Slide show: A parade like no other in Calverton on 9/11
Under a sunny sky, kids and adults alike marched from Riley Avenue School to the Sept. 11 memorial at the corner of Riley and Edwards avenues in Calverton on Sunday. The event was held in memory of those who lost their lives in the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The parade, which was organized by Riverhead Town, was a silent and somber one, with no lights flashing or sirens sounding.
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A few fought back tears at the ceremony afterward, where Hal Lindstrom, a Calverton resident who spearheaded the memorial project at the Calverton corner, spoke of the pain inflicted this day 10 years ago.
“The events that happened that day will live in our hearts forever,” he told a crowd of about 100, added that Americans should take comfort in remembering the way the country unified afterward.
State Assemblyman Dan Losquadro (R-Shoreham), who participated in the event, said the anniversary serves as reminder of the nearly 3,000 people who perished in the attacks.
One was Mr. Losquadro’s neighbor, who lived across the street from him at the time. He thinks of his neighbor often, he said, and the fact that he’ll never come home again.
“Today is a day to remember the loved and the lost that were taken from us on Sept. 11, 2001,” he said.
The memorial consists of a square hunk of World Trade Center steel, a copper angel structure and two circular patios laid with engraved brick pavers and gold tiles. Mr. Lindstrom, who produced the preliminary drawings for the site, said the $40,000 project was paid for by selling the pavers and tiles.
Some of the materials and electrical work was donated, and Riverhead Town donated the land and maintains the site.
It was Mr. Lindstrom who had the idea for the memorial.
“I wanted something the people of Riverhead could be proud of,” he said. “This is a place for people to reflect and think about the victims.”
