Steamboat Springs will mark 9/11 with students planting thousands of flags at Yampa Valley Bank and community members gathering for a moment of silence at Yampa River Botanic Park as Americans recall the dark day 24 years ago.

“It just shows our community, and how we support one another, whether it’s supporting our first responders, remembering those who served either in the military or in this case, the people who perished on 9/11,” said PJ Wharton, president and CEO of Yampa Valley Bank. “From our perspective, it was a no-brainer, because we can support our youth by supporting projects that they put together.”

Flags of Honor 9/11 Never Forget Project

For the past decade Yampa Valley Bank has offered a space for students and community members to plant 8,500 American flags as part of the Flags of Honor 9/11 Never Forget Project. The project recognizes the 2,977 victims in the World Trade Center, 184 deaths at the Pentagon, and 40 deaths on United Airlines Flight 93 in Pennsylvania.

“It is so special because it is student-led,” Wharton said. “Kyle Case started with the whole thing, because it was not being talked about in his history class, and he brought it to our attention.”

Since then, the project has been passed down to other students from Steamboat Springs High School including Paxton and Kendra Sollars, Alley Kvols and, most recently, Sofía Scherff-Zamora.

This year volunteers will set up a grid on Tuesday, Sept. 9. At 4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 10, organizers are inviting student groups and community members to come out and help plant the flags.

At 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 10, there will be a short ceremony where Scherff-Zamora will lead a program recognizing and thanking first responders. Everyone in the community is welcome to plant flags and take part in the ceremony.

This year’s main 9/11 ceremony will take place rain-or-shine at 5 p.m. Sept. 11 at the Children’s Amphitheater in the Yampa Valley Botanic Park. The ceremony will feature 15 minutes of contemplative music, followed by remarks from community members.

At 9 a.m. Sept. 12, Yampa Valley High School students will lead flag-removal efforts.

“The visual is, again, so meaningful,” Wharton said. “When you see those thousands of flags you realize how important this is to us as United States citizens, but understanding that these students go through school, graduate and move on, it’s not easy to transition, and that’s the part I’ve been so impressed with.”

A Moment of Silence

Before moving to Steamboat Springs in June 2001, just two months before 9/11, Mary Ann Ninger had worked in the World Trade Center during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Her husband, Perry, had worked across the street in the World Financial Center. So when news of what occurred in New York on 9/11 spread, it devastated the couple.

“When Sept. 11 occurred we were fresh from New York, and it was that was our world back there that we literally watched blow up,” said Ninger, who carries on a tradition started started by local Rev. Tim Selby in 2002 and organized by Routt County resident Harriet Freiberger for many years after that. “It’s still raw, and pretty rough for a lot of us. I think everyone sheds a tear or two when they attend.”

“Most of the people who come, including ourselves, have some kind of connection to the New York area, to the World Trade Center or to 9/11 in general,” Ninger said. “It’s emotionally soothing to be able to share those memories with others.”

Serving those who serve

The owners of Johnny B. Good’s Diner in downtown Steamboat, Mike and Kathy Diemer were out mountain biking on 9/11 and didn’t immediately know it had occurred.

“Mike’s from New York, and his sister was working across the river, and his brother actually had that day off but was doing construction in one of the towers at that time,” Kathy Diemer said. “We got lucky that we didn’t lose anybody, but I think it just hit home because, with Mike being from New York, we just knew so many people that were affected, and it affected the whole country.”

The year following the attack, the Diemers decided to pay tribute to the first responders who had perished by honoring those that protect and serve their community. Since 2002, the couple has offered first responders — including firefighters, ambulance crews, paramedics, police and sheriff’s officers — a free meal on Sept. 11. The restaurant is open from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. and ready to serve those who serve.

“Mike and I are both very patriotic people, and it was the first time in our life, the first time that we as adults, where we experienced the United States being attacked,” Kathy Diemer said. “So I think it just hit home.”