SHELBY – The American flag waved at half-staff Friday morning over the Whippet Athletic Conference in a sun-splashed commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Students, first responders, firefighters and other members of the Shelby community lined the bleachers before scaling up and down them for 25 minutes. The exercise was a salute to the emergency personnel who were among the nearly 3,000 people that die in the tragedy.
None of Shelby City Schools’ current students were alive for the events at the World Trade Center. Even some of the first responders in attendance were too young to remember. Collectively, however, the event remains a vivid chapter in American history.
“For many of us here today, 9/11 is a distant, yet ever-present event etched in our memories,” Mayor Steve Schag said.
“I will never forget the villainous attacks that came out of nowhere on that beautiful summer morning – a morning much like this. I will never forget the visions of horror that unfolded before our very eyes in real time on that September day.”
First responder Bryce Imars was one of the event’s primary organizers. He was only 2 years old when 9/11 occurred.
“It’s not a memory I can recall, because I was so young,” Imars said. “But as I’ve grown up, I’ve learned more and more about the events that took place on 9/11, and that is what helped inspire me to become a first responder.”
The sentiment was shared by one of the firefighters in attendance, Brinson Delauder, who was born after 9/11.
“I remember going all throughout school, hearing the stories, and that made me think, ‘Wow, these are some heroes. I want to be like them,’ ” Delauder said. “All the courageous stories that you heard when the towers went down; that’s why I’m in the service now.”
Following speeches from Principal Joe Morabito, Schag and Shelby Fire Chief Sam Sauder, the first responders and firefighters in attendance took to the bleachers to join Shelby students.
The collective scaled the flights up and down for 25 minutes or chose to walk the track surrounding the football field.
Firefighters took the stairs in full uniform, morning heat beating down upon their helmets and covered shoulders.
“I mean, it was tough,” Delauder said. “I wanted to make it as similar as I could to what they went through. I mean, that’s impossible because they went through some really intense stuff. I just wanted to be part of it … in remembrance of all those heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice.”
As the tragedy of 9/11 brought the nation together 25 years ago, Shelby brought its community together in remembrance of the lives lost.
“You may not have lived through Sep. 11, 2001, as my generation did, but I implore you to remember,” Schag said. “Remember the victims and their families … remember the heroes … and remember that you are the future of this country.”
