The Stephen Siller Foundation Got An Extra Climber At Charlotte’s Museum Tower
The Stephen Siller Tunnel To Towers Foundation honors the bravest among us. Those men and women in the military or first responders, who lay down their lives for you and me; our safety and our way of life. They have provided over 450 homes for the families of the fallen, eliminating a huge financial burden in their lives.
This past weekend was the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Climb held at the Museum Tower uptown. I first found out about these fundraising climbs from my friends Jeff and Linda Viner. Linda is a world class tower climber and has a heart of gold. She asked me if I would help emcee this year’s event and I heartily said yes. Not only is it a great cause, but being the wife of a retired North Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper, I am forever grateful that he is alive and well after 25 years of active service.
When I got to the event on Sunday, Jeff and Linda met me straight away and asked me if I wanted to do the climb, again that is 43 flights of stairs. For some reason I, along with my radio partner Syrell, said Yes! I am not sure why I said yes but something told me I could do it and should do it. Syrell agreed to do it with me. My friends Jeff and Linda graciously agreed to go with us slow pokes and organizer Suzanne allowed the surprise climbers to take a shot at it.
When I first entered the stairwell, I was little intimidated but that feeling did not last long. Syrell said “Catherine, how are we going to do this” and I said “one step at a time”. And so it was, one step after another, the encouragement of seasoned climbers and friends and before we knew it we had climbed all the way to the top. It was emotional for me. I cried thinking of the officers that lost their lives on 9/11 . And at the very finish stood a Captain with the FDNY, a captain that was there on 9/11. That good man put a medallion around my neck for accomplishing the goal. It was humbling. It was exhilarating. And I was one of nearly 500 people that did the same thing that day.
The reason why I am telling you this, is not to toot my own horn (although I am super proud of myself); it’s to show that YOU can do this climb too. I did not train for this , and I am only in reasonably good shape. If it weren’t for the encouragement of friends, I would not have attempted it. Here I am, YOUR friend, assuring you that you can do this when the opportunity comes around next year. Don’t worry, I will remind you in 2023.
Thanks to the people who participated this year, nearly 85,000 dollars was raised from this climb alone!
Here are a few pics from this wonderful, powerful, purposeful day.
