VIDEO: Greenport Remembers 9/11

Villagers did not have an I-beam from the World Trade Center nor did they have bagpipes and there was not much fanfare during their small 9/11 memorial ceremony at Mitchell Park Sunday afternoon.

What they did have was several eloquent speakers from the local clergy and the fire department, great singing of patriotic songs and a chance to collectively remember that day 10 years ago.

“This country was hit with a terrible, never-to-be-forgotten blow … horrendous,” said Rabbi Myron Fenster of the Congregation Tifereth Israel. “And there was a question then, as I recall vividly — what is our response? How does one go on? What do you do in a moment like that? I thought of a psalm at that time: ‘We’re not going to die. We’re going to live.’”

“What does one say at a time like this? I clearly don’t know … but tragedy happens all the time, every day,” said Greenport Mayor David Nyce. “And it’s what we make of it that sets us apart.”