HCS, Hamilton, Colgate Remember 9/11

RFH 2010, Featured Articles, News

Sun, Sep 11, 2011

A day that changed America was remembered locally this weekend.

Veterans and first responders were honored at the HCS boys soccer match Saturday night, and two services on the 10th anniversary of the attacks of 9/11 were held Sunday.

Saturday night, a color guard led members of the Hamilton fire and police departments and SOMAC onto the field before the game, and HCS student Sebastian Pendleton Witherspoon played the National Anthem on guitar.

At Colgate Sunday afternoon, about 100 people, mostly students, gathered in Memorial Chapel for an ecumenical service of remembrance Sunday afternoon.

There were comments and readings by Colgate Chaplain Mark Shiner, Rev. Putter Cox and Rabbi Dena Bodian, as well as several students.

Shiner told of how he had just moved into a new house and was doing some work when he learned of the attacks. He recalls holding his daughter, watching the news on CNN and the overwhelming urge to run and get his son who was at school. Shiner said he felt he was under attack, even though he was safe.

He also pointed out that as this year's class of first year students graduates, Colgate will have students who have no personal memories of the events of 9/11.

Colgate Professor and poet Peter Balakian read his poem, Going to Zero, which details his train ride from Utica to New York City shortly after the attacks of 9/11.

Cox asked those gathered to silently remember those who were lost that day. The silence was broken with the tolling of the chapel's bell.

Sunday night, the village's clergy held an interfaith service of remembrance and reflection at the First Baptist Church.

"We gather tonight because we believe there is hope to be found after a tragedy like this," said Rev. Wes Smith, pastor of the First Baptist Church.

The service opened with what was called a video flashback of the day 10 years ago when terrorists highjacked airliners, crashing two into the Word Trade Center's twin towers in New York City, one into the Pentagon and one plane crashed in the Pennsylvania countryside. The video was created by members of St. Mary's Catholic Church.

Interspersed with readings, prayers and hymns were reflections by several people. They included:

Tom Brackett, who told of taking pictures from the top of on of the Twin Towers just days before the tragedy of 9/11/2011 and how a brilliant computer science student of his at Colgate died in the attacks there;
Saeed Mouzaffar, a first year student and member of the Muslim Students Association at Colgate, recounted how he learned of the attacks while doing math problems in his third grade classroom;
Sylvia Roe, who said she was at a prayer service at St. Mary's when she heard a plane had struck the first tower, and thought it was an accident;
Dick Cheshire, recounted that he and his wife had just boarded a plat in Los Angeles for a trip back to Hamilton, but was stopped and had to deplane. He said that during his life he had lived in the shadow of the World Trade center, lived across the river from the Pentagon, had lived 90 miles from Shanksville, PA and for a while lived across Tampa Bay from the airport where the attackers took flight training.

Music was provided by:

Sara Hasegawa, who sang God Bless America;
The familiar local duet of Putter Cox and Reyna Stagnaro, who performed, Teach us to Number Our Days;
Cindy Martin, First Baptist's music director;
and Christopher Warren, the church's organist.

Members of the clergy and others who participated also included: