Cashmere adds moving enhancements to the Spirit of America Memorial

                  Long before he brought the crowd at this year's 9/11 Spirit of America Annual Remembrance Ceremony to it's feet, Chaplain Maynard W. Atik was compassionately caring for those brought to their knees by horrific tragedy. From Oct. 2001 to May 2002, he was a volunteer chaplain with the Red Cross and later at St. Paul's Chapel. Located directly across the street from the World Trade Center site. St. Paul's Chapel became a place for exhausted police, firefighters, construction crews, rescue workers and numerous others to clean up, rest and eat. In the days and months immediately following 9/11 the call was made for clergy to come and be of comfort to the weary and Mr. Atik answered the call.

                  Born and bred in Brooklyn, New York, Mr. Atik graduated from St. Olaf College and Luther Theological Seminary. Having had many different experiences as a member of the clergy, it would be the events of 9/11 that would leave an indelible mark on him. He was living in Brooklyn at the time and was watching The Today Show when he first saw the news that a plane had hit the north tower.

Working as a volunteer chaplain in the months after 9/11 Mr. Atik remembers the "sad eyes" of the first responders. He recalls an occasion 10 years after 9/11 when he was visiting the Tower Footprints at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. A firefighter and police officer approached him and said "I'm here for my partner who was younger and faster" he says that was all they needed to say. His is a ministry of presence, often people just need to be heard and to know that there is someone willing to listen. 

                  When discussing the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, he stresses the need for not only the physical health of the first responders, but also a need for their mental health. If he were to be able to speak to a person who was there on 9/11 he says what he would ask of them would be "how has this affected you?" The reverence he has for those who served on that day is clear in his tone and recollection of events. We all remember where we were that day, but to have been a clergy member at the time, a person who others look to for guidance, must have been on a whole other level of responsibility and grief. Mr. Atik credits the grief counseling that he has undergone with being of a great help to him in coping with the aftermath of 9/11.

                  Today Mr. Atik lives in downtown Edmonds with his wife Darleen. He is a proud father of two. His son David is a flight nurse who lives in San Diego and is married with two children. His daughter Kirsten lives in Seattle working as a communications director at the University of Washington and is married with two children. Quick to tell anyone who will listen that he is not a Yankees fan, he has ushered at T-Mobile park for the Mariners for the past 15 years. He also enjoys swimming and making Santa's out of clay. 

                  To conclude his speech at the 9/11 Spirit of America Annual Remembrance Ceremony he recited these verses from a hymn by Robert Wadsworth Lowry: "Through all the tumult and the strife, I hear that music ringing. It finds an echo in my soul, how can I keep from singing? No storm can shake my inmost calm, while to that refuge clinging. Since Christ is Lord of Heaven and Earth, how can I keep from singing?"

During this year's 9/11 Spirit of America Remembrance Ceremony Mr. Atik was presented with the Spirit of America Award and it was well deserved. For a man that has seen so much tumult in the wake of the horror we all felt that day, he is a true testament to the compassion and caring that can come out of tragedy, and to hear his first hand account of the heroism and strength that he witnessed is truly inspiring.