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9/11/01 heroes honored

WANT TO GO?

What: Trees of Strength memorial dedication

When: 11 a.m. today

Where: Sherrills Ford-Terrell Fire and Rescue Squad, 4011 Slanting Bridge Road

Directions: From Hickory, take Interstate 40 east to Exit 132. Turn right onto Thornburg Drive, NE / N.C. 16 South. Drive 5.2 miles and turn left onto N.C. 16. Drive 10.2 miles and turn left onto N.C. 150. Drive 4.6 miles and turn left onto Slanting Bridge Road. The fire department is on the left.

By Ragan Robinson | Hickory Daily Record

Published: September 11, 2009

HICKORY - The years since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks have unfurled as quickly as the red, white and blue flags that dotted the nation's landscape in the tearful days and months after the violence.
Today, Catawba County has two ways to mark the somber anniversary.

Green thumbs left a new memorial in the soil at the Sherrills Ford-Terrell Fire and Rescue Squad building. Members of the Catawba Valley Master Gardener Volunteer Association will dedicate this year's Tree of Strength at 11 a.m. today.

It's the eighth one they've left across the county.

The living monuments are for firefighters, police and other emergency workers who lost their lives in the line of duty. The memorials also honor personnel who continue to serve and protect Americans.

Hawksridge Farms in Hickory donates the trees.

A magnolia went in the ground at the Catawba County Firefighters Museum last year.

Greeter Eddie Cantor says it's nice to have the lasting memorial, which bloomed for the first time this year.

Trees of Strength committee member Venus Bowman thinks trees are fitting tributes.

"At its maturity, it is a sign of strength," she said. "It has life and it goes on to evolve into a symbol of the strength these people lend to the programs."

Capt. Richard Harris at the Sherrills Ford-Terrell Fire and Rescue Squad says this year's Tree of Strength will serve as a reminder that bad things sometimes happen to the best of people.

"It's in remembrance, so we don't forget what happened," he said. "But we couldn't forget anyway."