Our book club (I joined in 2000 when I retired, but I think the group has been meeting about 35 years) met via Zoom yesterday for a discussion of "The Day the World Came to Town, 9/11 in Gander Newfoundland." by Jim DeFede. It's worth a read just to be reminded of what fine, wonderful qualities and skills appear when a tragedy happens. We saw this in the weeks following 9/11 in the U.S., although you'd never know Americans pull together in crisis these days.
Our group benefitted greatly because we had an eyewitness share her experiences, and she's been back to Newfoundland 29 times! Her plane load went to Lewisporte. Her enthusiasm for the people and especially the story of creating a scholarship fund for the local children was infectious. When I looked up Lewsporte, I found a photo of Shirley and the 2002 class that received scholarships to go to college. We heard about the captain of her Delta flight, the fireman, the bus drivers, the local Lion's club, the bonobos, one of which came to Columbus and had a baby named "Gander," the Broadway musical "Come from Away," based on the events, the CEO who refused a free trip back to the U.S. so he could stay with his fellow passengers, the rabbi who wouldn't travel on Sunday, the tiny towns and islands, the love story and marriage of 2 stranded passengers, Shirley's meeting with Prince Charles and Camilla, Walmart and the other businesses giving all the passengers free items because their luggage had to stay on the planes (38 jumbo jets). It was just a nice, warm tale of the goodness of people.
Special scholarships for Lewisporte students a lasting legacy of 9/11 attacks | CBC News
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