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.
Flin Flon seems about as far removed as can be from the bright lights of New York City or the international symbolism of Washington, D.C. Yet when unspeakable tragedy struck those faraway cities three years ago on that infamous date of Sept. 11, 2001, residents didn't think twice about helping the survivors and honouring those who lost their lives. I was at work when the World Trade Center and Pentagon were hit by the deadly airplanes-turned-missiles. I immediately began searching the Internet for all the information I could dig up. No, this wasn't a local story, but it carried such worldwide significance that it would have to be detailed on our front page. I had spent an hour sifting through news item after news item when the phone rang. It was a frequent tipster reporting that a number of citizens had already stopped by the Flin Flon General Hospital offering to donate blood for the rescue efforts. It was then that I realized this was more than a story of cold-blooded murder and catastrophe. Sept. 11, 2001, also showed how local residents have an incredible, innate desire to support people in times of need. In the coming days, weeks and months, I explored the local angles of the devastation, which claimed nearly 3,000 lives, and often found myself deeply touched by what I learned. A phone call to the hospital proved that about 10 people had indeed stopped by to give blood. Unfortunately, they had to be turned away because staff were not equipped to accept their gift. See 'Services' P.# Con't from P.# During another conversation, I learned that the St. Peter and St. James Anglican Church was going to hold regular prayer services for the victims and their families. In a similar vein, our emergency service workers remembered their lost counterparts with a poignant service attended by hundreds of people at the R.H. Channing Auditorium. There was talk of a grandmother who had baked cookies to send to the New York Fire Dept., which lost 343 firefighters, and of a homemaker ordering a memorial bouquet for the Pentagon. I was never able to confirm those reports, probably because the women involved didn't want the recognition or, in typical Flin Flon fashion, didn't feel they were doing anything special. Several months after the attacks, the Flin Flon Oddfellows and Rebekah Lodges dedicated a bridge over Ross Creek to the memory of the Sept. 11 victims. Members had been fixing up the bridge with a fresh coat of paint on that awful day and soon agreed to christen it the "Bridge of Hope" in memory of the men and women the world had lost. Then there's Flin Flon's Cheryl Redmond, now a citizen of Pittsburgh, who likewise chose a unique way to honour the victims. The avid quilter stitched together five magnificent Sept. 11 memorial quilts, including one that would later spend time on display at Washington's famed Smithsonian Institute. Yes, Flin Flon seems about as far removed as can be from New York City and Washington, D.C. But as Sept. 11, 2001, reminded us, the community's caring nature knows no borders.9/13/2004
