Welcome to the 911 First Responders Memorial at Toledo Memorial Park
This cache is only available during daylight hours.
The centerpiece of the 911 memorial is a surviving beam from the wreckage of the World Trade Center disaster on September 11, 2001. The beam serves as a symbol and reminder of a first responders’ commitment and sacrifice that day and every day. The 13,000-pound portion of beam and structural steel arrived in northwest Ohio in the spring of 2016. Welded onto the end of the beam is a jib from a 1940’s-era Bucyrus Erie Crane which symbolizes a fire truck ladder. At the end of the jib is a weighted cable holding an American flag that was once flown over the United States Capitol.
The beam structure is fastened to an octagonal 70-yard reinforced concrete base which stands 9 1/2 feet tall and is designed in the shape of a bolt to symbolize the American spirit. The beam points one degree south from due east directly at the World Trade Center site. The 911 First Responders Last Call Memorial is an everlasting gift from the Park in honor of all First Responders everywhere. The monument’s name is taken from the Last Call ritual, which is observed during the service of a fallen police officer or firefighter.
The memorial was dedicated on September 10, 2016. It arrived via motorcade escorted by the city of Sylvania police and fire, Sylvania Township police and fire, and Toledo police and fire personnel from downtown Toledo to its final resting place at the First Responders Section at the Park in Sylvania, Ohio.
In 2017 the final piece of the memorial, the bell, was poured, molded, polished, and rang signifying the most touching tribute done at firefighter funerals. This one of a kind bell was made on site by the Verdin Bell Company with the world’s only bell foundry on wheels. 500 pounds of metal consisting of 12 bronze ingots weighing 40 pounds each were melted into molten liquid in just three hours. Once the furnace reached 2,200 degrees the molten bronze was poured into the custom bell mold where it cooled and hardened overnight. The mold was then released using a large bronze sledgehammer which exposed the cast bronze bell. The bell was then polished for more than four hours to ensure no detail was lost. The bell weighs 250 pounds, stands about two feet tall and rings in the musical note of E.
The inaugural ringing of the bell took place on September 11, 2017, by the Sylvania Fire Department during the city of Sylvania’s September 11 ceremony.
In order to log this cache please go to the bell on the east side of the memorial and answer the following question. You may email or message your answer to me through geocaching.com.
Along the bottom of the bell there are three insignias. Each insignia represents a group.
What are the three groups?
Please do not include your answer in your log. Any photos you wish to post are welcome but not necessary.
Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.