25 Years: Avon FD To Mark 9/11 Anniversary With Special Service

AVON, CT — The Avon Volunteer Fire Department will hold a memorial service Friday morning to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

It all starts with a special walk at 6:15 a.m. The ceremony is scheduled for about 7:45 a.m. Friday, Sept. 11, at Avon Volunteer Fire Department Headquarters, 25 Darling Drive.

The public is invited to attend.

AVFD Chief Bruce Appell said the service will focus on three themes: “Remember, Reflect and Recommit.”

Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C., and aboard United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

The department said the anniversary is a time to remember those who died and reflect on the unity that followed the attacks.

“Right after 9/11, we stood together as one,” the department said in its invitation. “We must never lose that sense of common destiny.”

The day's events actually begin with a roughly 1.5-mile walk and run from the Church of Saint Ann on West Avon Road to the Co. 1 firehouse on Darling Drive.

Participants will gather at the church at 6:15 a.m. Friday, Sept. 11, with firefighters participating in their gear.

A memorial service will follow at the firehouse.

The ceremony will include the National Anthem, Pledge of Allegiance, a moment of silence, musical performances, and reflections from guest speakers with connections to the response following the attacks.

John Carmon, president of Carmon Community Funeral Homes, will speak.

Carmon was president of the National Funeral Directors Association at the time of the attacks and organized volunteers to assist with recovery efforts in New York.

Also scheduled to speak is Carmine Centrella, a retired career firefighter, paramedic, and fire department chief officer who responded to Ground Zero as part of the UConn Fire Department Technical Rescue Team.

Centrella participated in rescue and recovery efforts following the attacks and later held leadership roles involving homeland security and emergency-management planning at the regional and state levels.

Father George Roberts of St. James Parish in Farmington, who serves as a fire service chaplain, will offer the Firefighter's Prayer.

Retired Avon Police Officer Sue Kassey will read her memorial poem accompanied by the Sweet Adelines.

The Avon High School Choral Singers, directed by Andrew Brochu, will also perform.

Singer Nathaniel Hintz is scheduled to perform Alan Jackson's Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning), while saxophonist Mike Thrower will perform Amazing Grace. Bagpipers will also take part.