As I write this week’s Unorganized Territory, it appears that today will be another beautiful fall day. The leaves are turning with splashes of red and gold scattered amongst the green and the sky is a brilliant blue. I’m looking forward to this weekend’s festivities—it’s Radio Waves weekend.
I can’t imagine that there is anyone who lives in Cook County or who has visited the North Shore that doesn’t know what the Radio Waves Music Festival is. Just in case, I’ll explain that it is a three-day music festival jam-packed with talented musicians—most of them from the North Shore.
It’s an amazing weekend of music performed by people we know in an incredibly fun venue. The musicians perform in a giant tent set up at the foot of what in the winter is the sledding hill in the Grand Marais Recreation Park.
There are activities for the kids who attend—face painting and arts projects. But most of the kids seem to most enjoy rolling down the grassy sledding hill or racing around and up and down the Sweetheart’s Bluff trail.
There are food vendors too, again local folks, offering melt-inyour mouth pulled pork and specialty coffees and delectable desserts. Once you settle in at Radio Waves, you can easily stay all day. People do just that, bringing blankets and chairs and picnic baskets and spending a few hours or a few days.
I have friends who live just a few blocks away from the Rec. Park who bring their RV down to the Rec. Park campground so they don’t miss any of the music.
It’s a wonderful community event and a very fitting way to spend the weekend, which inevitably aligns with one of the saddest days in our nation’s history, September 11. This year Radio Waves actually kicks off on Friday afternoon on 9/11.
This is the 8th annual Radio Waves, so the festival wasn’t impacted by that tragic day in 2001 when terrorists attacked America, crashing planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. It’s been 14 years since the horrible day—a day that like today, started with leaves changing on the North Shore and brilliant blue skies here.
None of us will ever forget seeing the smoldering, then collapsing towers set against those brilliant New York skies. We will never forget that more than 3,000 people—nearly equal to the wintertime population of Cook County—were killed that day, including almost 400 police officers and firefighters.
We shouldn’t forget. But we also shouldn’t dwell on the fear, the anger, and the sadness. Because the very best way to honor those lost is to carry on. In the days, weeks, and months immediately following the attack, the country was united in its grief and caring response.
People traveled thousands of miles to help at Ground Zero. Blood donation centers were crammed with people wanting to donate. American flags were hung from highway overpasses and store windows and attached to car antennas.
When we remember 9/11, we should remember that as well. We’re a nation of diverse and opinionated citizens, divided by party lines and different cultures and lifestyles. But when it comes down to it, we are all Americans. And we all need to remember those who were lost that terrible day.
We need to carry on with our lives and do the good that those 3,000 souls may have done if they had had the chance. Volunteer at the Food Shelf or the Violence Prevention Center or with the ambulance or fire department. Help a child with reading at a local school. Give blood. Clean up litter. Deliver meals-on-wheels. Just be kinder to one another.
And celebrate the wonderful life that we have been blessed with. Hug your kids and parents. Take time for coffee with your friends. And head to Radio Waves and dance!
That infamous day was the most powerful
reminder I have ever been given that you should
never take life for granted and should treat each
day as if it’s your last.
Bernard B. Kerik
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