On Sept. 11, 2001, American visitors in Niagara-on-the-Lake suddenly found themselves on the other side of the border as their country came under attack.
A year later, NOTL began a tradition that continues today.
This Sept. 11 will mark the town’s 25th annual commemoration of the attacks, and for the first time, the chamber of commerce in Lewiston, N.Y. is formally joining in.
Coun. Gary Burroughs, who was lord mayor at the time, remembers hearing about the attacks on the radio while driving to a Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority board meeting in Welland.
By the time he arrived, he said, people at the office were watching the Twin Towers in Manhattan burn down live on television.
Before 9/11, he said, travelling between NOTL and the U.S. was a much different experience. Burroughs owned a business in Lewiston and crossed the border several times a day.
“We were so close back then, the border meant nothing,” he said. “It was a different feeling back then before the borders got so tight.”
Terry Dow, interim executive director of the NOTL Chamber of Commerce, says what made Sept. 11 feel personal for those in town was its close relationship with the United States, located just across the river.
“On the day of the attacks, there were many American visitors here,” she said in an email to The Lake Report.
The NOTL chamber held the first commemoration in 2002, on the first anniversary of the attacks. Janice Thomson, its president at the time, started the tradition.
Thomson remembers the chamber’s visitor information centre, then in the lower level of the courthouse, filling with American guests trying to reach family members as news of the attacks spread.
“There was a clear feeling of uncertainty and fear among all parties,” she told The Lake Report in an email. “News of border closures were frightening for people.”
The chamber began calling hotels and bed-and-breakfast operators after receiving a federal government inquiry about how many people NOTL could accommodate if planes were redirected to Toronto. Many operators offered rooms at no cost, Thomson said.
Although the contingency plans were not needed, by mid-afternoon every available room had been booked by American and overseas visitors whose travel plans had been disrupted.
“It takes a special kind of person and organization to adapt so quickly while caring for terrified human beings in a landscape where we had limited information,” she said.
That experience made marking the first anniversary essential, Thomson said. The chamber and town brought together first responders, veterans, schoolchildren and elected officials for a ceremony intended not to draw crowds, but to show respect.
She remembers American visitors who happened upon the ceremony while walking through town and stayed afterward, in tears, to express their appreciation.
“Our tribute was sincere, built on shared grief,” she said.
Burroughs said that first ceremony carried particular weight because of NOTL’s longstanding ties to Americans across the river.
“We were integrated,” he said. “When we got to commemoration, it meant something.”
“We don’t promote it. It’s not something to promote. You just do it.”
This year’s ceremony begins at 8 a.m. at Queen’s Royal Park, honouring the 2,977 people killed in the attacks and the sacrifice of first responders.
The Upward Niagara Chamber of Commerce in Lewiston will join the NOTL chamber and town in hosting the ceremony for the 25th anniversary.
That new partnership comes as Canada and the U.S. face renewed tensions over tariffs and trade. Dow said the disagreements give this year’s cross-border gathering added significance, but not in a political sense.
“At a time when there can be disagreements between our two countries over trade, tariffs or other issues, Sept. 11 reminds us that the relationship between Canadians and Americans is much deeper than any particular political issue,” she said.
“Governments may disagree from time to time, but those relationships between people endure.”
Burroughs echoed that distinction.
“Our friendship with the people of the U.S. hasn’t changed. The governments seem to be in a mess, and I don’t know how we get out of it,” he said. “This is a people thing, and it’s not a government thing.”
For NOTL, Dow said, the attacks have “never felt like an event that happened somewhere else” because “our relationship with the United States is part of the fabric of our community.”
This year’s ceremony will feature Joshua Vacanti of Lockport, N.Y., a former contestant on The Voice, singing the national anthems. First responders, residents, businesses, elected officials and visitors are invited to attend.
The ceremony was held at the cenotaph on Queen Street until 2024, when work at the site moved it to Queen’s Royal Park. The town has supported the commemoration since its beginning, Thomson said, providing road closures, flags and other assistance. In 2024, it joined the chamber as a co-host.
The location stuck.
From there, those gathered to remember the attacks can look directly across the water to the United States and Fort Niagara.
“The new location has ultimately added another dimension to the ceremony,” Dow said.
For Thomson, the anniversary is not a milestone to be marked once and then set aside.
“This is not a landmark event, should be annual,” she said.
Dow agrees that remembrance carries a responsibility to younger generations, who did not experience the attacks firsthand.
“Remembrance only continues if each generation makes the choice to carry it forward.”
For NOTL, she said, that means remembering not only the tragedy, but “what followed that terrible day” — “people helping one another, communities coming together and neighbours standing beside neighbours.”
