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Rand Urged Those Who Attended Ceremony To Remember Who We Were On 9/11 2001 — A Nation That Came Together To Grieve and Recover; He Said We Need To Find Our Way Back To That Place
By Tina Traster
Nyack Mayor Joe Rand led a gorgeous 9/11 ceremony on the pier along the Hudson River in Memorial Park, marking the 25th anniversary since the Twin Towers fell, American soil was attacked, and the nation and world mourned collectively.
At times tearful, at other moments mighty, Rand, sporting a red banana in his suit’s breast pocket, paid tribute to those who lost their lives on that dreadful and unforgettable September day, reminding some 300 people gathered on the pier that we must not only ‘never forget,’ but we must ‘always remember.’
Friday’s clear blue sky echoed one of the most remembered characteristics about 9/11 – a perfect late summer day with a robin’s-egg-blue sky that filled with smoke as the towers buckled and smoldered throughout the day. Rand said many of us remember exactly where we were when we learned two commercial jets careened into New York’s buildings, while another plane plowed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C, and a fourth in a Pennsylvania field because passengers overtook terrorists in the cockpit.
However, he expressed worry that younger generations, who did not directly experience the tragedy in real time or who might merely have a hazy recollection of the day would not have the ability to keep America’s deadliness day alive without the help of those who were there to witness it.
Rand, along with Bishop Ran Stringfield, urged attendees seated on the pier with the sound of the river lapping at the rocks, to reach into their memories of what we were on 9/11 – a nation that came together to mourn and rebuild while considering how divided with are now.
The ceremony included a reading of The Firefighters Prayer, a rendition of God Bless America sung by Alessandra Francicso, and The Star Spangled Banner delivered by Nicole Stroud. As the sun began to set and gulls wheeled over the river, a small speed boat draped with a large American flag idled in the river. Members of the American Legion Post 310 and the VFW stood sentry throughout the ceremony, along with the Nyack Valley Cottage Boy Scout Troop 2.
Craig Smith, the director of the Phoenix Festival, read from The Names by Poet Laureate Billy Collins who wrote the poem to honor the victims and survivors of 9/11. “Names dropped on the ceiling of the night.” “Stitched into the cloth of the night.” “The thick tangle where letters are hidden.”
It is nearly impossible to find words that express the shock and sorrow that accompanied that infamous day, and the days, months, and years that followed. But Collins’ poem zeroes in on specific names to symbolize the humanity of an inhumane event.
Six candles were lit for victims of 9/11 – some who died on the day, others who died because of 9/11 related illness. The names: Jon Leslie Albert, Welles Remy Crowther, Ross T. Dailey II and Stacey Sennas McGowan, died on Sept. 11. Josepth Stach, Jr. and Harry Wanamaker later, from 9/11 cancer-related illnesses.
The ceremony rounded out with a tolling of bells, a color guard salute, and the playing of Taps on the trumpet by Luca Giannantonio, a Nyack High School student. As those mournful sounds rung out in the night, the sounds of children frolicking in the grass and playground at Memorial Park reminded us of the human spirt, resilience, and the joy that often exists side-by-side with loss.
