By Liz George Baristanet
Montclair will not hold a ceremony at Watchung Plaza this year to mark the 11th anniversary of 9/11. According to communications director Katya Wowk, “it was an administrative decision to wind down the 9/11 annual ceremony.” Wowk adds that the township will have a bagpiper at the September 11 council meeting and there will be a moment of silence along with a reading of the names of the victims from Montclair.
Now that the town will no longer be commemorating the anniversary annually, Wowk says she is not sure when the next commemorative ceremony would take place, but possibly on the 20th anniversary. Meanwhile, Essex County will continue its annual remembrance at the Eagle Rock 9/11 memorial this year, at 8:00am on Tuesday, September 11.
A brief program with family members who lost a loved one in the tragedies, elected officials and clergy members from diverse religious faiths will be held; memorial wreaths will be laid at the monument and a new American flag will be raised. A string quartet will perform reverent selections of music at the memorial site after the ceremony until 2:00pm.
