Boroughs Honor 9/11 Victims, Dedicate Memorial

Remembering those who died, honoring those who serve, and striving for unity. Those were the key points made at the annual candlelight vigil in Bloomingdale Wednesday. The borough’s new 9/11 Memorial was dedicated at the ceremony as well. 

The vigil began with Butler and Bloomingdale residents walking from Butler to Bloomingdale. 

Officials and residents honored the nearly 3,000 who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks 12 years ago with words and songs. The borough’s new 9/11 memorial was formally dedicated. It is composed of two steel beams from the World Trade Center and a plaque.

Bloomingdale Mayor John Dunleavy thanked the local fire fighters, police officers, and emergency medical technicians for their selfless service to the community.

“It is these people who we owe great thanks to and I honor you here tonight and I thank you for all that you do in our communities,” Dunleavy said.

Butler Mayor Robert Alviene spoke of the American Dream and how it’s not owning a home or eating apple pie. He spoke of Americans being examples to others.

“It’s to teach and inspire the rest of the world,” Alviene said. “Being here tonight shows that we have to continue doing things like this to show people that our way is the right way and that our hope, through [our] example and with the help of God, we can make them believe in it.”

Dunleavy spoke of the extraordinary things that people did on 9/11; that at the end of their lives, people chose to let their families know that they loved them. He urged people to continue on in this spirit of community and self-sacrifice. He also thanked Butler and Bloomingdale clerks Mary O'Keefe and Jane McCarthy for organized the annual event.

“The age-old principals of duty, loyalty, self sacrifice, and love will all have meaning and flourish in the hearts of ordinary people we live and work with each day,” Dunleavy said. “On Sept. 11, 2001 we saw the very worst of what human begins are capable of but on that same day we saw the very best of what it is to be human.”