Essex County to Honor Victims of 9/11 at Eagle Rock Memorial Service

Local residents will have an opportunity to honor those who perished in the tragic attacks on 9/11 with a memorial service in West Orange. “Essex County Remembers,” a solemn ceremony at the Essex County Eagle Rock September 11th Memorial that will mark the 13th anniversary of the tragedies in New York, Washington, DC, and Pennsylvania.

The annual ceremony will honor the dozens of Essex County residents who passed, including Millburn-Short Hills residents Mark L. Charette, 38; Steven B. Lillianthal, 38; Ian Schneider, 45; Frank J. Spinelli, 44; and Patrick Murphy.

“After the attacks, people spontaneously came to Eagle Rock Reservation to view the tragedy unfold at the Twin Towers and leave cards, letters, photos and flowers in an impromptu memorial in honor of their loved ones,” Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr.

“I knew immediately that this was the natural location for a memorial because of the public attraction to this site and the unparalleled view of the World Trade Center from the lookout area. Our September 11th Memorial is a special place for people to come for solace and comfort because of its unique location and its powerful message of peace and hope,” DiVincenzo added.

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 at 8 a.m. 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 p.m.

“We must never forget the importance of this day and remember all those who lost their lives,” DiVincenzo, Jr. added. “I encourage everyone to take time out of their day to mark the 11th anniversary of September 11th and visit this revered site.”

The Essex County Eagle Rock September 11th Memorial was dedicated in October 2002, just over a year after the attacks. Its many elements pay tribute to the men and women, police officers, firefighters and other first responders who lost their lives at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, in Pennsylvania and aboard the four airplanes that crashed that day. It was the only 9/11 memorial to list all 3,000 victims’ names until 2011 when the World Trade Center Memorial was dedicated. In 2009, the Essex County 9/11 Memorial was expanded to include a monument honoring the 33 flight crew members aboard the four airplanes that crashed.

In 2011, a 7,400-pound steel and concrete artifact from the World Trade Center foundation was installed at the site and a bronze plaque was dedicated to honor emergency medical technicians who responded to Ground Zero and those who provided aid to people returning from New York across the Hudson River.

Local Essex county 9/11 memorials are listed below:

Nutley built a small garden with a steel beam recovered from Ground Zero and a plaque to memorialize those who were killed on Sept. 11.

Bloomfield has a plaque dedicated to the three residents at the base of a flag pole in a local park.

Livingston has constructed a garden to memorialize the seven residents who passed on 9/11. The garden, which is shaped like an Octagon in order to honor each resident who died. There is a sun dial in the center, constructed from steel from the World Trade center. The sun dial sits upon soil recovered from Ground Zero.

Montclair High School hosts the town’s 9/11 memorial which features a steel beam recovered from the World Trade Center.

Glen Ridge also constructed a memorial at the town’s high school, which features a tree and an engraved stone.

East Newark built a memorial a borough hall with a granite marker featuring an image of the World Trade Center.