Sept. 11 memorial services planned for Albion, Brockport

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 September 2022 at 11:54 am

Photo by Tom Rivers: Local firefighters are lined up on Main Street in Albion near a giant American flag that was held high from the ladder trucks of the Albion Fire Department and the Murray Joint Fire District (Holley Fire Department) during the Sept. 11 service last year.

Memorial observances are planned on Sept. 11 in Albion and Brockport for the 21 st anniversary of the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

The service in Albion will be at 6 p.m. on the courthouse lawn near the Sept. 11 memorial. Lynne Johnson, the Orleans County Legislature chairwoman, is scheduled to give the welcome for the event.

“There will be no forgetting September 11th,” Johnson said prior to last year’s service. “It is burned into our souls – those graphic pictures, the smoldering ash, and the endless funerals. We must hold on to our remarkable capacity to mourn those we have lost, be they friends, family or total strangers. Honor the value of all lives. They mattered on September 11th, so must all lives matter today.”

Scott Schmidt will again serve as the keynote speaker at the observance. Schmidt spent three weeks with a federal team – U.S. Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team – and assisted in collecting and identifying remains, and interviewing family members searching for loved ones. He left for New York City on Sept. 11, 2001. He was there for 20 days, including a week at Ground Zero.

Other speakers include Dale Banker, the County’s Emergency Management director. He will provide a timeline of events from Sept. 11, 2001.

The Rev. Trellis Pore will sing, “America the Beautiful.” The local honor guard of veterans will fire rifles and play Taps.

In Brockport, the 21st annual September 11th vigil will be held at the Brockport Fire Department Station #4 at 237 S. Main St., where there is a Sept. 11 memorial. There will be an opening ceremony at 8:30 a.m., followed by a ringing of the bell at 8:47 a.m., a “Ring of Gold” observance at 6 p.m. and closing ceremony at 6:30 p.m.