Schools, Football Game And County Remembrance Honor The 9/11 Victim From Long Valley

LONG VALLEY, NJ — In the schools and in the community this past weekend, Washington Township residents of all ages marked the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, where 2,977 people perished, including one fellow resident.

On Friday, Sept. 10, students within the Washington Township School District took part in remembering “Patriot Day,” according to Interim Superintendent Dr. Laura Morana, who told parents in her weekly update that students in all of the schools paid tribute to those lost “in a developmentally appropriate manner.”

“I still remember where I was when I first learned about the attack, while on the road, I could see the flaming towers in my rear view mirror,” Morana said. “A day that will not be forgotten."

At West Morris Central High School’s football game, later that night, the school kicked off its first home football game with a ribbon cutting. Students and spectators were excited to use the new bleachers and sound system that were both dedicated on game night.

The American Veterans Association of Washington Township, Post 1776, took part in presenting the colors, while first responders including the Long Valley First Aid Squad, Long Valley Fire Company No. 1 and Schooley’s Mountain Fire Co. 3 among them, had American flags hoisted into the air as tributes.

The Wolfpack took the game from the Spartans 36-21, lining up with a 2-0 season start, with spectators outfitted in patriotic colors for the event.

Washington Township Mayor Matt Murello, who for the week leading up to the 20th anniversary of Sept. 11, had been posting photos and daily tributes of all of the nearby memorials, his final post on Sept. 11 focusing on the memorials at the World Trade Center, for the Pentagon and for Flight 93.

In addition to attending the game this past Friday night, Murello was at the County of Morris’ 20th Anniversary Ceremony on Sept. 12, which was additionally held via livestream, the full ceremony in the video below.

Rebecca Asaro was the keynote speaker, a firefighter with the Fire Department of New York, she and her brothers following in the footsteps of their father, Carl Francis Asaro, who died at the World Trade Center.

Debra Lynn Fischer Gibbon, a Long Valley resident, was one of the lost honored from Morris County, who died at the World Trade Center.

Gibbon, who had been a member of Long Valley’s Presbyterian Church, happened to be at a meeting at Aon Risk Services Inc. on the 105th floor on Sept. 11, 2001, where she worked. She was the mother of three children, then in their teens.

According to her obituary, Gibbon had called her brother to communicate that she was safe after the North Tower was hit and he urged her to leave, but she was unable to before the second plane struck the South Tower that she was in, hitting floors beneath her.

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.