2 events to pay Sept. 11 respects

The keynote speech in Canfield will be given by an FBI senior supervisory resident agent.

STAFF REPORT

Austintown and Canfield are readying their observances for marking the anniversary of Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the nation.

The Cardinal Joint Fire District will present its seventh annual Patriot Day Ceremony at 7 p.m. Thursday on the Canfield Village Green.

The Austintown Fire Department will join the Cardinal Joint Fire District for the ceremony.

The Youngstown Police Honor Guards will also be in attendance to give a 21-gun salute, and pipe-and-drum corps and speakers from local public safety organizations will participate.

The keynote speech will be given by John Stoll, an FBI senior supervisory resident agent. Fire Chief Robert Tieche said Stoll will be talking to the crowd about his own personal experiences.

The chief said he’s not sure how turnout will be this year. “We’ve had good turnout in the last two or three years from both fire and police departments as well as citizens,” Tieche said.

Also beginning at 7 p.m. Thursday is a ceremony at Quaker Steak and Lube in Austintown.

The Austintown Fitch High School color guard will present the colors, and Kerri Minenok, a student at the Youngstown State University Dana School of Music, will sing the national anthem.

Special guests will include Pastor Lou Scalzo of Highway Tabernacle Church, who will give the invocation, and war veterans.

Displays for the Army, Navy, Austintown police and fire departments, Life Flight, Lane Life Trans and others, along with a rock-climbing wall, dog-tag maker, ladder truck, World War II truck and armored vehicles, will be set up for visitors to check out.

Tieche said the attacks on Sept. 11 are so significant to Americans because it was something that had an impact on everyone.

“I think that Sept. 11, 2001, impacted everybody’s life,” he said. “We’ll never forget what happened that day.”

For more information about the Austintown ceremony, contact Ken Jakubec at (330) 651-0329. For information about the Canfield ceremony, contact Fire Chief Robert Tieche at (330) 533-4316.