Remembrance events for 10th anniversary of 9/11
Sept. 8
- Noon at Miami University Middletown
Sept. 10
- 7:30 p.m. at Badin High School football field
Sept. 11
- 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. collection of donations for troops at Voice of America Shopping Center, Cox and Tylersville roads
- 10:30 a.m. at First Baptist Church, South Lebanon
- 1 p.m. at Lebanon Government Building, Justice Drive
- 1 p.m. at firefighter’s memorial on Monument Avenue, Hamilton
- 8:25 a.m. at Muntz Hall at University of Cincinnati Blue Ash College
- 4 to 6 p.m. at Nisbet Park, Loveland
- 4 p.m. at Voice of America Park, West Chester
- 4 p.m. at Lebanon Warrior Youth Football League, Drake Road
- 4:15 p.m. at Great Miami River Days along river, Hamilton
- 4 to 9 p.m. at Village Green Park on Wessel Drive, Fairfield
Sept. 12
- 8 p.m. at Hall Auditorium at Miami, Oxford
Organizations across the region are gathering soon to honor and remember the lives lost during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that forever changed the United States.
In Hamilton, the Butler County Fire Chief’s Association is hosting a 1 p.m. ceremony on Sunday at the Butler County Fallen Firefighter Memorial on Monument Avenue, said Liberty Twp. Fire Chief Paul Stumpf. The guest speaker is Wyoming Fire Chief Robert Rielage, a past state fire marshal.
Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones will make remarks and the department’s aviation unit will fly over during the ceremony, said Sgt. Monte Mayer.
A memorial piece of steel from the Twin Towers, currently kept by Fairfield Twp. Fire Department, will be displayed during the service.
Also in Hamilton, the Butler County Soldiers, Sailors and Pioneers Memorial will open from noon to 3 p.m. During the Great Miami River Days Festival, a ceremony, sponsored by the Michael J. Colligan Fund, will be held at 4:15 p.m. Sunday along the river, according to the city.
At the Badin and Edgewood football game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday will be a collection of non-perishable toiletry items to ship to troops. During halftime, active and retired military personnel will be recognized.
“We want to thank them for looking after the freedoms of our country,” said Badin Athletic Director Sally Kocher.
Military personnel should contact the school at (513) 863-3993, ext. 118 if they plan to attend.
On Miami University’s regional campuses in Hamilton and Middletown, free events are being conducted for the public. At noon Thursday, Miami Middletown will host a ceremony in the community center on University Boulevard. A presentation by Anne Carson, nursing instructor and Red Cross volunteer, will share her experiences as a first responder in New York at the time of the attacks.
Miami Middletown student Tony Walters, co-founder of Vets for Vets, said he wanted Carson to lead the ceremony after seeing her photographs from ground zero.
“It’s not just pictures on a magazine; she took them and they mean something to her,” Walters said.
An open forum will follow for attendees to share their experiences and refreshments.
This week, Miami Middletown and Hamilton students will decorate quilt squares with memories of 9/11, said Carrie Scherer, coordinator of student activities at Miami Middletown. The quilts will be displayed on Sept. 12.
“We have such a mix of students that some barely remember it and others know exactly where they were,” Scherer said.
Students at Miami Hamilton are teaming up Friday with the Butler County United Way Day of Caring, which supports America’s Day of Service and Remembrance, said Jessica Toglia, AmeriCorps VISTA.
Toglia is coordinating Miami’s involvement and said during last year’s event she helped paint homes in the city.
At 8 p.m. Sept. 12 on the main campus in Oxford, Peter Bergen will present “10 Years Later: How 9/11 Changed America’s Place in the World.” Free tickets for the public are available Friday at the box office in Shriver Center.
In West Chester, activities begin at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Voice of America Park including a show by the West Chester Symphony, presentation of colors by the West Chester/Liberty Veterans of Foreign Wars, and reading of names of Butler County residents killed during the War on Terror.
Doug MacMillan of Impact a Hero is the featured speaker. The Butler County Sheriff’s Office will attend, as well as at a 6 p.m. ceremony at Village Green Park in Fairfield.
From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, the Youth in Philanthropy Advisory Board at the Community Foundation of West Chester/Liberty will hold a collection for Operation Gratitude at the Voice of America Shopping Center at Cox and Tylersville roads. More information is at www.opgratitude.com/wishlist.php.
A Fairfield ceremony from 4 to 9 p.m. at Village Green Park includes the memorial piece of World Trade Center steel on display; music by Thunderbay and Jubilee Brass Quintet; a speech by MacMillan; and a candlelight vigil.
Warren County
In Warren County, the fire and police chiefs are hosting a 9/11 Memorial Ground Breaking Ceremony at 1 p.m. Sunday at 500 Justice Drive in Lebanon. The Warren County Sheriff’s Office will be present at the ceremony.
The sheriff’s office is also attending a 10:30 a.m. ceremony at First Baptist Church in South Lebanon and the 4 p.m. ceremony by the Lebanon Warrior Youth Football League at the field on Drake Road, according to a sheriff’s spokesman.
Hamilton County
In Hamilton County, a number of agencies are gathering for remembrance ceremonies.
From 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday, the Loveland Symmes Fire Department, along with the Northeast Fire Collaborative, City of Loveland and Loveland Community Firefighter’s Association, is hosting a memorial event at Nisbet Park on Harrison Avenue.
Retired New York Fire Department Battalion Chief Steve Mormimo, a first responder, is the keynote speaker; the Clermont County Symphony Orchestra will perform.
The University of Cincinnati Blue Ash College is also hosting a “Stand United in Remembrance” event beginning at 8:25 a.m. Sunday in Muntz Hall on Plainfield Road with a free breakfast at 7:30 a.m.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2179 or hpoturalski@coxohio.com.
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