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.
Over the weekend, the world solemnly marked the fourth anniversary of the devastating terrorist attacks in the United States. September 11, once just another square on the calendar, will never be looked upon the same. Here in Flin Flon, we seem 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 that unspeakable tragedy struck our American neighbours, residents didn't think twice about helping the survivors and honouring those who lost their lives. I remember the day well. I was at work when a coworker told me about the first plane. At first, I thought it was an accident. What else could it be? After the second plane struck, I felt sick to my stomach. Some time later that day, a source called to inform me of a local angle on this international story. Some of our 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. September 11, 2001, also showed once again how our residents have this incredible desire to support others in times of need. In the coming days, weeks and months, I often found myself deeply touched by the local response to what would become known simply as 9/11. 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. On another call, I learned that the St. Peter and St. James Anglican Church was going to hold special 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 also 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. Perhaps, in typical Flin Flon fashion, they simply 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 9/11 victims. Members had been fixing up the bridge with a fresh coat of paint on that awful day. It became the "Bridge of Hope" in memory of the nearly 3,000 men and women lost. Then there was Flin Flon's Cheryl Redmond, now living in the Home of the Brave herself, who likewise chose a special way to honour the victims. The avid quilter stitched together five magnificent memorial quilts, including one that would later spend time on display at Washington's famed Smithsonian Institute. Yes, Flin Flon is about as far removed as can be from New York City and Washington, D.C. But as September 11, 2001, reminded us, the community's caring nature knows no borders. Local Angle runs every Friday.
