Sep 23, 2004 By Frances Borsodi Zajac 8 min read

The notes from the family and friends of the Flight 93 passengers stand out among the many thoughtful messages recorded in the guest book at the Spring Valley Bruderhof’s Peace Barn in Farmington. “The peace in the barn should be spread over the world,” wrote Ben and Jerry Guadagno, who lost their son, Richard, 38, when Flight 93 crashed into a field in Shanksville, Somerset County, on Sept. 11, 2001. “Thanks for sharing it with us.’

Doug MacMillan, head of the Todd Beamer Foundation and best friend of Beamer, a 32-year-old computer software sales account manager from Cranbury, N.J., wrote, “What a wonderful place and what a wonderful experience! The peace barn is a moving place where I immediately felt blessed, safe, at home and, more important, at peace. Thank you for your hard work and determination.”

MacMillan spent the day with the Spring Valley School students in May and talked to them about the organization and Beamer, a Flight 93 passenger.

These families and others all have left photographs and personal letters to be placed in the Peace Barn.

Three years after the Spring Valley School students founded the Peace Barn as a response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, interest in it continues to grow.

“We had up to 400 people since the first of June come by this year, and most of the time our kids tour them,’ said Simon Manke, principal of Spring Valley School. “They came from all over the United States: Florida, Texas, Alaska, California. We had people from France, Germany, England and Argentina, because this is a tourist area.’

The visitors come intrigued by the notice about the Peace Barn and Flight 93 Memorial on the sign marking the entrance to the Spring Valley Bruderhof, a pacificist, Christian community located on Route 381 in Farmington. Manke, who noted the Bruderhof would like to see more local residents visit, pointed out entries in the guest book of visitors from across the United States and throughout the globe.

U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Hollidaysburg, wrote, “A wonderful memorial to the people who gave their lives on 9/11. Your community is a model we should all look to for guidance. Thank you.’

A visitor from New York wrote, “Thank you for such an uplifting experience.”

Manke said, “The kids’ hope is that this shouldn’t be depressing but that people should leave with hope for the future.”

Sadie Barth, 13, an eighth-grade student, said that after the students heard about the terror attacks, they thought their response should be “one of peace – for the whole world.”

The students chose an old chicken barn next to their school and began transforming it into the Peace Barn, assisted by their teachers and parents. They not only cleaned and restored the barn, but they put together the displays on the first floor. They converted the second floor into a meeting space, which is available for community groups to use.

The barn always has displays about Flight 93, but in mid-September, there were many. They include a display based on a large painting the students created of the crash site with an angel coming out of the grove where the plane crashed and the sky filled with stars and planets.

Jarius Jones, 13, also in 8th grade, said the painting, “Stars over Shanksville,’ symbolizes going to heaven. Attached to the mural are photographs of the Flight 93 heroes, who prompted the terrorists who had seized control of the plane to crash it into the Somerset County field instead of their intended target: the White House or the U.S. Capitol.

“I think it gives hope to a lot of family members when they come and see it, especially with the angel coming out of the grove. It’s not all rubble and decay,’ said Barth.

“Like Sadie said, it gives hope to family members and also is a good way to show that we care,’ Jones added. “The pictures show how the people looked, and makes it more real. They’re not just names on a list.”

Next to this display is an exhibit called “The Making of the Benches,’ another project the students undertook after they first visited the crash site March 11, 2002, the six-month anniversary.

Barth said the students wanted to make benches for the family members because they had nowhere to sit and grieve at the temporary memorial set up at the crash site.

Jones noted the children made benches only if the family requested them. They now have 14 benches at the crash site, bearing the names of 28 heroes.

The barn also features displays of individuals from Flight 93, with materials given by their families, a library of books related to Sept. 11, as well as a new exhibit for the third-year anniversary that features two lighted towers surrounded by a sea of peace doves rising from rubble.

But the Peace Barn covers a myriad of topics and has included exhibits on peacemakers who have worked for social justice throughout the world.

Just before the Sept. 11 anniversary three weeks ago, the Peace Barn also carried exhibits on the recent school siege in Russia, in which 326 people were killed, half of them children; Samuel Welling of Markleysburg, killed by a drunken driver last year in a Wharton Township accident; a young man who had left the Bruderhof community and later died of a drug overdose; Don Mishler who rode across country on horseback this summer to call attention to hunger and stayed at the Bruderhof for two days; and a history of the Peace Barn and of the Bruderhof community, from its beginnings in Germany in the early 20th century to the present.

Many of the displays are notable for their artistic sense. The Russian school display featured a wave of 100 white stars on a black background. The tribute to the young man who died from a drug overdose includes a tree cut down by an axe. The exhibits are filled with poetry and photographs.

The Peace Barn is constantly changing, with the students adding a greenhouse this summer, hoping to have flowers in the near future. They noted many businesses and organizations also have helped their work by giving them donations or materials at cost.

The students often will add a display based on their schoolwork. For example, their studies of World War I led to the display about soldiers and then to one on Eric Hull of Uniontown, who was killed in the war in Iraq. Hull’s widow, Missy, and children have visited the Peace Barn and contributed photos to the display on him.

“People know we are a pacifist community and want peaceful means to conflict, but we also teach our children about the sacrifices that soldiers and their families make. And members of our community (both Spring Valley, New Meadow Run and other Bruderhof communities) have been visiting soldiers at Walter Reed Hospital. Many of them are amputees. That’s the nature of this war,” said Bruderhof spokesman Sam Hine. “People come to the Peace Barn with many views of war and peace, but they all appreciate what they find here, and we never take a political position.’

A study on World War II led the students to produce their own version of a children’s opera, “Brundibar,’ which was put on by children in the Terezin concentration camp to keep up their spirits. The students invited a group of Holocaust survivors from Pittsburgh to see the production and tour the Peace Barn in May. Photographs and newspaper clippings from that performance make up another display.

“We’ve met many people and heard incredible stories,” Jones said about the Peace Barn.

Those tales include that of a New York City police officer who worked during the Sept. 11 attacks and later served in Iraq. The Bruderhof children met him as he was touring the country on a motorcycle.

“I like it because you get to know some very interesting people and hear fascinating stories,” Jones said about the Peace Barn. “And we’ve learned to lay bricks and shingles, and made lamps (for the barn) and made contacts with family members (from Flight 93).’

Barth added, “You can meet people outside the community and learn different views. You get into good contact with some, and they often tell us stories.’

And what stories the Peace Barn can tell.

As two young visitors from Germany wrote in the guest book (in German), “As long as there are places like this, there’s hope for the world.’

The Peace Barn is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Spring Valley Bruderhof, located on Route 381 in Farmington. There is no admission fee, but donations are accepted. The Peace Barn also operates a small gift shop. For more information, check the Web site at www.springvalleybruderhof.com.