City of Blue Ridge Receives World Trade Center Artifact

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At an emotional ceremony on Thursday, June 14th, the Fannin County 9/11 Memorial Chorus and Fannin County Choral Director Lois Taylor dedicated a World Trade Center Artifact to the City of Blue Ridge. The American spirit was in the air on Thursday as local citizens came out to a ceremony dedicating a World Trade Center Artifact to the city of Blue Ridge.

It was a journey for the artifact, that had been long in the making.

Lois Taylor, the Fannin County High School and Fannin County Middle School Choral Director, who retired at the end of this year, had a dream to bring a piece of the World Trade Center to the City of Blue Ridge, a dream that as of yesterday, became a reality.

Taylor’s idea to first bring a piece of the WTC to Blue Ridge first began in 2006.

The Fannin County Schools 9/11 Memorial Chorus was first started on September 11, 2006 as a result of an impromptu lesson by Mrs. Taylor to her students after Taylor had the idea of linking the music she was teaching to the tragic events of 9/11.

Afterwards, Taylor developed incredible relationships with two New York City composers that resulted in a six year collaboration and the bringing of a piece of the World Trade Center to the city of Blue Ridge.

The Fannin County Schools 9/11 Memorial Chorus was first asked to sing at a dedication service in 2008 at the army base Fort Benning located in Columbus, GA where they would sing original compositions written by New York City composer Hank Fellows. Then in 2010 the students were invited to sing at Arlington National Cemetery and in April, Mrs. Taylor and some of the chorus members would visit New York City to see Ground Zero.

While directing at the concert at Fort Benning, Taylor would meet a member of the Combat Veterans Association, Mike Angelastro, a retired military man who with the rest of the Combat Vets Association helps transport pieces of steel artifacts from the WTC to dedication ceremonies under a cause known as the Iron and Steel Project.

Angelastro said that when Taylor and the students came to visit New York, Taylor told him that she had received a piece of steel from the Fire Department of New York and asked him and the Combet Vets to bring it to Georgia.

The piece of steel received by Taylor is a piece of steel that was located in the North Tower of the World Trade Centers in New York City. The piece of steel was in ownership of the Port Authority of Newark, New Jersey and was given to the Fire Department of New York Family Fire Transport Association to be given as a gift to the citizens of Blue Ridge.

“What this is all about,”

Angelastro told FYN,

“when moving these sections of the World Trade Center is several things…First of all it’s Never Forget. That was the war cry after 9/11 and this is one of the ways we do that. We never forget. We transport pieces of steel to its final resting places. And it’s what you get out of it. For some people it’s helping, for some people it’s patriotism, for other it’s healing. For others it might be a combination of those. It’s what you get out of it.”

The dedication would include speeches from City of Blue Ridge authorities such as Mayor Donna Whitener, Superintendent Mark Henson, and also a representative on behalf of Georgia Speaker of the House David Ralston and Governor Nathan Deal, Ms. Kristy Lindstrom. Georgia Senator Steve Gooch was also in attendance.

The ceremony would also include a presentation of colors by the North Georgia Honor Guard, performances from the Fannin County Schools 9/11 Memorial Chorus, a memory of the victims of 9/11 by Taylor, and special presentations to the Georgia State Highway Patrol and South Carolina State Highway Patrol.

The presentation to the Georgia State Highway Patrol and South Carolina State Highway Patrol was for their help in assisting the Combat Vets Association in the parts of their 1100 mile journey through South Carolina and Georgia. Sadly, the presentation to the South Carolina State Highway Patrol was in memory of South Carolina State Trooper, Lance Corporal Jon Nash, who was killed in a traffic accident, a week after helping the Combat Vets Association through South Carolina.

The remaining leg of the journey would feature the piece of steel being carried by Vineland, New Jersey Combat Vet Tom Riggio on his motorcycle from Robbinsville, North Carolina to Blue Ridge.

Taylor, the now retired Fannin County Schools Choral Director, said of the event,

“It means the world to me to be able to honor veterans and those who lost their lives and to be able to bring a piece of the World Trade Center has been a dream of mine since 2006. I am thrilled and happy to be able to give this gift to Blue Ridge.”

The piece of steel will be displayed at the Blue Ridge Mountain Arts Center.

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