Preparing for 9/11 in Amherst

 The Town of Amherst will mark the 9-11 anniversary in various ways today.

• The by now customary ringing of the Fire Station bell at the hour of the first plane's impact

• The official ceremony takes place downtown, on the Common:

-12:30 to 1255 – Assembly.
-12:55 to 1:00 – Remarks by Selectboard Chair.
-1:00 to 1:01 – National Moment of Remembrance.
-1:01 to 1:02 – Grace Church bells ring.
-1:03 to 1:15 – Remarks by Chiefs Whitehead UMASS/PD, Livingstone APD, Nelson AFD.
-1:15 to 1:20 – Ringing of Amherst Fire Dept bell followed by a prayer and a final bell ringing .
-1:25 – Piper plays Amazing Grace. -
1:30 – Dismissal.

Among the private or unofficial commemorations.

• Many local churches are marking the day in their regular services.

• In addition, there is the collective "Memory, Healing, and Hope: An Interfaith Gathering on the 10th Anniversary of 9/11/01":

"Processions of various faith communities -- including Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Quaker, Baha'i and Buddhist -- will begin throughout the day. People of all faith communities and no faith are invited to begin gathering on the Common at 4 p.m. when bells will toll around town. After processing solemnly around the Common, we will enter Grace Episcopal Church (on the Common) at 4:30. Those who are unable to participate in the processions are welcome to gather in the church before 4:30. The service will include the reading of names of some of the dead, the sharing of prayers and readings, and a litany of healing and hope. be an interfaith procession around the Common, to the ringing of church bells at 4:00, followed by an interfaith service.

• Grace Church is also hosting a community performance of the Mozart Requiem at 7:30 p.m.


• The Remember 9/11 Committee, led by Larry Kelley and Kevin Joy, have hung a large American flag on the Common. In front of it, from 9 to 12 p.m. will be two powerful vertically aimed searchlights, echoing one of the most striking early memorials to the twin towers. There will be an open microphone at which residents may share recollections and feelings.

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[updated: the original post should have contained the list of local events, from the Daily Hampshire Gazette, 10 Sept.:]

Sunday AMHERST

· Memorial Service, 8:30 a.m., Amherst College, Memorial Hill. The gathering will feature music from the Amherst Choral Society and carillon bells, silence and words of reflection from President Carolyn A. Martin and Paul Sorrentino, director of religious life at Amherst College.

· "From Towers and Tragedy to the Birth of a Book," 1 p.m., Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, 125 West Bay Road, Amherst. Author Mordicai Gerstein tells the story behind his book "The Man Who Walked Between the Towers"

· 9/11 Commemoration, 4 p.m., Amherst town common on South Pleasant Street. An interfaith gathering.

· Memory, Healing and Hope, Interfaith Gathering, 4:30 p.m., Grace Episcopal Church, Amherst. Religious groups will hold the service, which is to include a reading of names, religious texts and prayers and a litany.

· Community Sing of Mozart Requiem in Commemoration of 9/11, 7:30 p.m., Grace Episcopal Church, 14 Boltwood Ave., Amherst. All are welcome to listen.

· Amherst Remembers 9/11, 9 p.m., Amherst town common on South Pleasant Street. Spotlights representing the Twin Towers will shine into the air until midnight, a large American flag will serve as the backdrop and a Twin Towers float from the first Independence Day parade following 9/11 will be on display.

BELCHERTOWN

· Candlelight Vigil, 5-8:30 p.m., Belchertown town common, North Main Street. The 9/11 memorial vigil is being held by the Belchertown Friends of First Responders.

EASTHAMPTON

· Remembrance Ceremony, 10 a.m., outside the Easthampton Public Safety Complex, Payson Avenue. The public event will be led by the Easthampton Fire and Police departments.

GRANBY

· Sept. 11 Memorial Service, 2 p.m., Granby town common. Members of the Fire and Police departments will be attending the special memorial service led by the Church of Christ Congregational Church of Granby.

