“Wellsville and Allegany County showed their better side and true hearts”
By Kathryn Ross, photo from the 911 Memorial,
That morning 24 years ago Thursday shocked everyone, but after the initial feelings of horror, incredulity and sadness Wellsville and Allegany County responded.
The Music On The Lawn season had ended on Labor Day week, but after 9/11 a fundraising concert was quickly organized. That night firefighters and other first responders held the flag on the library steps while bands like Steel Door and ZOAR performed free. In the darkness the crowd held hands and sang “Proud to be an American”. Hearts ached and tears flowed. MOTL’s old top hat was passed, and thousands of dollars was raised from the crowd. Later that week, it was presented to the Red Cross for their 9/11 fund.
Kath Buffington of the Allegany County Traffic Safety Board and Youth Services organized a drive to collect toothpaste, soap, eye drops, and anything else the volunteers who were cleaning up at the Twin Towers site might need. The bundles were collected and filled the newsroom at the Daily Reporter. They were delivered in person by a group of women who cooked pancakes served with Allegany County Maple syrup to the volunteers at the site.
Wayne Grant of Andover organized a campaign to purchase flags for the communities impacted by the attack on Staten Island, and for Shanksville, PA, and the Pentagon. They were flags of friendship and support from Allegany County and were delivered personally and without fanfare.
Probably the most important contribution came from the ARC. They responded to a request from Governor George Pataki to provide thousands of additional identification kits. To identify the remains. The ARC produced the kits at their facility, but helpers across the community turned out to the firehall when asked to help ready the kits for shipment. Governor Pataki sent his helicopter to the Wellsville airport to pick them up.
I don’t know who went to the site of the World Trade Center to help in those first hours or during the long weeks and months of recovery and cleanup that followed. What I do know is that Wellsville and Allegany County showed their better side and true hearts when this country faced one of the most tragic and harrowing times in its history.
On this, the 24th anniversary of 9/11, when times are so turbulent, it is important to remember that time. It was a time when black, white or tan, native or immigrant, we were all just Americans.
Kathryn Ross is a Wellsville writer, journalist, and columnist. She is a well-known community activist supporting local historical efforts like the Babcock Theater Restoration Society. She can be reached anytime, kathr_2002@yahoo.com
