- April 26, 2024
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Norman Rein spent five years collecting the items on display at the Remembrance 9/11 Tribute Exhibit.
The exhibit includes more than 200 pieces of memorabilia and 50 collages.
The collages are arranged in a timeline that spans the attacks, the response efforts and memorials.
Each one of the attack sites are represented in the order they occurred.
A 9/11 flag of honor is displayed at the center of the room.
The flag includes the names of all the victims.
Lieutenant Mike Mason of the Winter Garden Police Department loaned his Army fatigues and memorabilia from his tours of duty in Iraq to the exhibit.
Among Lieutenant Mike Mason’s momentos is a small vial of sand from Iraq.
Several posters made by school children decorate the tables and walls throughout the room.
A special area of the exhibit is dedicated to all first responders.
A memorial collage of local law enforcement officers includes the first Winter Garden police officer to lose his life in the line of duty.
An essential workers collage features responders from every industry.
Winter Garden resident Jimmy Brown, who served as a New York City firefighter, has an exhibit table that includes the helmet he wore on 9/11.
Detail of a commemorative jacket given to firefighters who served at Ground Zero.
A commemorative medal given to Pete Yachmetz for his service during the 9/11 investigation.
Pete Yachmetz’s table also features a bent spoon he found on the sidewalk several blocks from Ground Zero and pieces of the escalator foyer at the Twin Towers.
News videos from that day and photo slideshows run on two television monitors.
A wooden plaque made for the exhibit will be presented to the Winter Garden Fire Department.
Every victim of the attacks, even those who later died as a result of injuries and sickness related to the events, is represented in a special area of the exhibit.
More than 3,000 people lost their lives in the attacks and rescue operations.
Guests are invited to write down notes and share memories that will become part of the collection.
Norman Rein wants the exhibit to honor the history and serve as a reminder to learn from it.
Winter Garden resident Norman Rein worked at Ground Zero with the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team for five weeks after 9/11. He spent more than five years collecting news clippings, documentation and momentos that make up the Remembrance 9/11 Tribute Exhibit.
This free exhibit is set up in Council Chambers, Sept. 8 to 11, at Winter Garden City Hall - the place it was unveiled 10 years ago. More than 200 pieces of memorabilia and 50 collages are arranged in a timeline spanning the attacks, investigations and memorials. There is a special area honoring all first responders and essential industries, and posters made by school children decorate walls and tables throughout the room.
Norman Rein created the exhibit to honor the past but also to emphasize the need to learn from it.
“We’re exposed to the potential for something like this to happen again,” Rein said. “We have to look back at history to know what the future might be.”
