By Ellen S. Wilkowe
For the record, it’s Lake Ontario.
At least, according to Maureen Murray and Susan Riccardelli of Morris Plains, who were referring to the Trump Administration’s latest rebranding of a body of water—Lake Ontario to Lake America—amidst the president’s raging trade war against Canada.
For this couple, the attacks on their “great neighbor to the north” are personal, especially in the runup to today’s 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
“All of Canada took us in without a question,” Murray said. “They are our siblings and they took care of us like family.”
Riccardelli and Murray were among the thousands of “plane people” who landed in Gander, a small town in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The town of about 9,000 rose to the occasion after 38 flights were diverted there following the terror attacks in 2001. Kerry Derringer-Cashen of Morristown was on a different plane–from Dublin– and was taken in by a neighboring town.
In commemoration of the anniversary, the three women were headed back to the Canadian towns that opened their hearts and homes to them.
“Canada is not our enemy,” said Riccardelli. “They are our friends, and absolutely do not deserve to be treated this way.”
Today marks a quarter of a century since terrorists flew two hijacked jetliners into New York’s iconic Twin Towers. Two other planes were en route to Washington, D.C. when one crashed into the Pentagon and the other into a field in Shanksville, Pa.
The attacks claimed nearly 3,000 lives, including 64 in Morris County.
Throughout the week, dignitaries and residents across Morris County have come together to pay tribute to lives lost, first responders, survivors and heirs born from the ashes.
This includes Morris Plains, where Murray and Riccardelli addressed Borough School students at the 9/11 memorial at the intersection of Littleton Road and Route 53 last year.
On a national scale, this year marks the first time that a sitting president has passed on attending memorial ceremonies at Ground Zero in lower Manhattan.
Instead, President Trump will make an appearance at the Pentagon, where he has carte blanche to deliver a speech that organizers have denounced at the New York site.
The administration will be represented in New York by Vice President J.D. Vance, with scheduled appearances by the four living presidents and former first ladies: Joe and Jill Biden, Barack and Michelle Obama, George W. and Laura Bush, and Bill and Hillary Clinton.
It’s just as well, for Riccardelli.
“He would have made it about himself,” she said of Trump. “Let the Pentagon have him.”
“SCREECHING IN”
Politics and the state of the nation aside, the two women power on with their own tradition, the raising of a hybrid American and Canadian flag in their front yard.
The flag is their trademark and has accompanied them to performances of They Come From Away, a Tony-award winning Broadway production inspired by the “plane people.”
The play emerged from the 10th anniversary of 9/11, when producers and couple David Hein and Irene Sankoff wanted to create an educational documentary for schoolchildren.
Murray, Riccardelli and Derringer-Cashen also were on hand for that reunion, in which they presented the key to Morris Plains and the flag on behalf of then-Mayor Frank Druetzler to Gander Mayor Claude Elliot.
The exchange twinned Morris Plains and Gander as sister cities and Murray, Riccardelli, Derringer and Carol Maslin, of West Orange, became honorary citizens of Newfoundland, by way of a ceremony known as “screeching in.” The playful initiation involves the kissing of a cod, and taking a shot of a Newfoundland dark rum known as “screech.”
Come From Away landed at Morristown’s Mayo Performing Arts Center in March 2025, and so did the flag.
“When the play was at MPAC, we were sitting in the eighth row,” Riccardelli said. “I raised the flag and everyone cheered.”
Now the United States is embroiled in an escalating trade war, amplified by the attempted Lake Ontario-to-America name swap, plus a daily unleashing of AI-generated memes on brand with this administration.
As of Tuesday, reported the Associated Press, hundreds of everyday American products including steel, aluminum, appliances, clothing–and even cheese– are being subjected to Canadian tariff rates that range from 15-50 percent, a dollar-for-dollar match of U.S.-imposed tariffs on Canadian goods ranging from dairy products to hockey sticks.
Canada retaliated further with eight of its 10 provinces restricting or banning the sale of American alcohol, a move that resulted in a 70 percent decrease in sales, according to the Distilled Spirits Council.
Despite the frosty political exchanges, Riccardelli rests assured that our northern friends harbor no ill will toward us.
“I’m saddened and angry about our treatment of them but they don’t blame us,” Riccardelli said. “They know half the country did not support this.”
The pair took additional digs at the war in Iran, denouncing the surging costs of fuel and groceries for a “skirmish” that has lasted six months with no end in sight.
The upheaval at home has made the women that much more determined to keep their stories—and their decades-long Canadian friendships— going.
To date, the couple have taken to the road for speaking engagements. Last year they addressed the Borough School students at the 9/11 memorial in Morris Plains and since then they’ve been taking their story across the state.
“ROOM FOR ONE MORE”
The musical, which also has played to national and international audiences, has been performed at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn and has a one-month run starting Friday at the Bell Theater at Bell Works in Holmdel.
At the heart of the performances are the true stories that will remain in circulation for generations to come and the forever friendships that continue to endure and shine a light to another dark era.
This includes Mac Moss, the the director of the College of the North Atlantic, which sheltered the pair and fed them by way of its culinary students, and Kevin Tuerff, who was on the same flight from Paris as the Morris Plains couple and is portrayed as Kevin T in Come from Away.
The Canadian philosophy of “room for one more” inspired Tuerff to launch Pay it Forward 911, a charity that promotes acts of kindness among strangers, a movement that Murray and Riccardelli have taken under their wings.
As with prior visits, members of their Gander family will be gifted in gratitude, Jersey Girl style. Murray and Riccardelli hit up Just Jersey in Morristown for some Garden State- branded essentials, such as mugs and Jersey Girl chocolate.
“I can’t wait to go back and experience the camaraderie and friendships,” Riccardelli said.
Not to mention another showing of Come from Away.
Morristown has a long history of people stepping forward in pivotal moments.
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