BELLE FOURCHE—The Belle Fourche Volunteer Fire Department invited community members to Herrmann Park on Thursday, September 11 for a 9/11 Memorial Walk at 6 p.m.
This was the fifth annual iteration of the event, where locals gathered to walk the perimeter of Herrmann Park seven times in honor of the victims who died or were otherwise affected by the national tragedy 24 years ago.
It was a community effort; Jim Grapentine with Lynn’s DakotaMart donated hot dogs for the free hot dog cart, Crazee Cow Ice Cream gave free scoops of ice cream to the first fifty customers, and CBH donated bottles of water for participants of the walk.
Alicia Giaculli thanked everyone for coming and rec- ognized those who helped put on the event before giving the mic to Trinity Hostetter, a Belle Fourche High School student, who beautifully sang the Na- tional Anthem.
Then, Patti Helmer Aurand spoke about 9/11 and led the group in a prayer and a moment of silence. “I’m sure we all remember where we were that day, the way we felt, the way we prayed, the way we came together.
We remember that day where 2,977 lives were lost among the places in New York, in D.C.,
in Pennsylvania. Chances are we could play Kevin Bacon’s six degrees of separation and maybe one or two degrees, and we knew people who were there that day,” Aurand started.
She recognized the 80,000 victims who have been diagnosed with maladies because of that day, and mentioned some individuals like Gus, who stood outside of the World Trade Center every day and always cleaned up gum to make the sidewalks look nice.
“We remember. That was the day we became the United States of America, when we came together regardless of what was going on. When strangers became neighbors, when we all looked out for each other. We remember, and it does a horrible disservice to the memories of those lives who were lost, the lives that were forever changed that day, if we dare to forget.”
After a prayer and a moment of silence, everyone gathered for a group photo in front of the American Flag before starting off on their walk. The walk was led by members of the Fire Department.
Nikki Hoyme, who helped Alicia Giaculli organize the event, noted that there were a couple of community members in attendance who were in New York during 9/11. These individuals would not like to
be recognized by name at this time, but should nonetheless be honored for their bravery and strength.
The 9/11 Memorial Walk has been part of Belle Fourche for about five years now. Giaculli stated that with next year being the 25th anniversary of 9/11, they would love to make the event bigger and have more events. A donation jar was provided for those who wanted to donate to that cause.
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