GALLERY: Winter Garden 9/11 Ceremony

The city of Winter Garden on Sept. 11 dedicated its new 9/11 memorial in the small park at Main and Cypress streets adjacent to the Fire Department Headquarters. Police and fire personnel were present for the somber ceremony, which remembered the thousands of first responders and individuals who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001. The honor guards from Winter Garden's fire and police departments hoisted the state and American flags to the half-mast position, and WGFD chaplain Joshua Sauers gave the invocation and opening message.

Also speaking were Fire Chief Matt McGrew, Mayor John Rees, Deputy Police Chief Bill Sullivan, police chaplain Ray Minger and special guest Jimmy Brown, a Winter Garden resident and former New York City firefighter who was working at Station 10 at the base of the World Trade Center when the Twin Towers fell.

Brown, James Cox, Brian Sanders and Tren Trendafilov — the four men who traveled to NYC four years ago to retrieve the 700-pound piece of steel beam and return it to Winter Garden — unveiled the memorial, which sits on a black granite pedestal.

The ceremony was punctuated by a moment of silence and the ringing of the bell to honor the lives lost 14 years ago.