Monumental Talks returns to the Everett Civic Auditorium for its third annual 9/11 remembrance, built this year around the Fireman’s Prayer Anthem - the first anthem written for American firefighters. The words come from a poem A.W. “Smokey” Linn, a Wichita firefighter, wrote in 1957 after a fire in which three children died. French American composer Charles-Henri Avelange set it to music in 2007, working in a borrowed basement off the Mukilteo Boulevard. This year the piece was finally recorded at Sony Pictures Studios with a 90-piece orchestra, the Los Angeles Master Chorale and the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus.

Two people are recognized for their part in that history: Sharon Linn Holycross, Smokey Linn’s 75-year-old daughter, travelling from Oklahoma to accept the Fireman’s Prayer Award on her father’s behalf, and Deborah Wright of Greenbank, who lent Avelange the basement back in 2007. Holycross and Avelange have never met.

Joe Marine, Mayor of Mukilteo, returns as master of ceremonies. Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin speaks, and Don Schwab - Everett City Council president and a retired division chief with 33 years in the Everett Fire Department - reads the Fireman’s Prayer. Captain Stacy Wuthier, Commander of Naval Station Everett, leads the presentation of the colors. Veterans address the visible and invisible costs of service, the winner of the Reflections of 9/11 high school essay competition reads from the stage, and a band led by Jack Klitzman of the Seattle Theatre Group plays throughout.

Free and open to everyone - no tickets, no registration, seating is first come. All ages, families welcome, and the auditorium is wheelchair accessible. The program runs about 95 minutes. Full details at hartleymansion.com/monumental-talks-2026.