 The evening included museum curator Ron Keller speaking about
donations to the museum of artifacts and items given in memory of
Chip Chan by his parents, who live in Peoria. Chan was one of the
thousands who lost their lives in the World Trade Center attack.
The museum also has on hand a piece of Tower One of the World
Trade Center, donated to the museum by the city of New York in 2002,
and the only copy of an address given by New York Gov. George Pataki
to the New York state legislature shortly after the attacks.
The museum also has the flight attendant suit that once belonged
to Vicki Selvaggio, an attendant for American Airlines, the airline
used by terrorists to attack the United States.
Selvaggio, who is from Springfield, was also the main speaker for
the evening. She was a flight attendant for American Airlines in
2001. She offered an emotion-filled account of her experiences in
New York City on Sept. 11 and the turmoil her family in Springfield
went through as they waited to hear from her. (See
accompanying
story.)
Selvaggio began with a brief slide show of media photos released
from the events of Sept. 11 in New York City as well as Washington,
D.C., and Pennsylvania. Among the photos were dialog slides,
including a quote from a letter Thomas Jefferson penned in 1787,
which read: "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time
with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
Michelle Fletcher of Lincoln read a poem she had written in the
weeks after the tragic events.
Her poem, written in first person, reflected the thoughts of one
who was on one of the airplanes that caused so much destruction and
loss of life. It described smoke, loss of direction, a search for a
door and a voice leading to a gate. The final lines described a
passenger calling home to loved ones to say goodbye.
The poem is a part of the collection of remembrances that has
been put together by the museum. Keller explained that shortly after
Sept. 11, the public was invited to send in their thoughts and
expressions regarding the events of that day.
[to top of second column] |
Keller offered a few remarks at the end of the evening, saying
he'd given a lot of thought to everyone trying to go back to normal
after an event like 9/11. He said that for people like Selvaggio, he
can't begin to define what normal might be, but for the rest of us,
we have a new kind of normal, a post-9/11 normal.
He expressed that this new normal should include "rolling up our
sleeves and getting our hands dirty" in our community, working to
make things better everywhere, and, as he quoted Abraham Lincoln
from the Gettysburg Address, "resolve that these dead shall not have
died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of
freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the
people shall not perish from the earth."
The night ended with the hymn "Amazing Grace," played
on bagpipes by
Steve Scaife, a member of the St. Andrew's Pipe Band.
Afterward, all the guests were invited to tour the museum and
take a look at all the displays, including the items from New York
City.
[By NILA SMITH]
 |
