EASTERN SUBURBS – Over the weekend, remembrance ceremonies took place in DeWitt and Minoa to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
In Minoa, a memorial march leading from Lewis Park to the village hall on North Main Street commenced right around 8:30 in the morning on Saturday.
That march featured local first responders, the Syracuse Scottish Pipe Band and members of Simon-Parise VFW Post 9596.
Among the speakers at the ceremony were Manlius Town Supervisor Ed Theobald, Onondaga County Legislator Kevin Holmquist, New York State Senator John Mannion and Minoa Mayor Bill Brazill.
At 8:46 and 9:03—the exact minutes that planes struck the Twin Towers—the fire bells were tolled and the attendees took part in a moment of silence to pay respect to those who perished in the attacks and their aftermath.
“We all know where we were that day and what we were doing,” Brazill said. “The thing I think of is just all those people going to work that day or getting on an airplane never thinking that they would not return. Fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, friends, neighbors, military personnel. That’s what really hits home.”
At one point during the village function, former Minoa Elementary teacher Beverly Petterelli and her friends led an impromptu singing of “God Bless America” that the rest of the crowd joined.
Brazill said that moment reminded him of how the United States came together as one 20 years ago.
“Our country today desperately needs that kind of unity,” he said.
Due to pandemic-related unease, DeWitt officials held a livestreamed ceremony on Saturday afternoon that reserved its in-person attendance for local officials and event participants.
Next to the steel column pulled from the World Trade Center wreckage that stands as a permanent memorial outside the town hall, Syracuse Challenger Baseball executive director Dom Cambareri sang the national anthem to start the ceremony and “America the Beautiful” toward its close.
In between, the 174th Based Air Force Honor Guard performed the posting of the colors and the DeWitt Police Honor Guard carried out a rifle salute.
The event also featured renditions of “The Rowan Tree” and “Amazing Grace” by bagpiper Jack Heines as well as the playing of “Taps” by Dan Andrianos.
With DeWitt Police Chief Chase Bilodeau serving as the master of ceremonies, the speakers at the podium included Mannion, Congressman John Katko, Assemblymember Pamela Hunter, DeWitt Town Councilor Joe Chiarenza, Onondaga County Sheriff Eugene Conway and Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office chaplain Rev. Michael Grinnals.
“In the spirit of humanity we come here to remember those who incidentally and accidentally gave their full measure of life by dying at the hands of evil,” Grinnals said prior to his invocation. “At the same time, we renounce the very evil that brings us here today.”
Katko focused his address on the importance of appreciating the sacrifices made by firefighters, police officers and others on 9/11.
“Let us never forget those brave men and women who willingly gave their lives so that others might live,” Katko said.
Hunter said that those in attendance and those watching virtually should not forget the surviving friends and neighbors who have suffered lasting effects like post-traumatic stress or grief stemming from the loss of a parent, child, spouse or other loved one.
Before his benediction, Grinnals made the observation that Saturday’s weather was reminiscent of the completely clear blue skies of that fateful morning 20 years ago.
The DeWitt ceremony can be viewed in full on the town’s Facebook page.
