Azarians walk and reflect on the 25th Anniversary of 9/11
More than 50 neighbors walked in remembrance on the 25th anniversary of September 11. Five ran in Fort Myers with $1,000 from this community behind them. The Cemetery Project grew to 43 members in a matter of weeks, and Mansion Memorial Park is just 36 wreaths from its goal. None of us did it alone. It all happened because you showed up.
October brings the next steps: our first monthly information session, flags for Veterans Day, a new way to serve a veteran one hour a month, and a community painting itself pink. Here is what we built together, and what comes next.
Twenty-Five Years: How Azario Remembered
Team Azario at the Tunnel to Towers 5K, Fort Myers.
On the morning of September 11, more than 50 Azario neighbors walked together to mark 25 years since the attacks. When we stopped, a bell rang four times, once for each hijacked plane and all who were lost with them, while the flag flew at half-staff above us. No one spoke. Nothing needed saying.
The next morning, five Azarians drove to Fort Myers to run the Tunnel to Towers 5K, a race born out of that day. They did not run alone. Our community gave $1,000 behind them, donated directly through the race’s own fundraising page, in support of Tunnel to Towers and its work ending veteran homelessness, including the Bradenton Veterans Village now taking shape right here in Manatee County. A small team, a big showing, and to everyone who gave, thank you.
We closed the month with a conversation we had promised you. Our in-depth piece with Tim Brown, the retired FDNY firefighter who survived that morning, is now live on our Substack. Tim talks about his book, The Greatest Love, and what it means to live with courage, purpose, and love after loss. If you have not read it yet, start there.
The Man Who Stayed in the Lobby
He spent decades certain that carrying the weight was the whole job. Then he found out his friends would have wanted something else from him entirely.
Wreaths Across America
A Cemetery Project volunteer at Mansion Memorial Park.
Last month we told you the Azario Genealogy Club was taking on the heart of our Wreaths Across America effort. The work has grown so much that it needs its own home. The Azario Genealogy Club has launched a spin-off group, the Cemetery Project, a collaboration between Neighbors in Service and the Genealogy Club focused entirely on our wreaths and cemetery work. In just weeks, it has grown to 43 members. If you want to help find names, photograph headstones, or map a cemetery, this is where you can help. Join us on Team Reach with code VetWreaths26.
At Mansion Memorial Park, September’s work was hands-on. Cemetery Project volunteers worked with the cemetery administration to get plot locations, then walked the grounds, photographed grave markers, and added each image to the veteran’s memorial on Find a Grave. Thirty-five of the first 50 assigned graves are complete, and the rest are scheduled for October.
The larger task is finding every plot. From earlier years of laying wreaths at Mansion, we know of about 1,700 veterans resting there, and this work will confirm the true number. A small team reviewed the cemetery’s records on-site and cataloged a sample by hand to size the job, and what they found settled the question. The records are decades old, handwritten, and fragile, and a manual approach is impractical at this scale. The next step is a technology-assisted solution, including scanning and possibly AI.
We are heading back out this month. On Thursday, October 22, the Cemetery Project is taking a veterans’ grave-mapping trip to Historic Old Memphis Cemetery, departing at 8:00 AM from the parking lot in front of the Wellness Center, with a volunteer brunch to follow. Every grave we map that morning will also guide our flags on Veterans Day. It is good work, done together, and the brunch is our thank-you. Sign up on Team Reach with code AZNIS4VETS; brunch details will follow.
Here is where sponsorship stands. Historic Old Memphis Cemetery remains fully funded. At Mansion, 1,664 wreaths are now sponsored toward the roughly 1,700 veterans we know of, up from 1,303 in our last update. That is 97.9 percent of the way there, with just 36 to go. And early signs from the cemetery’s records suggest the true number may be far higher, so reaching 1,700 is a milestone, not the finish line. Every wreath sponsored now brings us closer to a December morning when no name goes unspoken.
On Saturday, December 19, National Wreaths Across America Day, we will gather at Mansion and Old Memphis to lay the wreaths, speak the names, and remember. The ceremony is open to everyone and free to attend. If you want to help place wreaths that morning, or join the crew that retires them in early January, right after New Year’s, join the Cemetery Project on Team Reach with code VetWreaths26.
Each wreath is $17, and every one carries the same two words: Remember me.
Veterans Day Flags
Some of the 30-plus volunteers who lined Azario with flags on July 4th.
This Veterans Day, flags will honor those who served in two places that matter to us.
On Tuesday, November 10, at 8:00 AM, we line Azario with American flags, from both entrances past the guard houses and all the way around the circles at the end of each entranceway. It is now one of four flag placements we make at Azario every year: Memorial Day, July 4th, September 11, and Veterans Day. For July 4th, 30 volunteers had the job done in under two hours. Many hands make light work, and there is a place for yours. The flags will fly through the week, and we will be back at 8:00 AM on Friday, November 13, to bring them home.
On Veterans Day itself, Wednesday, November 11, we carry that honor to Historic Old Memphis Cemetery. We leave at 8:00 AM and arrive before 9:00, and in about 90 minutes we will place a Neighbors in Service flag at the grave of every veteran resting there, roughly 50 in all. The photographs and locations volunteers gathered this fall will guide us to each grave.
