Lakes Region marks 25th anniversary of 9/11

The 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks is Friday, and Lakes Region communities are holding events to commemorate the tragic day when 2,977 people died.

Laconia

The City of Laconia is remembering the heroes who died on 9/11 and reflecting on a day that changed the nation forever with a public ceremony.

Main Street will be shut down for the Friday, Sept. 11, event, beginning at 8 a.m. with a giant American flag hanging over the road.

“Meredith has always done some sort of 9/11 memorial. So, I reached out to the city manager, and we reached out to the police chief and the fire chief, and we all agreed with it being the 25th anniversary, that it was appropriate to be doing an event in Laconia,” Mayor Mike Bordes said. 

Fire Chief Tim Joubert said the event will start under the American flag, where people can share memories and reflect on the historic day.

After the gathering on Main Street, the event will move inside the Colonial Theatre. Bordes will deliver opening remarks at 8:40 a.m., followed by a moment of silence led by Laconia Police and Fire chaplains.

“We continue to lose first responders that responded that day. There's not a day that goes by that we're not losing another member of our communities due to 9/11-related cancers and other health illnesses. So, I think even 25 years later, that number continues to grow from the casualties of that day,” Bordes said.

At the Colonial, attendees will also view a six-minute video on the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

“It's a short video that highlights everything, all the tragedies, to really show, OK, this really happened in our country,” Joubert said. “This happened in New York, it happened in Pennsylvania. Sometimes, when you're at war, the country's far away, but this happened here. And I think it's a really good representation of what the United States was feeling that day.”

Eleventh and 12th grade students from Laconia High School, as well as students from Lakes Region Community College, will attend the city’s remembrance day events, aiming to educate younger generations about the events and unity seen throughout the country that day.

There will be a first responder tribute at 9:20 a.m., when police officers and firefighters from the area will stand to acknowledge first responders who continue to answer the call and make a difference in so many lives.

This day is particularly significant to Bordes. His loved ones died responding to the terrorist attacks 25 years ago.

“You have to remember, everybody in our communities, every single state, every single nationality, every single political party, we put everything aside, and we united around this country for the victims, for the country as a whole,” said Bordes, who also serves as a Republican in the Statehouse.

The ceremony will conclude and colors will be retired at 9:40 a.m. on Main Street.

Meredith

The Meredith Fire Department will unveil a new monument to honor those who died on Sept. 11, 2001.

A procession from the fire station to Hesky Park will start at 11:45 a.m., and the program will start at 12:01 p.m., immediately after the fire horn sounds. The procession will include a Meredith Police motorcycle and cruiser, Wamesit Engine Company Honor Guard, and bagpipe players. The Hesky Park ceremonies will be led by Pat Kelly.

The procession will then march back to the fire station for the dedication of the new 9/11 Memorial Garden.

Andrew Fialko will lay a wreath at the memorial for his sister, Jennifer Fialko. Fialko was working on the 92nd floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center, and died that day, at the age of 29. The Fialkos are summer residents of Meredith.

Town Manager Judie Milner, Fire Chief Ken Jones, Police Chief Michael Harper, and American Legion Post 33 Commander John Dever will accompany Fialko during the wreath-laying. Fire Inspector Gary Pariseau, a member of the 9/11 Remembrance Committee, said Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) is expected to attend.

Bishop Peter Libasci will bless the memorial, the fire station and the public, and Jones will close the ceremony with his remarks.

Since the project was approved about three months ago, crews from Miracle Farms have been excavating the area and getting it ready for the new memorial, located on the south side of the Meredith Fire Station lawn. Groundbreaking of the new memorial garden, which includes 3x1-foot granite monuments of the World Trade Center towers, was on July 21.

The memorial also includes 18-inch seating walls, a landscaped area, and a plaque.

Battalion Chief Daniel Daly of the New York City Fire Department, who was a captain at the time of the attacks, donated two pieces of glass he recovered while at Ground Zero. Daly collected glass to make crosses for families whose loved ones died that day. He kept three pieces of glass, with two now entrusted to the Meredith Fire Department for the memorial.

The project was spearheaded by the 9/11 Remembrance Committee, which was created by the fire department and American Legion Griggs-Wyatt Post 33.

The cost of the new memorial was about $50,000, and successful fundraising endeavors allowed its construction at no cost to the town. Donations have come through a sponsorship program with tiered levels. Money that eclipses the cost goes to the Wamesit Engine Company, the relief association for Meredith Fire, for upkeep of the property.

Tilton

The New Hampshire Veterans Home is holding a 9/11 Remembrance Day Ceremony at 11 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 11.

The keynote speaker will be Consuelo Carver, a first responder to the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, who worked at the site in the months that followed.

The ceremony will be held at the Veterans Home Town Hall, 139 Winer St. Those attending are encouraged to wear red to remember everyone who has been deployed in the U.S. Military.