North Idaho remembers
LOREN BENOIT/Press NYC Piano Bar co-owner Dan Schnatter is planning a special event on Tuesday to honor the police officers and firefighters who served in NYC on Sept 11, 2001. The ceremony will include representatives from local fire and law enforcement agencies, as well as a flag ceremony and the raising of a special commemorative banner. The NYC Piano Bar is located at 313 Sherman Ave. in Coeur d’Alene.
NYC Piano Bar owners Dan and Nika Schnatter will be welcoming the community to participate in a special 9/11 ceremony Tuesday to honor the police and firefighters who served that fateful day. The bar is located at 313 E. Sherman Ave. in Coeur d’Alene. The lower level, pictured here, has a classic NYC piano decor. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
COEUR d’ALENE — NYC Piano Bar co-owner Dan Schnatter wasn't in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001, but his heart was there.
Born and raised in Brooklyn and Long Island, and the son of a NYC detective, Schnatter had just started working as a music teacher at a school in Montana when the attack occurred.
“They knew I was from New York. They called me into the library to see what was happening," he recalled, seated at a table in the lower level of his piano bar Thursday afternoon.
"I didn't think it was real," he said. "Right as I went in there, the second plane hit the second tower. I remember the newscaster saying they weren’t sure if it was an accident or if it was an actual attack, that they weren’t saying what it was. And then the second plane hit and it was obvious that it was an attack."
The whole school stood outside for a moment of silence, he said, then he was asked to sing the national anthem.
"That's not an easy song to sing," he said. "Especially when you're put on the spot like that."
Schnatter's dad had friends who were at the World Trade Center. His uncle, who worked for a telephone company, just happened to have a meeting in New Jersey that morning.
"He would have been in the Trade Center that day," Schnatter said. "The pictures do not do it justice. Imagine what it was like. They didn’t know the towers were going to come down, and all these first-responders were there trying to rescue people, and then the towers came down."
Exactly two months since the NYC Piano Bar officially opened, and 17 years after that tragic day, Schnatter and wife/co-owner Nika will host a 9/11 commemoration ceremony that will include a flag presentation and representatives from the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office, Coeur d'Alene Police Department and Coeur d'Alene Fire Department.
"A lot of people, when you’re driving down the street and you see a police car, the first thing you think of is, ‘Am I speeding?’” he said. “But you got to look at these people and say, ‘These people are here to help you.’ It’s very important to understand that our police officers, our firefighters, risk their lives for you, every day, even in Coeur d’Alene."
A special banner honoring 9/11 heroes will be hung on the wall in the bar during the commemoration event.
Schnatter said North Idaho is a very nice place with low crime, "but there’s other places where it isn’t so nice."
"I just want to bring awareness to how important these people are to us," he said.
Coeur d'Alene Fire Inspector Craig Etherton said it's pretty awesome that Schnatter is having this special 9/11 event.
"It's very, very deep in his heart," Etherton said. "We’re just excited to be a part of it with him and to honor his family as well as our firefighting family. We're excited to have Dan here and have him help people remember."
The event will begin at 6 p.m. It is all ages and open to the community.
The NYC Piano Bar is located at 313 Sherman Ave.