HomeMy WebLinkAbout911 Event_Post_07/14/2010Tequesta plans World Trade Center memorial, event
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Tequesta plans World Trade Center memorial, event
By BILL DIPAOLO
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 8:03 a.m. Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Two 6 -foot beams from the World Trade Center are scheduled to be placed permanently outside village
hall in a solemn ceremony Sept. 11.
"We wanted to build a memorial commemorating not only the victims, but the police and firefighters who
responded," said Councilman Jim Humpage, a Vietnam veteran and former Tequesta police officer.
Raising the $100,000 to pay for the memorial started right after the attacks in New York City on Sept. 11,
2001. Each October since then, Humpage has sponsored a golf tournament featuring local athletes, such
as former hockey star Bobby Orr and former quarterback Bob Griese. And each year, about $10,000 was
put in a fund for the memorial.
The completion of the memorial also marks the beginning of a new direction for the fund. Since it's paid
off, any new money donated now will go toward helping village firefighters and police officers injured
while on duty.
Donations will help pay medical bills and other expenses for those injured and their families. Families of
firefighters or police officers from Tequesta killed in the line of duty also will be eligible. The victims will
have their names etched in a 5/8 -inch thick glass wall at the memorial.
"This is a statement from Tequesta residents and officials about the high esteem we hold to both first
responders and those who were killed at the World Trade Center," said Tequesta Fire - Rescue Capt. Dan
Tilles.
The only taxpayer expense is $3,500 to send two village firefighters to New York City to bring the steel
beams to Tequesta. Numbered G -0141 and G -0146, the beams will be kept at the village police
department until the ceremony.
Each will be placed horizontally on two 6- foot -tall polished granite beams. A reflective pool around the
memorial will light up two glass panels engraved with insignias from Tequesta police and fire
departments. Bricks engraved with donors' names are available for $50 to help pay for the fire - rescue
fund.
Gaining approval for the beams was complicated, said Tilles. About seven months ago, he contacted the
New York -based Sept. 11th Families' Association, the group in charge of distributing remnants of the
World Trade Center for free to communities around the world.
"The organization is running out of pieces. They are overwhelmed with requests," Tilles said.
The artifacts can't be cut, drilled, painted or altered - and they can't be used to make a profit.
Communities must pay for transportation from New York City, according to the organization's regulations
The Sept. 11 event is scheduled to include a flyover by an aircraft from the Florida Air National Guard, a
21 -gun salute and a speech by Florida Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp. A gathering at American Legion Post 271
nearby on U.S. 1 is planned after the ceremony.
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