9/11 ceremonies held across the Coachella Valley & county
A series of tributes are planned Tuesday across Riverside County in remembrance of Sept. 11, 2001.
The Palm Springs Fire Department invited the entire Coachella Valley to a special 17th anniversary 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony in honor of all those who lost their lives on that terrible day in 2001 on Tuesday, Sept. 11.
The ceremony, conducted by the Palm Springs Fire Department Honor Guard, was held in front of the 9/11 Memorial at Fire Department Headquarters, 300 N. El Cielo Road. The program began at 5:46 a.m. with a moment of silence. All flags were lowered to half-staff from sunrise to sunset.
La Quinta will be holding a Candlelight Vigil at Civic Center Campus at 78495 Calle Tampico from 7:00-8:30 p.m. on September 11.
“Join your neighbors at the September 11 Candlelight Vigil to honor the victims of the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and Shanksville, PA terror attacks,” reads the La Quinta event’s description. “This event will feature musical performances, speeches by local dignitaries, and public art composed from World Trade Center building remnants.
Before the event at Civic Center Campus, a remembrance event will be held at the La Quinta Museum at 5 p.m. The event will include a panel discussion headed by city councilman Robert Radi, focusing on the design and construction the 9/11 memorial constructed in the park out of section of the World Trade Center.
Mt. San Jacinto College will host a commemoration service at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday on the college’s San Gorgonio campus, 3144 Westward Ave. in Banning. A letter penned by Denise Casazzone, a Mt . San Jacinto alum and attack survivor, recalling her experiences at the WTC on the day the jetliners were flown into them will be read aloud by a college official. The Banning High School Band will play patriotic music at the start and close of the event.
At 8:30 a.m. in Riverside, the city will begin its annual “Day of Service,” marking 9/11 with activities that promote charity and selflessness.
Former Riverside Fire Department Battalion Chief Mike Esparza and retired Deputy Chief Dave Austin are scheduled to speak during the opening ceremonies on the campus of La Sierra University, 4500 Riverwalk Parkway. Both men deployed to New York City with fellow members of Riverside County Task Force 6 a few days after the al-Qaida terrorist attack that destroyed the World Trade Center.
They were initially assigned to rescue teams but soon found themselves involved in recovery operations, which included looking for the remains of the 343 firefighters killed when the towers collapsed.
“Riverside has a special connection to the events of 9/11 because our first responders played a strong role in the rescue and cleanup efforts at Ground Zero those many years ago,” Mayor Rusty Bailey said. “The citywide Day of Service is our community’s way to thank them every year, while also providing a public venue for remembering those we lost that day.”
Bailey and City Council members Mike Gardner and Jim Perry will speak, along with La Sierra President Dr. Randal Wisbey, followed by patriotic orchestrations from the university’s Department of Music, complemented by performers from the Alvord and Riverside unified school districts.
There will be a moment of silence at 9:11 a.m.
Throughout the day, there will be a blood drive at City Hall, 3900 Main St., and volunteer cleanup teams will be encouraged to dedicate an hour to removing refuse and engaging in other beautification efforts, according to organizers.
“This event is an opportunity, each year, to look back in remembrance, but also to look forward to a brighter future together,” Gardner said. “I encourage all residents of Riverside to get involved in something that really has great meaning for our community.”
The Day of Service will conclude at 5:30 p.m. outside City Hall, where the UC Riverside Pipe Band will play reflective music and part of a steel I-beam that snapped in two when the towers fell will be available for viewing. According to city officials, the Port Authority of New York donated it to Task Force 6 in recognition of their assistance.
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to acknowledge the events of 17 years ago during its invocation at the start of Tuesday’s meeting, and individual supervisors are expected to share observations. Supervisor John Tavaglione, who is retiring at the end of the year, was the only member of the existing board serving as a supervisor at the time. Immediately after the attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon, Tavaglione and his then-colleagues arranged for all four sides of the County Administrative Center in downtown Riverside to be draped in giant American flags that hung for weeks.
Mt. San Jacinto College will host a commemoration service at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday on the college’s San Gorgonio campus, 3144 Westward Ave. in Banning. A letter penned by Denise Casazzone, a Mt. San Jacinto alum and attack survivor, recalling her experiences at the WTC on the day the jetliners were flown into them will be read aloud by a college official. The Banning High School Band will play patriotic music at the start and close of the event.
The city of Murrieta will hold a “Sunset 9/11 Service,” beginning at 7:15 p.m., adjacent to the 9/11 Memorial on the Juniper Street side of Town Square Park.
Community Services Department spokeswoman Laura Frasso told City News Service that Mayor Jonathan Ingram and fire Chief Scott Ferguson will lead the observance, which will include a color guard presentation by police officers and fire personnel, followed by bagpipe music suited to the occasion.
After brief remarks, officials will unveil the finished memorial, which consists of a slanted rock on which a plaque is mounted with quotes from former President George W. Bush, speaking immediately after the attacks. There is also a bench nearby with the inscription “We Will Never Forget.”
About 300 people are expected to attend the event, and all will be invited to leave rocks around the memorial to pay homage to the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks.
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