Panel raises funds for 9/11 memorial

The memorial will cover just over a half an acre.
CANFIELD -- Fairgoers got a glimpse of and a chance to contribute to a memorial for the victims of 9/11.
The memorial will be erected in the Austintown Trustees Park on Raccoon Road, across the street from the library and schools.
The memorial will cover just over a half an acre, said Paul Cubellis, co-chairman of the Austintown Beautification Committee. It will feature all the victims' names etched in black granite, a 6-by-8-inch piece of the World Trade Center, and a piece of glass from the chapel at the Pentagon.
There will also be a gazebo where visitors can relax, Cubellis said.
To raise the more than $100,000 that the memorial is expected to cost, the committee was selling 12-inch patches, badges, bricks and prints by local artist Ray Simon at a booth near the military exhibits at the fair. The booth also featured a display of what the memorial will look like.
Honor heroes
The patches honor fallen heroes, feature police and fire badges, the Statue of Liberty, or the American Eagle and American troops. Badges feature a Ray Simon painting honoring 9/11 heroes. Bricks can be engraved according to the buyer's specifications and will be used to pave walkways at the memorial, and the prints, some with space for a photo, honor veterans of World War II, the Korean and Vietnam wars, and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The patches, suitable for the backs of jackets, cost $15, badges are $3, prints are $20 and bricks are $40.
The committee's next fund raiser is a craft show and sale Sept. 11 on the site of the planned memorial. Spaces are available for $25.
For more information, call Pat Connolly, chairman, at (330) 793-0565 or Cubellis at (330) 792-1961.