stories.
The OnQ segments are part of WQED's major community engagement project with the National Parks Service in conjunction with Ken Burns’ newest PBS documentary, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, which premieres September 27 on PBS stations nationwide. WQED will also work with students in the Shanksville area on an educational initiative about Flight 93, partner with the National Parks on helping communicate the stories of courage and valor and heroism that is part of the National Park System, and also incorporate the OnQ segments as part of the National Parks overall educational initiatives with its visitors.
WQED is one of 50 stations in the country selected by WETA in Washington, D.C.--the presenting station for Ken Burns' The National Parks--and PBS, through an intensive competitive process, to participate in this nationwide community engagement initiative. The project was also made possible in part by a grant from the National Park Foundation through the generous support of the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund and the Popplestone Foundation.
WQED Pittsburgh, honored with the 2007 and 2006 Mid-Atlantic Emmy® Award for Station Excellence, was founded in 1954 as the nation’s first community-supported broadcaster. WQED creates, produces and distributes quality programs, products and services to engage, inform, educate and entertain the public within its community and around the world. WQED Pittsburgh is one of the first broadcasters in the country to be fully high-definition (HD) in its studio and field production capabilities. It is the parent company of WQED-TV (PBS); WQED: The Neighborhood Channel; WQED: The Create Channel; WQEX-TV (A ShopNBC affiliate); Classical WQED-FM 89.3/Pittsburgh; WQEJ-FM 89.7/Johnstown; local and national television and radio productions; WQED Interactive (www.wqed.org); and The WQED Education Department.
