Flags commemorate 9/11 in Mitchell area
It was a perfect late summer day, the first Sunday of the NFL season and a day off for most people. But Mitchell was very still Sunday, almost as if people were observing a day of mourning.By: Tom Lawrence, The Daily Republic
Tammi Guericke noticed a different feel in the air Sunday.
It was a perfect late summer day, the first Sunday of the NFL season and a day off for most people. But Mitchell was very still Sunday, almost as if people were observing a day of mourning.
In a very real way, they were. The 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States was noted locally by a host of American flags flying in the city.
“It’s very sad, quiet and silent,” said Guericke, who was helping her son Levi remove flags from downtown Mitchell Sunday afternoon.
Levi, 13, was one of several members of Boy Scout Troop 175 who placed about 240 flags in six zones of Mitchell to mark the solemn occasion.
Levi was only 3 when the 9/11 attacks devastated the country, but he said he has learned a great deal about the day.
“It was about terrorism,” he said as he rolled up a flag on Main Street.
Flags flew elsewhere in the city, with people hanging them outside the homes and from flagpoles in their yards.
The Mitchell Exchange Club flew the “Flags of Honor” on an open stretch of land by the north Highway 37 bypass and North Main Street interchange on Saturday and Sunday.
About 300 flags were put up to honor the more than 3,000 people killed in the attacks.
Club secretary Joleen Buchholz said several people at the Northridge Baptist Church told her Sunday morning how impressive the flags looked.
Sept. 11 will always have a special meaning to her, Buchholz said.
“10 years ago today, we were in Washington, D.C., when this all happened, visiting our son,” she said Sunday evening.
They were scheduled to attend a meeting at the Capitol when the attacks were first reported, so they ended up in his home, where they watched the horror unfold on TV.
Buchholz said she recalls jet planes zipping low overhead and people feeling fear and uncertainty.
It’s one reason she helps erect the flags and why Sept. 11 will always have a special meaning to her.
“So yeah, we’ll never forget 10 years ago today,” she said. “It was a terrible experience.”
A luncheon to honor local emergency responders will be at 3 p.m. today at James Valley Community Center.
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