About 130 people took part in the first ever Central Pennsylvania 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb on Saturday while bagpipers played. Some firefighters wore full gear as they ran up and down the Medlar Field stands for about an hour and a half.
Scott Fleck, one of the event’s lead organizers and an Elk County firefighter, got the idea to bring a stair climb to the Centre County region after participating in two of them in New York City. He explained what the climb symbolizes.
“The World Trade Centers they had 110 stories, and 2,200 steps is equivalent to 110 stories,” Fleck said.
John Aston, a 25-year veteran of the State College Police Department, said it was an important event.
“It’s something that’s in our backyard and thinking about all of the sacrifice of all the first responders back in 9/11 this a great way to memorialize and pay tribute to everyone who lost their lives that day,” Aston said.
As of Sunday, event organizers said they raised $6,000-$7,000 to support the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial. They expected more donations to come in.
