By Dave Moran
Record-Journal staff
dmoran@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2224

Local Events planned for 9/11

Memorial events

Meriden: City of Meriden 9/11 Memorial Service, Friday, 7 p.m., New Life Church, 262 Bee St.
Wallingford: 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony, Friday, 8:30 a.m., Parade Grounds, Town Hall, 45 S. Main St.
Southington: Third annual 9/11 Ceremony, Friday, 10:30 a.m., The Summit at Plantsville, 261 Summit St.
Cheshire: Eighth annual Mark Jardim Memorial Jog, Oct. 11, 1 p.m., Cheshire Park, off Highland Avenue.

Friday will mark the eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, which claimed almost 3,000 lives on American soil, and there remains interest locally in commemorating the events.

Wallingford will be the only area town to hold an official ceremony, at 8:30 a.m. on the Parade Ground in front of Town Hall, 45 S. Main St. At 6:30 p.m. that evening, the town’s three volunteer fire de­partments— Yalesville, North Farms and East Wallingford — will have open hous­es, with each showing a video about Sept. 11.

Fire Chief Peter Struble said the town decided eight years ago to memorialize the day each and every year because of the severity of the attacks and the number of lives that were lost that day.

“We made the decision back in the first anniversary...that we were going to do a remembrance every year...we’ve stayed committed since then,” Struble said. “Pret­ty much the country as we know it was changed that day.”

In Meriden, New Life Church on Bee Street will hold its eighth annual City of Meriden 9/11 Memorial Service at 7 p.m. Pastor Will Marotti said the event is in­tended for the entire community.

“We’ve sort of adopted it from the city,” Marotti said. “From the very first year it’s been sort of looked at that this isn’t a New Life Church thing, this is a city of Meriden thing.”

The keynote speaker will be Stanley Praimnath, who was working on the 81st floor of the World Trade Center’s South Tower when the second plane hit. Praim­nath was trapped under a wall of debris in a stairwell but was rescued by two other survivors, including Brian Clark, who served as the keynote speaker of last year’s event.

“We’ve been doing this every year since 2002, and every year we bring in a keynote speaker. We always try and bring in someone who was there and involved with the event,” Marotti said. “Brian (Clark’s) story was so compelling last year that he suggested we con­tact Stanley, and Stanley’s story is equally com­pelling.”

The Summit at Plantsville, a nursing and re­habilitation center on Summit Street in Southing­ton, will host its third annual Sept. 11 memori­al ceremony. The event is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. and will feature speeches by members of the Southington Police and Fire departments and lo­cal politicians.

In Cheshire, the eighth annual Mark Jardim Memorial Jog, a five-kilometer fundraiser in hon­or of the Cheshire High School graduate who was killed in the attacks on the World Trade Cen­ter, is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 11. The event, which has raised more than $40,000 for Jardim's scholarship foundation, Cheshire Special Olympics, the high school’s cross country team and other area charitable organizations, will take place at 1 p.m. along the trails of Cheshire Park. Although area events continue, there is an ap­parent decrease in the number of commemora­tions, at least since the five-year anniversary.

Richard Hanley, a media professor at Quin­nipiac University in Hamden, attributes this to the simple fact that the memory of the attacks seems to be waning in the public consciousness with each successive year.

“The shock is beginning to dissipate,” Hanley said. “America has sought to move on as a nation, rightly or wrongly, from the tragedy of the at­tacks. I think all the efforts will be placed on the 10-year anniversary in two years.”