Lynbrook, East Rockaway villages host solemn observances

Lynbrook Mayor Bill hendrick welcomed residents to the village’s 9/11 Memorial Garden.

Susan Grieco/Herald

Lynbrook JUnior Fire Department members saluted during the ceremonies.

Mary Malloy/Herald

East Rockaway Trustee Richard Gogarty addressed the crowd in Memorial Park.

Mary Malloy/Herald

Billy and Catherine Wren, left, and their cousins Maggie and Patrick Wren returned to their seats after placing flowers on William Wren’s memorial stone in Lynbrook.

Susan Grieco/Herald

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Sept. 11 was a day of remembrance, reflection and solemn prayer for the citizens of Lynbrook and East Rockaway, as residents observed the 11th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania.

“It’s very nice to be with other families that are in this same situation,” said Tricia Scanlon, whose sister, Maureen Lyons Olson, worked in the North Tower and died in the attacks. Scanlon attended the Village of Lynbrook’s ceremony, which was held in the 9/11 Memorial Garden, adjacent to Village Hall. “This was a lovely ceremony,” she said. “It’s just very hard.”

Dozens of residents, elected officials and victims’ relatives gathered at the garden to mark the occasion. Family members placed flowers on the stones that surrounded the memorial as the names of the fallen were read. A bell was rung 20 times to signify the lives lost, which included a Port Authority dog named Sirius.

Jean Wall lost her son Glen, who also worked in the North Tower. “It’s a day we can never forget,” she said. “We live through it every day.”

Wall said that the ceremony was very special, but the memory of losing Glen, a graduate of Lynbrook High School, stays with her and her family.

“This is very heart-wrenching,” said Anthony DeCarlo, chief of the Lynbrook Fire Department. “You have to put some of your hurt aside and you have to think of the families, and you salute the ones that we lost and honor the ones that we lost.”

Monsignor William Breslawski of Our Lady of Peace Church and Rabbi Glenn Jacob of Temple Am Echad each led prayers during the ceremony. Mayor Bill Hendrick said that the annual memorial service helps people remember and allows them to grieve.

“Let’s remember that these brave people who died represent America,” Hendrick said. “They represent us, and we will never forget them, and we’ll remember them every year.”

Deputy Mayor Alan Beach and village trustees read aloud the names of those with connections to Lynbrook who died.