Sept. 11 attacks marked through area events
9/4/2008 - West Side Leader
GREATER AKRON — Those who lost their lives in the events that occurred Sept. 11, 2001, aren’t forgotten in the Akron area.
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| The Tower of Voices, shown above, will feature 40 wind chimes presenting a living memory in sound of the 40 passengers and crew members. |
| Images courtesy of Paul Murdoch Architects and Aleksander Novak-Zemplinski/Flight 93 Memorial Project |
West Akron resident Sharon Deitrick is a charter member of the Flight 93 National Task Force, which has worked to plan a memorial to the flight that crashed in rural Pennsylvania after passengers apparently altered the on-board terrorists’ plans. She said it’s important to recognize the importance of Sept. 11.
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| Visitors to the Flight 93 Memorial will approach the entry to the field of honor (Bowl) on a walkway aligned with the flight path, shown above. |
Deitrick didn’t know any of the passengers or their families before her involvement in the Flight 93 memorial. But she did have friends in Washington, D.C., and Shanksville was a regular meeting place for the friends because of its central location between Akron and the nation’s Capitol, she said.
After the crash, she became involved in helping the community there plan the first-year anniversary.
“They said, ‘We’re a small community of farmers and miners and this is bigger than anything we’ve ever done,’” Deitrick said.
She added that after that first anniversary, President George Bush declared the site would become a national memorial site administered by the National Park Service, and Deitrick became involved in the effort. As one of the task force members, Deitrick was assigned to come up with a fund-raising plan, and she developed the 93 Cents for Flight 93 idea.
The goal of her efforts is to educate today’s youth on courage and valor, as exemplified by the Flight 93 passengers and crew, and raise funds for construction of the memorial.
“Our goal is to have every person donate a minimum of 93 cents, and we give everything we raise back [to the memorial project],” Deitrick said.
More information about the effort is available at www. 93centsforflight93.org.
Deitrick said plans call for the first phase of the memorial to be completed by 2011.
The task force members have been encouraged to reach out to other national parks, so Deitrick contacted officials at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park Association about the Flight 93 efforts. The result is that tonight, Sept. 4, at 7 p.m., the park will host Joanne Hanley, superintendent of the site, and Ken Nacke, brother of passenger Louis Nacke II, who will talk about the flight and plans for the memorial. The event, part of CVNPA’s Lyceum Distinguished Speaker Series, will take place at Happy Days Lodge, 500 Streetsboro Road, in Peninsula. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for CVNPA members and $5 for children ages 3-12.
Deitrick said she encourages local residents to attend the lecture.
“In Akron, the flight did a U-turn over our city,” she said. “Come hear two voices, one representing the families and one representing the park, about what we’re doing. You will not regret it.”
The event precedes a week of activities Sept. 8-13 at Kent State University (KSU), with the theme “Flight 93: An Education on Everyday Heroes,” that features films, exhibits and lectures. The Shanksville memorial’s architect, Paul Murdoch, will appear at the Michael Schwartz Center Sept. 9 from 3 to 6 p.m. For more information on events at KSU, go to www.kent.edu.
On Sept. 11, local residents can mark the events of that day in two ways in Downtown Akron.
The city of Akron will host its seventh annual commemoration at High Street Christian Church, 131 S. High Street, at noon. According to Billy Soule, assistant to the mayor for community relations, the service will include speakers from Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic’s office, community religious organizations and partners the Salvation Army and United Way of Summit County.
Soule said the city plans to continue the commemoration at least through 2011, the 10th anniversary of the attacks, and then will assess whether to continue them annually or every five years.
Summit County Executive Russell Pry’s office also continues its tradition of providing a community art project to memorialize the events of Sept. 11. On that day this year, the public is welcome to participate in creating this year’s project, which will consist of a large loom that, when finished, will resemble an American flag crafted out of red, white and blue ribbons tied to strings.
Jill Skapin, Pry’s director of communications, oversees the project, which will take place at the Room at Church and Main, 175 S. Main St., in the Ohio Building, from 7:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.
“I know that county employees look forward to doing this and always ask what it is going to be and what their part will be,” Skapin said.
The previous six projects are also on display in the Room at Church and Main.
Skapin said the county also plans to continue the annual project at least through the 10th anniversary.
“Each year, the finished product is a very wonderful tribute to those who lost their lives on one of the darkest days of our country’s history,” Skapin said. “We usually have over 300 citizens participate, and I hope this year will be no different.”
