Twenty-five years ago, nine Montclair residents left for work and never came home. On Friday, the town will gather at Watchung Plaza to say their names out loud again.
Montclair’s 25th-anniversary 9/11 ceremony begins with flower and lei placement at 8:45 a.m., coinciding with the time of the first attack on the World Trade Center, followed by the formal program at 9 a.m. at the township’s memorial in Watchung Plaza. Mayor Dr. Renee Baskerville will serve as master of ceremonies. This is a separate observance from Essex County’s larger ceremony at Eagle Rock Reservation. Below are the details for both.
Montclair’s 9/11 Ceremony Marks 25 Years
The program includes performances by the Montclair Community Band and a procession from the Police and Fire honor guards, the ceremonial units that lead ranking officers and colors into public memorials. Representatives from both departments will speak, along with a guest speaker still to be announced. Scott Frier will perform Taps, the bugle call played at military and memorial services. Flowers and leis will be placed at the memorial, a tradition that has anchored the ceremony since its earliest years.
In past years, family members of the victims have spoken directly at the podium, including widows and children of those killed on September 11, 2001. Whether a family member speaks this year has not been confirmed.
The Watchung Plaza memorial commemorates the nine people who lived in Montclair who did not survive September 11: Michael L. Collins, Caleb Arron Dack, Emeric J. Harvey, Scott M. Johnson, Howard L. Kestenbaum, Robert M. Murach, David Lee Pruim, Ron Ruben and Michael Stewart.
Headed to Eagle Rock Instead? Here’s What to Know
Essex County holds its own 9/11 ceremony the same morning, and it typically draws a larger, countywide crowd. “Essex Remembers” starts at 8 a.m. at the Essex County Eagle Rock 9/11 Memorial on Eagle Rock Avenue in West Orange, hosted by County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr. Family members of victims, elected officials and clergy from multiple faiths take part, and the program includes a wreath-laying and the raising of a new American flag. A string quartet plays at the site through the afternoon.
The Eagle Rock site was chosen because residents gathered there spontaneously in 2001, watching the towers fall from across the Hudson before the county built a permanent memorial on the spot. DiVincenzo has described it in past remarks as a place people return to for solace, citing its view and what he’s called its message of peace and hope. The county memorial lists the names of nearly 3,000 victims; you can read more about the memorial’s history, including the additions made in 2009, 2011 and 2016, in our full guide to Montclair’s 23 parks.
Essex County ceremony will be livestreamed for anyone who can’t attend in person at www.EssexCountyNJ.org and on Essex County’s Facebook page, with more information available at 973-621-4400. However you mark the day, both memorials will be open to visit long after Friday’s ceremonies end.
Photo Credit: Shutterstock
