World Trade Center Antenna taken to park

GIBSONBURG - As the village awaits word on whether former President George W. Bush will attend the 9/11 memorial ceremony this September, a piece of the antenna from the North Tower of the World Trade Center rode through town last week on its way to its final resting place at the Public Service Memorial in Williams Park.

Gibsonburg Village Administrator Marc Glotzbecker said the memorial is on schedule to be unveiled during a ceremony on Sept 11, though he said it remains unclear if or when Bush may respond to the invitation.

"They haven't said yes, but they haven't said no," Glotzbecker said. "It's going to be a last-minute thing."

The Gibsonburg Hilfiker School's fourth- and fifth-grade students wrote letters asking Bush to come to Gibsonburg on the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., for the unveiling of the Twin Tower antenna artifact and the Public Safety Service Memorial in the village's park.

In addition to the letters, a video was sent to Bush's office, asking him to come to Gibsonburg.

Aside from waiting to hear about the former president's possible involvement with the ceremony, Glotzbecker said work continues on plaques, benches and sculpture made by Jim Havens of Woodville that will highlight the memorial.

Havens has been sculpting for 40 years, and one of his notable public artworks is a sculpture of a kneeling chaplain in front of the Veterans Memorial at Williams Park.

The North Tower artifact, a 7,000 pound piece of the antenna, which was brought to Gibsonburg on a flatbed truck last June to be stored for the ceremony, will be positioned on the other side of the memorial, leaning against the 17-foot high rendition of the World Trade Center.

As part of the ceremony, scheduled for 1 p.m. Sept. 11 at Williams Park, veteran New York City firefighter Matt Long will share his experience during 9/11 where he and his team responded to the scene.

Prior to assisting in saving lives and clearing the scene, the team's lieutenant spoke to his team and instructed them on specific plans when entering the devastation.

Firefighter speaking at Gibsonburg ceremony

That brief speech may has saved Long's team that day, as the first tower collapsed as they were preparing to enter the area.

Long spent the months after 9/11 assisting with the clean-up efforts at Ground Zero, He returned to his station full-time and later to the FDNY Training Center where he served as an instructor for new department recruits.

The project has been paid for through multiple fundraisers and private donations.

"We set the bar at $100,000 and we have $120,000 in a year's time," Glotzbecker said.

cshoup@gannett.com

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Twitter: CraigShoupNH