- May 6, 2024
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Local companies, Signature HealthCare and Service Center World, are each planning ceremonies to celebrate local first-responders, in honor of 9/11.
BY WAYNE GRANT | STAFF WRITER
Two local businesses will be saluting local first-responders, as well as remembering the victims and heroes of 9/11, in ceremonies kicking off this weekend.
Signature Healthcare, located at 103 N. Clyde Morris Blvd., will host a solemn ceremony featuring a butterfly release 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 11, while Service Center World, 720 S. Nova Road, is planning a family fun day for first-responders, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7.
Carol Hamilton, director of spirituality at Signature HealthCare, said the butterfly release at her company's Honoring the Heroes ceremony is meant to celebrate freedom. Those attending will hear the legend of the butterfly then take part in the release.
Naomi Weiss, district representative for Congressman Ron DeSantis, as well as representatives from local police and fire departments, will also speak at the event.
“We want to honor our hometown heroes for their dedication and commitment to protecting our community, and honor the heroes of 9/11,” Hamilton said.
Headquarterd in Kentucky, Signature HealthCare is a long-term care and rehab facility with 60 beds at its Ormond Beach location.
“We are doing this because we are part of community,” Hamilton said. “Also, this ceremony makes it possible for our residents to be part of a community event they could not otherwise attend.”
The flag will be presented by a color guard from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and lunch will be provided.
Service Center World will also be hosting an event in honor of Sept. 11, but they're going the family-fun route. The company's 9/11 Freedom Rally is meant to illustrate the idea that 9/11 is not just a day of mourning, Deanna Cisson, company vice president, said. It's also a day to celebrate America and to honor those who serve our nation and neighborhoods.
All are welcome to join in and honor local first-responders, she added. Those to be honored include firefighters, police, beach patrollers, 911 communicators, emergency workers, all veterans and their families and friends.
There will be music, classic cars, food and a kid zone, as well as fire trucks and police motorcycles.
“We have 3.5 acres, so we thought it would be a good location for an event like this,” Cisson said. “We thought we should recognize and honor these hard-working first-responders. They put their life on the line every day for us.”
Although neither event is sponsored by the city of Ormond Beach, City Manager Joyce Shanahan said that she was glad to hear that local businesses were stepping up to honor emergency workers.
“We remain enormously grateful and express sincere gratitude to our emergency responders for the sacrifices that they make each and every day, both personally and professionally, to ensure that our community is safe and that our family and loved ones are well taken care of,” she said.