HATFIELD

· Service of Remembrance, 10 a.m., Hatfield Congregational Church, 41 Main St. A service to honor all those who were affected by 9/11.

HADLEY

· Special 9/11 Mass, 10:30 a.m., Most Holy Redeemer Church, 120 Russell St., Hadley. Emergency responders are invited to attend the Mass, where Rev. Shaun O'Connor will offer a special 9/11 anniversary blessing.

LEVERETT

· Memorial Service of Appreciation, 7 p.m., North Leverett Baptist Church, 70 North Leverett Road. A service to remember those that died on Sept. 11 and to appreciate those who currently serve their country and communities. Keith Rivers, a retired New York City police officer, will speak about what it was like to witness the events of 9/11.

NORTHAMPTON

· Northampton's Day of Remembrance, 9:50 a.m., Northampton Fire Department, Carlon Drive. The city will commemorate the event with a moment of silence, a prayer by Chaplain Bruce Arbour and recitation of The Firefighters' Prayer.

· Movie Screening, 2 and 4 p.m., Wright Hall, Smith College, Northampton. The Media Education Foundation will screen two films, "Hijacking Catastrophe: 9/11, Fear and the Selling of American Empire" at 2 p.m. and "War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning us to Death" at 4 p.m. There will be a Q&A session with foundation Executive Director Sut Jhally and Trinity College professor of international studies Vijay Prashad following the screenings.

· Remembrance and Hope, Interfaith Community Service, 4 p.m., Smith College, Helen Hills Chapel, Northampton. The faith communities of greater Northampton will mark the tenth anniversary of 9/11 with a service of music, poetry, prayer and song.

SOUTH HADLEY

· South Hadley 9/11 Anniversary Ceremony, 1 p.m., South Hadley town common, on the corner of Routes 47 and 116. The ceremony will be led by the town's two fire districts and will include speeches and singing. Various public safety personnel and city officials will participate.

· Multifaith Service, 3 p.m., starts at South Hadley town common and continues in Abbey Memorial Chapel on the Mount Holyoke College campus. A reception will follow.

SUNDERLAND

· Service of Remembrance, 10 a.m., First Congregational Church, Sunderland. At 10:15 a.m., the special remembrance service will conclude and members of the town's police and fire departments wil attend a commemoration in Greenfield. The regular worship service will then begin.

WILLIAMSBURG

· Remembrance Service, 8:45 a.m., Williamsburg Fire Station, North Main St. Rev. Worth Noyes will speak at the event and firefighters will ring a fire engine bell in memory of those who perished on 9/11.

Monday

AMHERST

· Ringing of the Bells. The UMass campus will hear the ringing of the bells in the Old Chapel at 8:46 a.m., 9:03 a.m., 9:45 a.m., and 10:10 a.m., marking the times of the attacks on the World Trade Center towers in New York, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and the crash of the airliner in Pennsylvania on that day.

· "9/11 Plus Ten: Islam, the Middle East, and U.S. Foreign Policy," 7:30 p.m., Hampshire College, Franklin Patterson Hall. Free faculty panel chaired by professor Michael Klare.

NORTHAMPTON

· "9/11 Reflections: Ten Years Later," 4:30 p.m., Smith College, Nielson Library Browsing Room, Northampton. The Global Studies Center will host the panel discussion to offer observations and impacts of Sept. 11.

Friday-Sunday and beyond

AMHERST

· The Amherst community is invited to express their sentiments about 9/11 using markers provided in Keefe Campus Center at Amherst College.

· "9/11: How We are Different 10 Years Later," Tuesday, Sept. 20, 8 p.m., Amherst College, Converse Hall. A panel featuring professors Frank Couvares, Lawrence Douglas and Pat O'Hara, moderated by Gregory Call, dean of the faculty.

NORTHAMPTON

· "Remembering 9/11," Smith College campus exhibition runs through Dec. 22 in the Mortimer Rare Book Room, Neilson Library. The exhibit features a dozen books and photographs created by 16 artists and writers.