The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Sept. 11 was once an innocent enough date, just another of the many squares on the calendar holding no special significance. Now it's hard to imagine ever thinking about this day without recalling the unspeakable horror of Sept. 11, 2001. This past Sunday marked the 10th anniversary of the stunning terrorist attacks in the United States, acts of malevolence that stole the lives of nearly 3,000 people, including many firefighters and police officers. Nearly 30 local emergency service personnel marked the sombre occasion with a brief ceremony outside the Flin Flon Fire Hall at 11 a.m. sharp. As flags in the background flapped at half-mast, Fire Chief Jim Petrie said a few words before the mourners bowed their heads in respectful silence. Tribute Before departing, they sounded the blaring alarms of their work vehicles as a friendly tribute. Although far removed from the tragic events of 9/11, a number of local residents were eager to do whatever they could to help the victims and their families in the weeks following the tragedy. In the two days after 9/11/01, about 10 people stopped by the Flin Flon General Hospital hoping to donate blood for the relief efforts. To their disappointment, they had to be turned away because the hospital was not equipped to accept blood. A number of other people in rural areas in Manitoba and Saskatchewan were also unable to donate blood at their local hospital, and some of them traveled to Brandon, Saskatoon or Prince Albert to do so. Local residents also helped by way of faith, as the St. Peter and St. James Anglican Church held regular prayer services in the weeks after the attacks. Then-mayor Dennis Ballard and his council expressed their condolences to the victims and families at their first meeting after the attacks, held on Sept. 8. Former Flin Flonner Cheryl Redmond (Stephansson), living in Pittsburgh, chose her own special way to honour the men and women who perished. The avid quilter stitched together five memorial quilts honouring the victims. Her first quilt, which spent time on display in Washington's famed Smithsonian Institute, featured all of the known victims of the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.
