Fontana holds September 11 remembrance ceremony | New

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 had a tremendous and tragic impact on Americans, and Janice Rutherford never forgets the sadness that engulfed the country that day.

Twenty years ago Rutherford (now San Bernardino County Overseer) was a member of Fontana City Council. She and her colleague were in Washington, DC and spoke to an elected official when they learned that two planes had crashed. At the World Trade Center in New York.

Rutherford, one of the speakers at Fontana’s 9/11 memorial service at the Steelworkers Auditorium, said the fear of additional planes attacking the Capitol was “very emotionally difficult to deal with. It was. “

She was also in Washington, DC, and was forced to stay in a hotel room as she rushed to the Twin Towers, where she wanted to help the firefighters rescue survivors, John, a former fire chief. He said it was even more painful for members of Roberts’ city council.

The Fontana representative was overwhelmed by the experience, but returned home with the determination to make a significant impact on the lives of the local population.

Since the disaster, Rutherford has established the District 2 Youth Council to help foster the positive attitudes and behaviors of young people who were not even born when the 9/11 incident happened.

Rutherford told the Fontana audience that he “wants to create the beauty of the ashes of 9/11” by encouraging people to become more civil in their speech. She said the terrorist’s goal was to arouse anger, bitterness and division, and that should not be allowed.

“Freedom, liberty, love and light always win,” she said. “We don’t have hatred in mind.”

Mayor Aquanetta Warren highlighted the same theme during the ceremony.

“Today we are stronger,” she said. “We are people of great power and hope.”