A ceremony 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 11 will formally unveil a 9-11 memorial bench on the greenbelt just south of Pier Avenue. The bench will be decorated with 2,998 buttons representing each victim of the 9-11 terror attacks, along with flight attendant wings from American and United airlines, and badge pins from the New York police and fire departments.
Hermosa students, under the direction of the Kiwanis-sponsored Builders Club, collected more than 8,000 buttons to be embedded in the bench and on decorative rocks nearby. Hermosa Kiwanis raised money for the bench itself.
The students brought buttons from home, collected buttons from friends and loved ones, and wrote to politicians and celebrities from films, music and sports, asking for buttons.
The bench project was begun by Chaplain Gila Katz and Lt. Tom Thompson of the Hermosa Beach Police Department.
In a January letter, Builders Club President Gabrielle Wolf, 13, wrote of the bench plan to Rudy Giuliani, who was New York’s mayor during the terror attacks.
“This project is very important to us. Much like the middle school students in Tennessee who collected paper clips in memory of the Holocaust victims, we too understand the importance of tolerance and welfare of others,” Wolfe wrote. “Our ‘9/11 Bench Project’ has been the topic of discussion at our meetings since the beginning of last year.” ER
