CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY, N.Y. — Chautauqua County executive PJ Wendel was teaching a gym class when he heard what was happening in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Shanksville, Pa., on the morning of September 11, 2001.

“We ran out and got the television. Then turned it on inside the gym and were watching it. It’s one of those things you’re glued to. You couldn’t break yourself away. It was just mesmerizing to watch it unfold. It really was such a devastating attack on innocent people,” said Wendel.

Wendel says when he left school that day, he heard his friend Amy King, a United Airlines flight attendant, was in the second plane that hit the South tower.

“Hard to believe. My jaw dropped. Everything stopped again,” said Wendel.

King and Wendel grew up together and went to the same high school in West Ellicott, where Amy was an outstanding track athlete at Southwestern and a cross-country runner.

“Always had a big, glowing smile on their face. What an amazing person she was. Truly genuine [and] kind, sweet, and you just don’t ever want to forget that,” said Wendel.

There’s a memorial dedicated to King outside the high school.

“There’s never a day, a year that’s going to go by that she’s not going to be linked to that day in history that shook the world,” said Wendel.

There are other memorials and tributes to her, including one at Lucille Ball Memorial Park in Celeron and Amy King’s Playground outside her hometown YMCA in Lakewood.

The Y’s annual Amy King Run, normally held the day after Thanksgiving in Celeron, will now be known as the Amy King Memorial Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving Day in Jamestown.

“Amy isn’t able to be with her family. Is not able to celebrate. I think remembering is part of enjoying the people that you have with you. And to be thankful for the memories of those who you don’t have with you anymore, but they’re part of what brings the joy to family coming together,” said John Barber, interim CEO of the Jamestown YMCA.

As the years go by and family members who lost loved ones on Sept. 11, 2001, pass away themselves, Wendel says it’s important to never forget, and urges the community to always remember King.

“At some point, there won’t be anybody who remembers Amy. So keep that genuine story of who she was and the type of person she was going on for generations and generations,” said Wendel.

Wendel also said it’s equally important to tell the stories of those who survived the attack that day as well.

“You can’t forget them. Because once they’re gone, who’s going to tell their story? Those people who remember this so well, who lived it, who experienced it, who could tell you what the dust tasted like, and what it smelled like and everything that they saw. They’re leaving,” said Wendel.

Chautauqua County will hold its annual 9/11 remembrance ceremony outside the county courthouse in Mayville at noon Friday.

There is another marker dedicated to Amy King at the Amherst Memorial Hill Grove in Erie County.