Lamar Tractor Supply Company makes large donation to Tri-State 9/11 Foundation

Jaime White of Lamar Tractor Supply Company presents Doug Harbour of Tri-State 9/11 Committee with Pit Boss grill donation

Lamar’s Tractor Supply Company made a generous donation of a Pit Boss grill to the Tri-State 9/11 Tribute Foundation on Feb 9, 2024.  Jaime White, manager of the store, presented the Foundation with the grill, which uses pellets or charcoal and is valued at approximately $700.

I spoke to Doug Harbour of the non-profit Foundation about the upcoming fundraising dinner to be held on March 23, 2024.  He told me that this is the first of what will hopefully be an annual event to raise funds for additions to the group’s Memorial to the 9/11 First Responders and the military.  The Memorial is located north of Lamar “on the KLMR curve”, adjacent to the Big Timbers Museum.  When asked about his vision behind the Memorial, Harbour, a proud Marine veteran who enlisted to serve his country during the turbulent 1960s and was deployed to Vietnam in 1968, told me why he started the Foundation.  Approaching the 10^th anniversary of the tragic events that occurred on 9/11/2001, he feared that the country was beginning to forget the sacrifices that First Responders gave that day as they rushed to help victims of the tragedy, putting their own lives at risk while the entire world watched in horror as it unfolded. He vowed to preserve the memory of those Responders who, he has always felt, went through similar trauma as do soldiers engaged in combat.  His belief is that history, no matter how ugly or painful, needs to be taught to future generations and that this event, in particular, is extremely important because of how it impacted and changed our nation from that day forward.

The fundraiser will be held from 6-9 p.m. in the banquet room at Tavern 1301 (in The Historic Cow Palace) in Lamar.  Brisket dinners will be offered at $20 per plate, with all proceeds going towards the Foundation’s completion of the Memorial, specifically the purchase of two new statues that are planned.

Many more items will available in the live and silent auction and Mr. Harbour will be compiling a list of items and their donors for us to publish when the donations are complete.

By Barbara Crimond