{"id":3653,"date":"2011-11-01T16:32:53","date_gmt":"2011-11-01T23:32:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.57.196.122\/~gdatwofo\/theavtimes\/?p=3653"},"modified":"2011-11-01T19:25:04","modified_gmt":"2011-11-02T02:25:04","slug":"dedication-ceremony-for-arnie-quinones-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2011\/11\/01\/dedication-ceremony-for-arnie-quinones-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Dedication Ceremony for Arnie Quinones Park"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Wife Lori and daughter Sophia (right) and mother Sonia Del Valle (left) helped unveil the sign to the Arnie Quinones Park in Palmdale.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Arnaldo "Arnie" Quinones<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

PALMDALE \u2013 A crowd of more than 200 that included firefighters, sheriff\u2019s deputies, city officials from both Lancaster and Palmdale, and family and friends of Arnie Quinones came out Tuesday to witness the Dedication & Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Arnie Quinones Park, named in honor of the fallen firefighter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis park forever more is going to represent the best of the best of our community,\u201d said Norm Hickling, Deputy for Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich. \u201cArnie and Captain Ted Hall, they represented the best of their communities. They were willing to fight when they were in peril to protect their community.\u201d<\/p>\n

LA County firefighters Captain Ted Hall and Specialist Arnaldo “Arnie” Quinones were killed in the line of duty on Sunday, August 30, 2009, during the Station Fire, when their emergency response vehicle went over a mountain side and fell 800 feet into a steep canyon during fire suppression activities protecting Camp 16 in Palmdale.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Tuesday, several City and public safety officials paid tribute to Quinones, a Palmdale native, while unveiling the sign for the Arnie Quinones Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cA tribute and a park in his neighborhood shows that we have an opportunity to allow this memory to continue and remind everybody serving today and those that will serve in the future that this community is behind you 100 percent,\u201d said Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford. \u201cWe will never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lancaster Councilmember Sandra Johnson said the tribute held a special significance for her because her husband was a retired firefighter paramedic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all hold our heads up high for these heroes that we will never forget, for being there everyday and protecting us,\u201d Johnson said. She also presented a certificate of recognition on behalf of the City of Lancaster and the City Council. \u201cThank you to all of our heroes, we thank you everyday.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Ozzie Quinones spoke fondly of his brother.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some of the most touching words of the tribute came from Arnie Quinones\u2019 brother Ozzie, who recalled memories he had shared with his brother and plans they had made in the days leading up to his brother\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went from planning a trip to planning my brother\u2019s funeral,\u201d Ozzie Quinones said.<\/p>\n

Ozzie Quinones said the family was grateful for the outpouring of love and support they have received from the community since the tragic event.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will never forget my brother, it\u2019s impossible; As I look around, why would I want to ever forget him,\u201d said Ozzie Quinones.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
There was a helicopter flyover during the ceremony.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThank you for giving us a little light and for bringing my brother back\u2026 always remember that we will never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arnie Quinones Park, formerly known as Hillside Park, is a 10-acre site located at 50th Street West and Avenue N. The site was developed in 1995 and has 2.5 acres developed as a turf play field. Future developments of the park will include a restroom and storage building, an additional play field, and a tot lot area, according to City of Palmdale officials.<\/p>\n

Below is a tribute video to Arnie Quinones created by MGS Custom Bikes in Lancaster. Owners Mike and Paula Stafford describe Arnie as both a customer and close friend. The video shows footage of Arnie riding his custom bike he called the Ghostrider, as well as pictures from his memorial. Tuesday several motorcyclists also attended the ceremony to pay tribute to Arnie.<\/p>\n

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PALMDALE \u2013 A crowd of more than 200 that included firefighters, sheriff\u2019s deputies, city officials from both Lancaster and Palmdale, and family and friends of Arnie Quinones came out Tuesday to witness the Dedication & Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Arnie Quinones Park, named in honor of the fallen firefighter. \u201cThis park forever more is going […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3653"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}