Tri-Municipal Memorial Dedicated Near River on 9/11
For Mary Cain, the anniversary of the September 11,2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center brings back haunting memories ever year of the loss of her stepson George C. Cain.
George Cain, 35, a firefighter with F.D.N.Y. Engine 16 Ladder 7, was one of the nearly 3,000 victims of the devastation caused by the hijacked planes that toppled the Twin Towers as he tried to rescue people inside.
“It seems far away until every year you stand there and listen to the 3,000 names and it comes shooting back,” said Mary Cain, a resident of Croton.
Cain, holding a small American flag, was one of several hundred onlookers that took part in the dedication of the 9/11 Remembrance Memorial at Croton Landing on the 11th anniversary. She was part of the task force of community volunteers from Cortlandt, Croton and Buchanan that set out three years ago to have a place for local residents to reflect on the seven residents with area ties that perished and others that have died since from illnesses related to their service at Ground Zero.
“I think it’s absolutely wonderful,” Cain said about the completed phase one of the project, which features a large boulder with a twisted 14-foot beam from the fallen North Tower pointing towards Manhattan in a design called “Reaching Through The Shadow.”
“All of us are here to bear witness to that day and gain strength to do things in our lives that they were stopped from doing because they were taken too soon,” she said. “It’s not just something sad. It’s something hopeful.”
The project, which ran into some financial obstacles, was spearheaded by Croton resident Janet Mainiero and was funded by community donations and contributions made by Cortlandt, Croton and Buchanan officials.
“Reaching Through The Shadow is a tremendous achievement through obstacles and odds. We could not have done what we did without the help of everyone,” a proud Mainiero said. “It is our hope that our community will not forget what happened on September 11, 2001.”
Cortlandt Supervisor Linda Puglisi, Buchanan Mayor Sean Murray and Croton Mayor Leo Wiegman credited Mainiero for her “tireless energy” in bringing all three municipalities together.
“We are here to remember them all as our heroes. They will never be forgotten,” Puglisi said. “This memorial will always remind us of that day. Our determination to live on is greater than ever before.”
Sara Sprance, whose husband was a second responder to Ground Zero and died from an illness contracted there, brought tears to Mainiero and other people’s eyes with her rendition of “America the Beautiful.”
Fundraising is already underway for the second phase of the memorial which will include a meditation garden and a bronze statue of a woman reaching to the skies, representative of those who died and those who were left behind to mourn. The task force is hoping to have the second phase completed by September 11 of next year.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/