Cashmere ceremony to commemorate 25 years since 9/11

CASHMERE — The 9/11 Spirit of America Memorial Foundation will mark the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks with its annual Remembrance Ceremony Sept. 11 at Cashmere Riverside Park.

The ceremony will run from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the 9/11 Spirit of America Memorial and will include the traditional ringing of the bell honoring those who risked their lives in service to others.

Featured speakers will include A.D. Vickery, Chris Flores and Bishop Gretchen Rehberg, each of whom has personal experience responding to the Sept. 11 attacks. Their remarks will focus on courage, service and sacrifice.

The Cashmere memorial was built in 2015 and contains artifacts representing each of the sites attacked on Sept. 11. They include structural steel from the 60th floor of one of the World Trade Center towers, limestone from the Pentagon and a stone from the crash site of United Airlines Flight 93 near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

The site also includes four bronze statues, four granite monuments engraved with the names of those killed aboard the planes and at the attack sites and a Callery pear known as the “Survivor Tree,” modeled after the tree recovered from the rubble of the World Trade Center.

First responders, active-duty and retired military personnel, flight crews, veterans and community members from throughout the region are invited to attend.

The ceremony is free and open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and may visit the memorial and its statues before and after the ceremony.

Keepsake remembrance coins will be available for $10, with proceeds supporting maintenance, operations and improvements at the memorial. Donations will also be accepted.

The memorial is open year-round at no charge, with tours available upon request.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media