'Mojo in the Morning' to Release 3,000 Balloons in Royal Oak to Mark 9/11

and a popular radio show will team Friday morning for a special tribute to the men and women who lost their lives in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Mojo in the Morning plans to release nearly 3,000 balloons at one for every victim of the suicide airline attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon as well as the crash in Pennsylvania.

Mojo, host of the well-known WKQI 95.5 FM radio show, said he wanted to do something uplifting to remember the nearly 3,000 people who died.

“We could have just gone back and played tapes and remembered the day that way,” he said. But Mojo didn’t want to do something typical or somber. The station wanted to do something visual to mark the 10th anniversary, the DJ said.

“I was at a funeral for a friend recently,” he recalled. “The guy was young. He was only 50. He died of cancer.” At his friend’s funeral, 50 balloons were released. “They were green because he was Irish,” Mojo said. “It was just amazing to see.”

Mojo said he was moved and began thinking, “If this is what 50 balloons look like, what would several thousand look like?”

“Everything started piecing together,” he said. A party supply store donated red, white and blue balloons and tanks of helium. Next, he said the show contacted the Federal Aviation Administration to make sure releasing that many balloons would not affect air travel. Mojo said the agency had no issues with the plan and supported the tribute. The city of Royal Oak also gave a thumbs up, according to Recreation Director Tod Gazetti, as did Royal Oak firefighters.

Now the station is looking for 75-100 volunteers to help inflating the balloons with helium Friday beginning at 5 a.m. Those interested can sign up at www.timeteamdetroit.com, a website started four years ago to match volunteers with service projects.

The ceremony, which is open to the public, is scheduled to begin at Memorial Park at approximately 8:45 a.m. Friday to coincide with the first network television and radio reports of an incident at the World Trade Center in New York City. The event runs until 10 a.m.

For more information visit www.timeteamdetroit.com.

If you'd like to share your stories or memories of the 9/11 attacks or the aftermath, contact Royal Oak Patch Editor Judy Davids at judy.davids@patch.com or 248-231-4667.