It may still seem like yesterday, but the 14th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks is Friday. For some that is a lifetime ago — a distant memory from early childhood, or something only seen in the history books.

This year’s high school seniors were still in preschool on 9/11, and most freshmen on down were not even born yet. It is possible to have young parents or employees too young to remember the day that America will never forget.

For those too young to remember, we encourage parents and educators to talk to their kids and students about 9/11 and to let them know why that day is significant.

The Powell Volunteer Fire Department will conduct a 9/11 ceremony around 6:45 p.m. Friday at the Panther football stadium prior to the start of the game, said Fire Chief Damian Dicks.

The Tribune encourages everyone to attend, or if unable to make it, take a moment to reflect on 9/11 and the impact it has had on the world.

Just in our office alone, we have employees who were near New York City when the attacks occurred, were living in coastal areas, working in Wyoming newspapers, and sitting in classrooms waiting for the adults in their lives to tell them everything was going to be all right.

The following are some of the Tribune staff’s experiences on 9/11:

• Dave Bonner, Tribune publisher and co-owner: Numbness. That was my overwhelming emotion at the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack. I was the editor of the Powell Tribune at the time, and I was glued to news reports from New York City and Washington, D.C. I remember taking an extended lunch hour and sitting in front of the television at home that Tuesday. Thinking back, I marvel at the performance of the Tribune news staff in the aftermath — overcoming the numbness to produce stories and photos from NYC with local connections that brought the tragedy to our readers in our Thursday, Sept. 13, 2001 edition. We were all New Yorkers for a time.

And we flew the American flag. We started that day to post the colors on the sidewalk in front of our building, and we have been faithful to that exercise to this day.

• Toby Bonner, Tribune general manager and co-owner: I remember it very well. I was here at the Powell Tribune prior to 7a.m. MST. I did not have any TV or radio on that would have alerted me to the tragedies that had already taken place that morning. It was nearing 8 a.m. and not a single employee had showed up for work. That seemed a bit weird, but not alarming. Then, moments later I happened to look out the picture window in my dad’s office from my desk to see him unloading a 20-inch TV from his vehicle. I thought to myself that was strange … and I went out the front door to assist him. As I approached him smiling, I asked if the New York Yankees had a morning game on TV? Dad stared back at me with a stern look … “We’re under attack,” he exclaimed. “The United States is under attack.”

We set the TV up in the mail room and sat glued to the news and watched for what seemed like hours as the reports and eye-witness footage began to trickle in to the news stations giving us more and more views of the horrible attacks. I remember watching the first Trade Center topple and then the next.

Ironically, Dad and I had just been in New York two weeks prior to the attacks in the end of August. While there, we attended a Yankees game and caught up with a good friend of mine, and former Powellite, Travis Weyer. Travis and his wife, Susanna, were in New York City working at the United Nations and they gave us a tour of the U.N. 

The morning of Sept. 11 from New York, Travis was the first person we were able to reach to interview for a Powell tie-in as a witness to the attacks for our front page coverage in the next Powell Tribune issue.

• Molly Cummings, Tribune assistant front office manager: I was in Dori Trustem’s second grade class at Southside Elementary School and don’t remember much. We did talk about what was happening in class, but I didn’t see the footage of the attacks until later.

• Dante Geoffrey, Tribune sports editor: My mom was in particularly — I don’t want to say bad — odd mood when she woke me up for school that Tuesday during the start of my eighth grade year in Oakley, California, part of the San Francisco bay area. When I passed the TV on my way to the kitchen, I found out why. Sort of. I didn’t really know what CNN was telling me, but the impact it had on my mom was enough for me to understand its gravity.

• Gib Mathers, Tribune staff writer: I was in Kemmerer working at a newspaper. I remember going to work oblivious of the attack. The radio was relaying the horrific news. The local schools were in lockdown and we were numb with shock. A couple days later we organized a candlelight vigil on the steps of the Lincoln County Courthouse to honor those who had died.

• Matt Naber, Tribune managing editor: I was a high school freshman in Iowa on 9/11. I did not see the attacks on TV until a few hours after they occurred since my teachers thought it would panic the younger students — which it did. Word spread quickly in the hallways thanks to the upperclassmen who saw it live on TV or online, and every class after that watched the news and read updates online, unsure where or when the next attack could occur.

• Ilene Olson, Tribune news editor: I was working as a reporter for the Wyoming Tribune Eagle in Cheyenne. Before leaving for work, I turned on the television just in time to see the second tower fall, and it took several moments for me to understand the image was real. Later that day, I struggled to keep my own emotions under control as I interviewed Cheyenne residents about their reactions to the terrorist attacks.

The next couple of days, I interviewed and wrote stories about two people with local connections, one of whom worked at the World Trade Center, but had stopped for a drink of orange juice before work, and the other who had been near the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., at the time of the terrorist attacks. Their descriptions of their experiences were so vivid — the fright, the horror, the smells, the sounds, the dust, the day-long walk home in terrible conditions, the exhaustion — that I felt almost as if I had lived through those experiences vicariously.

That Saturday, Sept. 15, I stayed in bed until 3 p.m., though I was awake much of that time. I didn’t want to see anyone, talk to anyone, hear anything. I just needed to decompress. I didn’t realize until then how much of an emotional toll the attacks and their aftermath had affected me.

• Becky Preston, Tribune office manager: I was on my way to work in Cody and heard it on the radio. I immediately thought of Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds.” I truly wondered if it was real. The more I listened, the more I realized it was real. When I got to work, the TV was already on and we stood watching in absolute horror as the second plane took down the second tower. We spent most of the day then watching and trying to connect with family members who were in areas that were being affected. I had a son who had been working at the Pentagon. Fortunately they were stuck in traffic and then sent home, but it took a while to find that out. Dreadful, dreadful day.

• Jamie Smith, Tribune head pressman: I was living in Tampa Bay, Florida. I was watching it on TV and I tried calling my mom and finally got through. We sat in our living rooms and watched it on TV all day long.

• Linda Weeks, Tribune media consultant: I was the marketing director for a national retailer and was at work in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, which was just one and one-half hours from New York City. I watched the attacks on TV with about 20 other associates in the company president’s office, all in shock, but most in tears. Many of us went into the city regularly for business and had friends or family who worked in the city.

• Sandy Thiel, Tribune proofreader: I clearly remember that morning. I was in the bedroom getting ready for work. I had the TV on as I usually watch the news while getting ready. It was unreal because the TV showed live coverage immediately. And then the second plane crashed into the tower. Unbelievable to watch it live on TV.