Savage Words: Thank you, Gander, from a grateful American
I recently purchased season tickets to the Broadway Performance Series at the Washington Pavilion in downtown Sioux Falls. You’ve no doubt heard about the Broadway Series. When a new show approaches, the Sioux Falls area is inundated with advertising.
The series brings the best of New York to the stage at various sites around the country. It rarely disappoints. The music, the dancing, the vibe – it truly makes you feel like you’re scooting through midtown Manhattan.
The Pavilion is special. Yea, it’s in South Dakota, and many of my friends from around the country give me a strange look when I talk about how that venue, and many others, gives Sioux Falls a real cosmopolitan feel, especially downtown. We’re lucky in Brandon to be so close to it.
This year’s Broadway Series at the Pavilion had me excited. There were a couple shows I definitely wanted to see, specifically The Tina Turner Musical and Chicago the Musical.
But obviously, season tickets come with other shows. I was eager for those as well, because frankly, rarely have I been to a bad show at the Washington Pavilion.
But one show on the series schedule had me scratching my head: Come From Away.
Never heard of it, didn’t know anything about it.
Before we left for the show, I did a quick Google search about the show’s plot. Essentially, it’s about the events in the Newfoundland town of Gander in extreme eastern Canada in the week following the Sept. 11 terror attacks in New York and Washington, D.C.
Not to give everything away because I’d truly encourage you to seek this show out, but these folks in Gander came through for our country in a big way during a dark time.
Basically, when air space over the United States was closed following the airliner attacks, 34 planes with 6,595 passengers were diverted to Gander, a town of just over 11,000 surprised, but giving, residents.
Come From Away explains what happened over the next six days as this little town took care of its newfound residents.
It left an impression on me. I laughed, and more than once fought back a tear with a lump in my throat. That show hit me with an emotional haymaker.
I got home that night, and was in deep reflection. I had some idea that our country got an assist from Canada during that time following the terror attacks, I just had no idea.
It stayed with me most of the night, the overwhelming graciousness I felt for these strangers to the north. So I wrote them a quick note on their city website. It was a simple thank you, just a nod to say thanks for helping my country. I told them I wasn’t sure if Come From Away was accurate, but I had a sense it was pretty close.
I also told them that they’d forever be in my thoughts.
I didn’t know if I’d hear back from this communication I sent to a general email box on Gander’s city page. I wasn’t expecting anything. I just wanted to say thank you for helping us out.
But I did hear back. Six days later, Gander’s Tourism Development Officer Brian Williams emailed me and gave me a long rundown of what went down during that week. He said the Broadway play is actually quite accurate. That made me even happier, and more grateful.
He ended his email with a personal invitation to visit, to see the beauty of Gander, the Town Hall that served as “brain central” during the week, along with the backstory of Compassion Monument that features a piece of the World Trade Center steel.
“Although Gander and the area did not help during 9/11 for any reward or even a pat on the back, it is still very exciting for us,” he wrote.
I hope I can visit someday. I’d take Brian up on his offer. Until then, from 2,800 miles away, Brian, here’s a virtual pat on the back from a grateful American in the middle of South Dakota.
Thank you for the assistance 24 years ago.
You’ll forever be in my thoughts.