Everett remembers Sept. 11 attacks with ‘Monumental Talks’ event

Published 9:33 am Saturday, September 12, 2026

EVERETT — Elected officials from Everett and Mukilteo gathered in the Everett Civic Auditorium on Friday night to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

The event, known as “Monumental Talks,” brought together dignitaries, first responders and military veterans as speakers during a two-hour performance. It was partly a somber reflection to honor the 2,977 people who died during the deadliest terror attacks in United States history and partly a joyous celebration of the country they lived in.

Local officials shared their memories of the surprise and sadness that came over them after the attacks.

“It was stunning. All I wanted to do was hold my 3-year-old daughter,” said Don Schwab, an Everett City Council member and retired firefighter. “Although I wasn’t at work, the next shift at the firehouse was somber, and from that point on, the job had changed forever.”

Dan Mathews, an Air Force veteran speaking at Friday’s event, said he was working as a flight instructor at the time of the attacks. He started out his day thinking about the rush hour traffic on his morning commute to Sea-Tac; by the time he turned the radio on, everything had changed. Mathews arrived at the airport to find business people swarming around the lobby, trying to figure out their schedules as flights were at a standstill for days.

Two weeks after the attack, according to Mathews, he traveled to Ground Zero to assist with the cleanup efforts.

“I stood there and I was changed,” Mathews said. “We all were.”

The event also showcased a musical piece composed in honor of firefighters by a French-American film composer, Charles-Henri Avelange.

Avelange, who is now based in Los Angeles, first lived to the Seattle area when he immigrated to the United States about 20 years ago, he said in an interview Wednesday. He made quick friends with local firefighters, he said.

“The firefighters and their families are the first people that I met somehow,” Avelange said. “They sort of adopted me.”

According to Avelange, in late 2006, he was in a South King County fire station at night during a ride-along when firefighters pointed him to the “Fireman’s Prayer” on the wall, a poem attributed to a Kansas firefighter, Alvin William Linn.

Avelange said he was stirred by the poem and set out to put it to music. While staying in an Everett home in 2007, he wrote the piece in about a week, he said Wednesday. It took him 19 years until he was finally able to record it with live musicians earlier in 2026 in Los Angeles, less than two years after the Palisades Fire swept through the city. He returned to Everett on Friday, nearly two decades after he wrote the piece, to play it during the “Monumental Talks” event.

“What I really hope for people to hear in this music, is it’s the loudest thank you you can possibly do for firefighters,” Avelange said.

Cassie Franklin, Everett’s mayor, said she vividly remembered the shock and heartbreak of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. But she also said people should remember the selflessness of first responders and ordinary people who came to aid of those in need.

“One of the things I remember about Sept. 11 is what happened afterword,” Franklin said. “In the middle of incredible grief and fear, people came together. They checked on neighbors, they donated blood, they volunteered and looked for ways to help the community. There was a tremendous sense that we were responsible for one another. 25 years later, I hope that spirit of unity is something we can remember, too.”

After a number of speeches, the event took on a more hopeful, celebratory tone. Dancers twirled, musicians performed, singers came and left the stage.

Near the end of the night, musician Carl Kelley performed a Louis Armstrong classic. He said the song was a reminder that even in the most difficult of times, there can be hope.

“I see trees of green, red roses too,” Kelley sang. “I see them bloom for me and you.”

“And I think to myself, ‘What a wonderful world.’”

Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.