Remembering 1 October: Positive Things You Can Do In Las Vegas

1 October is a day that always cloaks our city in weird, twisted emotions. It's been six years since that horrific day, and it's been a healing journey for our community ever since.

It's a day where Las Vegas experienced tragedy and traumatic death that changed our city forever. We send our condolences to the victims, families and lives that were affected due to a chilling act of violence.

Marked as the worst mass shooting in American history, it can be easy to let darkness and negativity be the main themes of the day. However, this can be a day to connect our community together in unity to create fulfilling change.

In total, the shooter took 61 people's lives that day, according to a report from CBS. To honor the victims and create a positive wave within our community, let's create 1 October to be a day of coming together.

Donating blood is a very necessary and important thing to do for our community. It's a simple yet effective way to help out those at their most vulnerable. The Vegas Golden Knights will be hosting a blood drive with Vitalant on Sunday, October 1. The blood drive will take place outside of City National Arena from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

There are also many seminars dedicated to honoring and healing the trauma from 1 October. Catherine and Elizabeth Scherwenka have organized a seminar called "Remembrance Without Suffering." According to the Event Brite listing, Catherine and Elizabeth were both part of the Wellness Recovery for Clark County after 1 October.  This seminar is aimed to "Discover how to look beyond the pain of the past and how a tragedy can be used for personal growth."

The Vegas Strong Resiliency Center and Western Trails Equestrian Park are offering free sessions for equine EMDR therapy horses. Attendees will also learn about connection, safety and healing with these horses, the Event Brite page states.

There are also support groups across the city doing many things online and in person.  The Vegas Strong Resiliency Center will be hosting an online support group "meet-up" on Saturday, Sept. 30 from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Once again, we send our healing energy to our city and community. In unity and resilience, we move forward, honoring the memories of those we lost. Together, we heal.

You may have seen the article we posted last week about the winning design for the 1 October Memorial. There were five companies who submitted bids. Ultimately, the Clark County 1 October Memorial Committee recommends the JCJ Architecture design. The title: "Forever One."

The JCJ Architecture website goes into great detail about the inspiration for the “Forever One” design. Specifically, inspiration arose based on several listening sessions with various segments of the Las Vegas community. First, they spoke to family members of the 58 concertgoers who perished that night.

After that, listening sessions were also conducted with emergency responders, survivors, and other fans attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival in October 2017. JCJ Architecture also listened to groups of community members who have been impacted by that tragic event even though they did not attend the concert.

JCJ Architecture’s website goes on to mention what they learned from those listening sessions. First and foremost, the memorial would need space to remember the 58 people who died there. Community members noted that there should be a feeling of strength and courage in the design. Additionally, JCJ Architecture is now aware of our community's need for healing and uniting.

Surprisingly, JCJ Architecture also invited the general public to submit “creative expressions” which would honor the victims, survivors, emergency responders, and other groups affected by the tragedy. Those submissions also provided inspiration.

In my opinion, one of the most intriguing aspects of their design proposal may not be noticeable when walking through the 1 October Memorial. In fact, you will notice its unique design better from above. Even though we live here, it’s still a thrill to fly into Las Vegas and see all the lights of the Strip and our growing city.

With that in mind, the “Forever One” memorial design represents the infinity symbol. Therefore, those 18 million or so airline passengers who fly into our airport will view the memorial from above. By and large, they will see a unique “expression of light” against the rest of the Las Vegas landscape. It should be breathtaking and very emotional. Final approval for this project is expected sometime in September 2023.

Scroll down to see some amazing artist renderings of what JCJ Architecture hopes to build on the Las Vegas Strip.