9/11 commemorated at somber Rise St. Pete ceremony

More than 100 people gathered at St. Petersburg’s 9/11 memorial Wednesday morning, to commemorate the 23^rd anniversary of the terrorist attacks that shook the country.

The Rise St. Pete memorial, built around a scarred length of steel beam retrieved from the ruins of the World Trade Center in 2001, stands near the intersection of 5^th Avenue and 22^nd Street South, on the campus of the Warehouse Arts District Association.

An emotional Mark Aeling, the sculptor who designed the memorial, described the copper wing that stands behind the 9/11 steel as the wing of a phoenix, the symbol of rebirth.

A the podium: Admiral Farragut Academy President and Head of School Kevin Lockerbie.

Rebirth, rising from the ashes of tragedy and despair and working towards the future with strength and resolve, was the theme of all the morning’s speeches.

“As we remember the past 23 years, we have all had our sacrifices and our losses, both individually and collectively,” said Col. Jim O’Brien, the highly decorated Director of Operations of United States Special Operations Command, based at MacDill Air Force-base.

“But through those losses we have experienced growth, as we have learned how to move forward both as citizens and as a country. And now life continues on. We have married, attended funerals, had children and watched them grow, as they get married and have children.

“In that growth, there is the promise of a better tomorrow, as the next generation picks up the torch.”

Celeste Davis, the City of St. Petersburg’s Director of Arts, Culture & Tourism, talked about how the arts can help Americans understand and deal with the stirred emotions of such a dark event and its collective memories.

Davis recited “Rise,” the poem by St. Petersburg’s former poet laureate Helen Pruitt Wallace, which is carved into the stone base that supports the battered beam and thrusts it skyward.

The Warehouse Arts District Association’s first-ever Phoenix Awards were given out at the end of the ceremony, honoring individuals who have contributed to our community in important ways.

Midwife and educator Zulgeil Ruiz Ginés, who was unable to attend, sent a poignant video message; the other honorees were Col. Jay Powers (Ret.), who spent 22 years as a Special Forces Green Beret, and composer, musician and educator David Manson, a longtime member of the St. Petersburg College faculty and the founder of the EMIT concert series and the St. Petersburg Jazz Festival.

Musician and educator David Manson receives the Phoenix Award. Left: Lt. Col. Jerry Lavely, USAF (ret.); right: St. Petersburg sculptor Mark Aeling.