LQHS Band Pays Their Respects

Photo by Kristen Hernandez

At the La Quinta Park Civic Center Campus, the city of La Quinta honored those lives lost on September 11th, 2001. The Candlelight Vigil lasted from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., with many people staying past that. Citizens as well as La Quinta’s mayor, members in council, sheriff, Fire Chief, and more, attended the ceremony. The LQHS band also attended and performed moving songs for everyone to hear, including our national anthem and “America the Beautiful.”

Mayor Linda Evans started out the ceremony by thanking and welcoming the LQHS band, who began to play the national anthem. Evans spoke about the 17th anniversary and stated, “Think about that…what we were feeling when that happened.”

She then introduced Andrew Davis, a former boy scout. Multiple years ago, Davis had the idea to make a 9/11 memorial since it hit close to home. His father was meant to be in the building that day but was fortunate enough to not enter work on September 11th.

Davis also spoke of his encounter with a mother at Red Robin who unfortunately had lost her daughter in the tragic event. A tree at the La Quinta park is in honor of her, symbolized by a white ribbon tied around the trunk of the tree. He stated, “…this memorial is her grave.”

Davis had planned to raise money to make the idea of a 9/11 memorial happen for his Eagle Scout Project. He ended up raising $14,000 while the rest of the council members raised $23,000.

Evans then let the rest of the council members, sheriff, and fire chief make speeches, which brought everyone to tears. She thanked law enforcement, new and old, for risking their lives each day.

“We must [remain] united in action to honor them…It shows how well we can stick together through the tough times,” members stated.

Near the end of the ceremony, the audience raised their candles which given out at the beginning of the ceremony, taking a moment of silence. Then the LQHS band pitched in by performing ‘America The Beautiful,’ taking the ceremony to a tearful end.