Electric violinist Frank Lima performed in Picnic Park West in Miami Lakes during a Sept. 11 tribute to the events of that day that happened 19 years ago.
Members of the town’s Veterans Committee; American Legion Post 144, Boy Scouts and Sea Scouts planted 2,977 flags in the lawn in memory of each person who died after hijacked planes crashed in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.
Lima, of Kendall, who is shown in the photo above, played a wide selection of songs, from “The Star Spangled Banner” to Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma” to American folk songs, including Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land.”
Observing a moment of silence before making speeches were Mayor Manny Cid; Vice Mayor Nelson Rodriguez and Councilmembers Joshua Dieguez, Jeffrey Rodriguez and Marilyn Ruano.
Also making remarks were Angel Vazquez, chair of the Veterans Committee; Nayib Hassan, former chair of the committee who is a candidate for town council; Gary Cardenas, commander of American Legion Post 144 and Carolina Ferreiro-Diaz, president of Pharma
Natural, Inc. which is based in Miami Lakes and sponsored the event.
Pastor Stuart Bodin of Miami Lakes United Methodist Church said a prayer and called for
Americans to love one another during turbulent times.
The speakers were joined by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue firefighters and Miami-Dade Police officers.
A helicopter from U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Miami, which is based at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport, flew over the park.
--Story and photo by Linda Trischitta.