Those flags will stay. Five weeks later, on National Wreaths Across America Day, they will still be standing, marking every veteran’s grave so each wreath finds its place. What begins on Veterans Day comes full circle in December.
For the Azario placement and retrieval, we will meet at The Venue. For Old Memphis, we will meet in the parking lot in front of the Wellness Center. Watch Team Reach for sign-ups and carpool details; code AZNIS4VETS.
NIS Information Sessions
Starting this month, Neighbors in Service will host a regular information session at The Venue, a chance to hear where our work stands, ask your questions, and find your place in it. Each session focuses on what is happening right now, so the topic changes from month to month. All run from 4:00 to 5:30 PM.
Monday, October 19: Our Cemeteries and Veterans Day Flags. Where things stand at Mansion and Old Memphis, the latest on Wreaths Across America, and what to expect when we place flags at Old Memphis on Veterans Day.
Monday, November 16: Mentoring with ACP. How to become a mentor to a veteran or military spouse, one hour a month.
Monday, December 14: Wreaths Across America. Everything you need to know for December 19, from where to be to how to help.
Come to one, or come to all three. Watch Team Reach for details; code AZNIS4VETS.
Pillar Partner Spotlight: American Corporate Partners
After September 11, millions of Americans stepped forward to serve. Now many of them are returning to civilian life, and the hardest part of the transition is often finding the next mission. American Corporate Partners, one of our Pillar Partners, exists for exactly that moment. Since 2008, ACP’s volunteer mentors have helped more than 40,000 veterans and military spouses build new careers.
I’ve seen what this relationship can do, because I mentor through ACP myself. You do not need to be a veteran to be a mentor. You need experience, a willingness to listen, and one hour a month for a year. It is all virtual, so you can do it from your own living room. Think about who lives in this community: executives, engineers, nurses, teachers, business owners. That is exactly the experience a veteran or military spouse building a new career is looking for.
This fall, we are bringing ACP home to Azario. On Monday, November 16, from 4:00 to 5:30 PM at The Venue, our monthly information session will focus on mentoring and include light refreshments. Learn how mentoring works, ask your questions, and sign up if it feels right. Watch Team Reach for details; code AZNIS4VETS.
ACP is one of several organizations we stand behind. Each has its own home on our Substack, with a direct way to help, whether that is giving, volunteering, or becoming a mentor. Every link routes straight to the organization, so your support goes directly to the cause.
Think Pink
All month, Azario is painted pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Clubs across the community are hosting Mahjong and Bunco, pickleball and tennis, and bowling, all building toward the signature Think Pink Golf Tournament on November 2. This year's goal is $100,000, and every dollar goes to Moffitt Cancer Center for breast cancer research and care.
Neighbors in Service is proud to sponsor one of those events, the Girlfriends’ Happy Hour on Tuesday, October 27. It sold out, which says everything about how this community shows up. It is our way of standing with an effort that reaches the women who serve and have served, and so many families here at home. If you missed a seat, there are still plenty of ways to take part: join another event, come cheer on the golfers, or give directly here.
Around the Community
Beyond our own programs, we help spread the word for the veteran service organizations doing great work across our region. Both of these are coming up fast:
SRQ Vets Hibachi for Heroes, Saturday, November 7. An outdoor hibachi dinner supporting local veterans. Registration closes Sunday, October 25, at 11:59 PM, so reserve now at Hibachi.SRQVets.org.
VVAS Marine Corps Birthday Ball, Saturday, November 14, 6:00 PM, Palmetto Marriott. A community evening benefiting Our Next Mission and its work housing at-risk veterans. Plan ahead and reserve your seat at vvaservices.org/events.
Stay Connected
Four easy ways to be part of what comes next.
Azario neighbors, join us on Team Reach. This is where it all happens. You will get weekly notice of what is coming up, and it is where you sign up to take part, from the Veterans Day flags to wreath day in December. If you want to show up and lend a hand, this is the channel to be on. Use code AZNIS4VETS.
Come to an information session. Once a month at The Venue, from 4:00 to 5:30 PM, we share where our work stands and what is coming next. The topic follows whatever is happening now, and every session is a good first step if you are new. Our next session is Monday, October 19.
Join one of our collaborations. Some of our best work happens alongside Azario’s clubs, and each collaboration has its own Team Reach group:
The Azario Run/Walk Club, our collaboration behind the SRQ Vets Memorial Hike, the 9/11 Remembrance Walk, and the Tunnel to Towers 5K. Code EARWC24.
The Cemetery Project, with the Azario Genealogy Club, finding, photographing, and honoring every veteran’s grave at Mansion and Old Memphis. Code VetWreaths26.
Help us grow the circle. You are already reading this, so you are already with us. The best thing you can do now is bring someone else along. Forward this update to a neighbor and invite them to subscribe, and follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/neighborsInservice, then share a post now and then. Every new person is one more neighbor ready to stand with our veterans, military families, and first responders.
You can always reach us directly at drjack@neighborsinservice.org with questions or ideas.
Neighbors in Service is a 501(c)(3) Florida Nonprofit (EIN: 33-1691201). Educate · Strengthen · Honor. 🌐 www.neighborsinservice.org | 📧 info@neighborsinservice.org | 📱 Team Reach Code: AZNIS4VETS | 👍 facebook.com/neighborsInservice