Sept. 11 Memorial Taking Shape
Sept. 11 memorial taking shape
The committee still has $125,000 to raise.
By JEANNE STARMACK VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN — The little white gazebo sits at the edge of the township park on South Raccoon Road, dwarfed by the new middle school building under construction across from it.
But that gazebo, while small, is part of an ambitious idea for the entire Mahoning Valley. It's part of the Austintown Beautification Committee's memorial to victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. When it's finished, the memorial will also include a granite likeness of the twin towers, flanked by monuments to firefighters and police officers who lost their lives there. Other monuments will feature the names of every victim in the attacks.
Also on site will be a piece of steel from the towers, 1,600 pounds of blocks from the Pentagon, and soil from the field where Flight 93 went down near Shanksville, Pa.
A nondenominational chapel will await visitors nearby, and 25,000 bricks in walkways will be available for engraving to those who want to contribute to the cost of building the site. An "eternal light" will shine all the time.
It has been two and a half years in the making so far, with likely another year to go before completion, say committee co-chairs Paul Cubellis and Pat Connolly. The 30-member committee has raised between $90,000 and $100,000 so far, with an additional $125,000 to go, they said.
Donations made
The fund-raising got a boost this week. The Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie No. 3298 and Quest AdvantEdge Corp. of Austintown, a business consulting and medical billing firm, each donated $3,950 to buy the monuments to police and firefighters. The Eagles bought the monument to firefighters. Quest AdvantEdge, which is owned by Lori Gavalier, bought the police monument. Gavalier is the wife of township police chief Bob Gavalier.
The checks were presented in a ceremony Thursday at the gazebo.
Cubellis and Connolly expressed their thanks and talked about their idea for the memorial — how far they've come, and how far they still need to go.
J.J. Cafaro and Capri Cafaro donated $14,150 last year for the center memorial of the towers — two 6-foot-tall black granite stones inscribed with "God Bless America" in gold leaf.
Four black granite panels with laser etchings of victims' names are still available at $10,000 each. Two-hundred-fifty dollars buys a nameplate on a tree. People can also sponsor a bench for $1,000 or a lamp post for $1,500 each. The bricks can be engraved for $40 a piece.
Cubellis said the memorial was Connolly's idea.
No, he didn't personally know anyone who died in the attacks. "We all knew them, as Americans," Connolly said. That was his inspiration.
Others contribute
The park on South Raccoon has been renamed from Trustee Park to 9-11 Memorial Park, and though the effort does seem largely an Austintown one, those in other communities have contributed. Connolly and Cubellis said the memorial was opened to the whole Valley after Cubellis met a fire chief from Lake Milton who wanted to donate. Since then, they've had donations from Youngstown, Boardman, Niles and Warren.
The committee has accounts set up to take donations at Sky Bank and Farmers National Bank. Checks should be payable to Austintown Beautification Committee. Connolly can be reached at (330) 799-0565, and Cubellis, at (330) 792-1961. The group's Web site is www.911mv.org.
The committee still has $125,000 to raise.
By JEANNE STARMACK VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN — The little white gazebo sits at the edge of the township park on South Raccoon Road, dwarfed by the new middle school building under construction across from it.
But that gazebo, while small, is part of an ambitious idea for the entire Mahoning Valley. It's part of the Austintown Beautification Committee's memorial to victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. When it's finished, the memorial will also include a granite likeness of the twin towers, flanked by monuments to firefighters and police officers who lost their lives there. Other monuments will feature the names of every victim in the attacks.
Also on site will be a piece of steel from the towers, 1,600 pounds of blocks from the Pentagon, and soil from the field where Flight 93 went down near Shanksville, Pa.
A nondenominational chapel will await visitors nearby, and 25,000 bricks in walkways will be available for engraving to those who want to contribute to the cost of building the site. An "eternal light" will shine all the time.
It has been two and a half years in the making so far, with likely another year to go before completion, say committee co-chairs Paul Cubellis and Pat Connolly. The 30-member committee has raised between $90,000 and $100,000 so far, with an additional $125,000 to go, they said.
Donations made
The fund-raising got a boost this week. The Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie No. 3298 and Quest AdvantEdge Corp. of Austintown, a business consulting and medical billing firm, each donated $3,950 to buy the monuments to police and firefighters. The Eagles bought the monument to firefighters. Quest AdvantEdge, which is owned by Lori Gavalier, bought the police monument. Gavalier is the wife of township police chief Bob Gavalier.
The checks were presented in a ceremony Thursday at the gazebo.
Cubellis and Connolly expressed their thanks and talked about their idea for the memorial — how far they've come, and how far they still need to go.
J.J. Cafaro and Capri Cafaro donated $14,150 last year for the center memorial of the towers — two 6-foot-tall black granite stones inscribed with "God Bless America" in gold leaf.
Four black granite panels with laser etchings of victims' names are still available at $10,000 each. Two-hundred-fifty dollars buys a nameplate on a tree. People can also sponsor a bench for $1,000 or a lamp post for $1,500 each. The bricks can be engraved for $40 a piece.
Cubellis said the memorial was Connolly's idea.
No, he didn't personally know anyone who died in the attacks. "We all knew them, as Americans," Connolly said. That was his inspiration.
Others contribute
The park on South Raccoon has been renamed from Trustee Park to 9-11 Memorial Park, and though the effort does seem largely an Austintown one, those in other communities have contributed. Connolly and Cubellis said the memorial was opened to the whole Valley after Cubellis met a fire chief from Lake Milton who wanted to donate. Since then, they've had donations from Youngstown, Boardman, Niles and Warren.
The committee has accounts set up to take donations at Sky Bank and Farmers National Bank. Checks should be payable to Austintown Beautification Committee. Connolly can be reached at (330) 799-0565, and Cubellis, at (330) 792-1961. The group's Web site is www.911mv.org.
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