At the event, which took place on the lawn outside Weaver Street Market, her table was covered with long sheets of tissue paper, pipe cleaners and straws. As eager children ran up, she prepared to show them how to make flowers out of the multicolored materials.
"You can't knock the flower," Meyer quipped.
Floral images were prominent at the reception. Propped up against another table was a poster with a picture of a sunflower and a haiku. The poem, written by Mariana Fiorentino and titled "girasoli," read, "Stand tall, proud, as one/To honor all those we lost/Faces toward heaven."
Even more visible was a giant sand sculpture of the Statue of Liberty, started shortly after the attacks by Rik Hermanson. For the most part, the piece has remained intact after a year -- Liberty's torch and part of her crown only recently were lost. The sculpture features various figures climbing out of debris and toward the statue's raised arm.
"We have to commemorate the fallen firefighters and policemen," said volunteer Ellen Perry. "We need to honor them in some way or another."
The 5,000 Flowers Project has been working on its tribute since April. Grey Culbreth Middle School art teacher Hollie Novak and colleagues from 10 other schools urged their students to contribute art to the project.
"Not one kid didn't want to do it," Novak said. "Not one peep out of anybody. It just felt like the right thing to do."
According to her, her students at Culbreth alone were responsible for creating 780 works of art for the project.
Referring to the Sept. 11 anniversary Wednesday, Novak said, "I think yesterday went better at school because we all did something, a little thing."
