9/11 vigil held at Rockville Centre's village green

“It’s very important we do this each year,” Mayor Mary Bossart said during the candlelight vigil commemorating Sept. 11 last Sunday evening. “We wish [the families] peace and consolation.”

During the 25-minute gathering at the 9/11 memorial at Village Green, Bossart and other Rockville Centre dignitaries spoke from the heart as they remembered each village resident who died at ground zero on that tragic day. In all, approximately 100 people attended the vigil and the names of 48 from the Rockville Centre community who died that day were read aloud from the lectern. Somber, religious music played as one by one, officials reflected on the loss.

“It was a horrible day,” said Rabbi Howard Diamond of Temple B’nai Sholom, whose daughter was in law school in New York City at the time. “The pain won’t go away,” said Sen. Dean Skelos. “It was a day of unmitigated terror,” Fr. John McCarthy of St. Agnes recalled.

Despite the horror that fateful day evoked, the speakers tried to ease the pain of those families who have suffered the most over the last nine years. Fr. McCarthy gave a benediction, and Skelos assured all affected families that the community will continue praying for them.

Claire Logler, mother of the late Elizabeth Claire Logler, spoke words of comfort to the crowd: “You’re not alone,” she said. “For the past nine years, we’ve been working our way through our losses. It’s the memories that keep us connected to those we loved.”

To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the Village of Rockville Centre is planning a larger-scale vigil next year.