Letter: 9/11 Tribute

Editor, The Friday Flyer:

As the Chair of the 2021 “Canyon Lake 9/11 Tribute in Light – 20 Years Later,” I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the amazing coverage of our event. I personally thank Friday Flyer reporter Dawn Rankins for her dedication and communication with me through the planning and execution.

This was a resident-driven event that came together in less than five weeks of September 11th.  We are grateful to our mayor and city council for their support and Proclamation, our POA directors and staff, and the hundreds of Canyon Lake residents who lit up their homes in blue to memorialize those we lost, their families and friends, the survivors, our first responders and all who worked tirelessly in search, rescue and recovery.

We know today that illnesses and deaths are still occurring due to the air quality at Ground Zero and we continue to pray for the health and well-being of those involved.

We would also like to thank Oleg Zabugorsky for donating countless hours of his time to produce the video that we showed on the evening of 9/11.

Our community and local businesses generously contributed to making this happen – we are grateful to all. I am excited to announce that we raised $3,000 in donations to the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation through the generosity of our community.

Finally, I would also like to thank our committee who came together on weekly calls and daily messaging to make sure that we created this very special event: Karen Bevans, POA Director Brian & Judith Bock, Mayor Kasey Castillo, POA Director Tim Cook, Chair Ilyssa Esgar-DeCasperis and Chris Hickok, Jeannie Hoonnirun, Irma and Gil Mascorro and Craig Spielmann.

— Ilyssa Esgar-DeCasperies

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