9/11 Spirit of America Foundation to host annual remembrance in Cashmere

CASHMERE– As the solemn day of September 11 draws near, Cashmere’s 9/11 Spirit of America Memorial Foundation looks forward to gathering the community for a morning of remembrance at the 9/11 Memorial in Riverside Park. 

The Remembrance Ceremony is also planned to include a range of special guests, delivering mindful presentations and performances in honor of those who lost their lives in the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

Dedicated to caring for the 9/11 Memorial, 9/11 Spirit of America member JoAnne Prusa is hopeful about the Remembrance Ceremony. She expressed her excitement for the event’s special guests, including its National Anthem singer and guest speaker, Hank Cramer.

“We just hope that people come,” Prusa mentioned with anticipation. “We have Hank Kramer who’s an Army veteran as well as a wonderful singer and musician. And I think you’ll have something worthwhile to hear, and the ceremony itself is just a nice remembrance.”

The Remembrance Ceremony will also feature appearances from Wenatchee Valley Fire District Battalion Chief Albert Torres, the Seattle Police Department Pipes and Drums, and retired American Airlines flight attendant Rob Todd. 

Making this year’s ceremony extra special, the event is set to directly follow a naturalization ceremony of around 30 Washington residents, celebrating their exciting transition into full US citizenship. The 9/11 Spirit of America Foundation welcomes these new citizens as special guests as it shares with them this important day in American history. 

Additionally, the 9/11 Spirit of America Foundation looks forward to presenting its annual Spirit of America Award to Foundation Board President Tom Green, who spearheaded the effort to bring the 9/11 Memorial to Cashmere in 2015.

The memorial was originally formed around an interest in four bronze statues representing the first responders, flight attendants, and average citizens killed or affected by the September 11 attacks. When Board member Prusa first saw the statues being temporarily displayed at Leavenworth’s Kinderfest, she couldn’t help but attempt to have them displayed at Cashmere’s Apple Days event.

Finding out that the statues were unwanted by the state and up for grabs, Prusa and locals like Tom Green formed plans to take them in and honor their somber beauty in a fully-fledged memorial at Cashmere’s Riverside Center. As local support for the memorial grew, the 9/11 Spirit of America Foundation received enough funding to install two massive granite towers representing the World Trade Center and all those lost in its destruction. 

Now, the memorial stands with its welcoming statues, granite towers, pieces of the Pentagon and World Trade Center, and a rock from the Pennsylvania field where one of the involved planes crashed.

Prusa explained her love for the memorial and its many visitors, excited for the Remembrance Ceremony to draw more attention.

“It’s fun when I’m down here,” she said, “if I meet anybody, to hear their story and what they're looking for.” 

As Prusa explains, sharing the beauty of the bronze statues that started it all is what the memorial and its annual remembrance ceremony stand for. These four connected statues, with the appearance of emerging from the ashes of destruction, instill a sense of rejuvenation and interconnectedness in the face of disaster, leaving ceremony participants and random visitors alike with important reminders of hope and community. 

“I love that people come,” Prusa shared. “I just love that Cashmere has this remembrance of that day and that we can lift up the people [who were lost], like the statues, they look like they’re coming up from the ashes, and they’re looking upward, they’re holding hands, they have hope, and I think that hope is what draws me.”  

For more information or to donate, visit 911memorialwa.org. 

Will Nilles: (509) 731-3211 or will@ward.media