Palm Harbor 9/11 memorial: Beams of light shine ahead of 25th anniversary
Remembering 9/11: Curlew Hills Memorial
Friday marks 25 years since the terrorist attacks in the U.S. on September 11, 2001, and people around the country are preparing to honor the thousands of lives lost that day. In Palm Harbor, two beams of light now shine at the 9/11 memorial ahead of the ceremonies. FOX 13’s Briona Arradondo reports.
PALM HARBOR, Fla. - A Palm Harbor memorial was illuminated with two beams of light on Wednesday evening as the community prepared to mark 25 years since the September 11 terror attacks.
Palm Harbor 9/11 memorial
What we know:
Volunteers set up the memorial area at Curlew Hills Memory Gardens on Wednesday night. Two beams of light were turned on during preparations to serve as the backdrop for Thursday morning's event.
Organizers expect between 1,500 and 2,000 people to attend the ceremony, which the venue has hosted for 15 years. Students from four local schools are participating by creating art projects focused on the attacks as part of an educational effort.
FDNY firefighter loss
What they're saying:
Retired FDNY firefighter Lee Ielpi spoke about his experience searching for his son, Jonathan, who was also an FDNY firefighter and died responding to the attacks. Ielpi spent nine months working in recovery efforts at the site, finding his son after three months.
"The men and women who worked at that site," Ielpi said. "They weren’t just firemen or police, they were civilians. Those men and women on their hands and knees every day, retrieved 19,900 and some odd body parts."
He expressed relief that his son was found intact in his uniform.
9/11 anniversary details
What we don't know:
Officials have not released the full schedule of speakers or the complete list of participating school groups for Thursday's ceremony.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Briona Arradondo, who reported from Curlew Hills Memory Gardens, as well as an interview with retired FDNY firefighter Lee Ielpi.