Niagara-on-the-Lake commemorates 25 years since 9/11 with U.S. neighbours

Canadians and Americans came together in Niagara-on-the-Lake for another solemn remembrance of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

In Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada and the United States are only a river apart.

“We don’t say there’s a border, we say it’s ‘across the river,’ because they’re our neighbours and our friends,” said Stan Harrington, the past-president of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 124.

25 years ago, the United States saw one of its darkest days.

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“On that day and the days that followed, Canadians opened their homes, their airports, and their hearts — they stood with Americans, not as neighbours, but as brothers and sisters,” said Vincent Tamino, a retired firefighter with the New York City Fire Department who responded to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Lisa Jeffrey was one such Canadian.

“We took our equipment and ambulances from Canada and drove straight down to Ground Zero,” said Lisa Jeffrey, a retired paramedic. “It’s something that has always stayed with me — I feel like it was yesterday, even though it was 25 years ago.”

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For the third year in a row, Niagara-on-the-Lake marked the solemn day against the backdrop of Fort Niagara in the state of New York just across the river, but this was the first year that its American neighbours were directly involved in the planning.

“Headlines will come and go, politicians will come and go, but we remain neighbours, and we were neighbours then and we are neighbours now, and I think it’s so important to show that we still have that strong support and community,” said Amanda Haseley, the president of the Upward Niagara Chamber of Commerce.

25 years later, Sept. 11, is a day to commemorate, but according to Harrington, it’s also a day to celebrate.

“There’s just a celebration of our friendship with our neighbours, and it continues no matter what the politicians do, it’s still there, it’s always in the heart,” said Harrington. “We still support the Bills and the Sabres.”

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