By JEFF EPSTEIN
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WINDSOR, Vt. — Local fire departments participated Friday in a salute to the firefighters lost at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, as well as ground zero rescue and recovery workers, and those who have since been affected by exposure to toxins at the site.
The 9-11 Memorial in New York City is in the midst of building a new extension, a dedicated space called the Memorial Glade. Part of the new area will have a path flanked by stone monoliths made of granite that was quarried and crafted in Barre, Vermont, and transported to the memorial yesterday.
The granite monoliths, each weighing between 15 and 17.5 tons, were sculpted over the past few months at the Rock of Ages granite manufacturing company of Barre by stonemasons Evan Ladd and Andy Hebert.
“Both stonemasons carried a profound appreciation for the challenges faced by those whom the Glade memorializes as they continue to work on this project,” the project’s official website states (www.911memorial.org/memorial-glade).
On Friday, their work began its journey to its new home in New York, in a convoy of trucks that wound its way down I-89 and I-91. It passed through Sharon, then White River Junction, and arrived in Windsor shortly after 4:30 p.m., zipping through quickly at regular speed.
As it did so, fire companies saluted the convoy as it went past. In Windsor, two ladder trucks raised their ladders on the Back Mountain Road bridge that carries Route 44A over I-91, suspending a large American flag between them. Equipment and firefighters from both Windsor and West Windsor participated in the salute.
Down below, apparatus from the Springfield fire department sat on I-91 in median cut-throughs with their lights on.
Other traffic saluted the saluters with honks from their car horns.
The new memorial is estimated to cost about $5 million and is being paid for by a variety of sources, including New York State, fund-raising and private donations. It’s expected to be dedicated May 30.
The work comes as advocates for 9/11 rescue and recovery workers step up efforts to get Congress to extend a compensation program for people who developed illnesses after getting exposed to dust from the fallen towers.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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