Release Date: Dec 27, 2011

December 27, 2011— Waterford and the National September 11 Memorial  Museum (9/11 Memorial Museum) are pleased to announce that the museum will be accepting  a collection of 195 “Hope for Healing” Waterford crystal triangles from the Times Square Ball, which commemorate the lives lost on September 11, 2001.

Crafted by Waterford for the 2001/2002 Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball, the “Hope for Healing” design consists of three lit candles surrounded by outspread hands in a gesture of healing.  In 2001, 195 of the 504 crystal triangles on the Ball were specially engraved by Waterford artisans with the names of the countries and regions that lost citizens, the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, the four airline flights and the names of uniformed rescue organizations that lost members in the 9/11 tragedy.

“The breadth of tribute items created in response to 9/11 truly displays the commitment of people across the country and around the world, who came together in solidarity to honor and remember those who died,” said Alice Greenwald, Executive Vice President and National September 11 Memorial Museum Director. “Few occasions are quite as recognizable to the world over as the drop of the New Year’s Eve Ball, which took on a special significance of symbolizing not only a new year, but renewed hope, in the months following September 2001.” 

The crystals will become part of the Museum’s permanent collection to help the national institution in its twin mission to educate and preserve the true history of 9/11 and tell the stories of the unprecedented global response that emerged in the wake of the attacks.

“We are honored to have this very special collection of Waterford become part of the National September 11 Memorial Museum’s collection to commemorate those who lost their lives,” said Regan Iglesia, VP of Marketing for Waterford. "The Times Square Ball is a universal symbol of hope, celebration and the passage of time. To have the Waterford ‘Hope for Healing’ crystals from 2001 represent that symbol as a tribute to this nation’s strength is a privilege for Waterford.” 

For Times Square 2012, 288 Waterford crystal triangles will be installed featuring the new “Let There Be Friendship” pattern representing friends holding hands around the world. “Let There Be Friendship” is the fifth of the “World of Celebrations” series of Waterford designs to be featured on the Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball. The series honors the many ways that the world celebrates the New Year, with symbols and sentiments of universal understanding.

About WWRD
WWRD is the leading provider of luxury home and lifestyle products worldwide, manufactures, distributes and sells well-recognized brands, including Waterford, Wedgwood, Royal Doulton, Royal Albert, Minton, Johnson Brothers and Franciscan. WWRD maintains unique licensing arrangements with some of the most high-profile innovators in the home and lifestyle market, including Vera Wang, Jasper Conran, Monique Lhuillier, John Rocha and Gordon Ramsay.  WWRD products are distributed through premium department stores and independent retailers and wholesalers around the world, including the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia and Ireland. The company employs more than 3,000 people worldwide.

About the National September 11 Memorial & Museum
The National September 11 Memorial & Museum is the not-for-profit corporation created to oversee the design, fundraising, programming, and operations of the Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center. The Memorial and Museum are located on eight of the 16 acres of the World Trade Center site. The Memorial was dedicated on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and is now open to the public.

The Memorial remembers and honors the 2,983 people who were killed in the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993. The design, created by Michael Arad and Peter Walker, consists of two reflecting pools formed in the footprints of the original Twin Towers and a plaza of trees.

The Museum will display monumental artifacts linked to the events of 9/11, while presenting intimate stories of loss, compassion, reckoning, and recovery that are central to telling the story of the 2001 and 1993 attacks and the aftermath. It will communicate key messages that embrace both the specificity and the universal implications of the events of 9/11; document the impact of those events on individual lives, as well as on local, national, and international communities; and explore the continuing significance of these events for our global community.

For more information or to reserve a free visitor pass to the Memorial, go to 911memorial.org.

For broadcast quality footage of the engraving and installation of the crystal in December 2001, go to the press site below:

http://timessquareball.net/press

USER: press
PASS: "balldrop2012"

 

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