Niantic church commemorates Sept. 11 National Day of Remembrance

By Rick Koster

East Lyme - Hanging in the foyer of the Niantic Baptist Church is a small chart where the weekly service attendance figures are posted. The calendar suggests an impressively consistent turnout of parishioners for a modestly sized small town congregation.

On Sunday morning, the figure "126" was scrawled in next to the date Sept. 11. It's a figure well over twice the normal turnout — perhaps not surprising since the church presented a community-wide "Lest We Forget" program in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

On a cool, golden-blue morning eerily similar in meteorology to the day of the attacks, regular Niantic Baptist Church members gathered along with local political representatives, members of the East Lyme Fire and Police departments, the Connecticut National Guard, emergency medical personnel, Boy Scouts and members of Boys and Girls Clubs, and citizens not typically in attendance.

Hosted by the church's pastors, Jill E. Harvey and Judy Mack, the 70-plus-minute event was a stirring mix of the spiritual and secular, the melancholy and the hopeful, the reflective and the inspirational.

Standing outside the church before the ceremony, John F. McDonald III, chief of the Niantic Fire Dept., was happy to have the chance to be at the memorial service, but also quietly thoughtful. "We'll always remember our brothers and sisters who rushed in," he said. "It's sad that we lost fire and police personnel whose only mission was to help people. We grieve in our own personal ways, but it's most important that we all find a way to move on. You have to — even as you never forget."

In remarks to the congregation, East Lyme first selectman Paul Formica said he can't forget the "slow-motion surreality" of the 9/11 events, and marveled over how it's changed every facet of our lives — from experiencing airports as symbols of wariness and anxiety to separate and collective attitudes of steadfast, positive commitment and resiliance.

"And, through unspeakable sadness and darkness," he said, "we learned that a small community like East Lyme must extend our hearts and hands to resurrect bonds of family and love."