Photo by Lester Smith
Suffield’s short parade for the town’s 9/11 Remembrance turns onto Mountain Road at McAlister Intermediate School, heading for the Veterans Memorial.
Suffield’s traditional remembrance ceremony for the country’s 9/11 tragedy took place on Saturday, September 10, with a brief parade heading out of the 230 Mountain Road driveway at 9:15 a.m. Town and State officials marched with leaders and representatives of the Suffield Fire Department, the Volunteer Ambulance Association, and the Police Department. Joe Migliore marched beside his Suffield High School band, which set the musical cadence.
A dedicated crowd of some half a hundred attended the program at the Veterans Memorial, where U. S. Army Maj. Anthony J. Riello, Jr., was the talented vocalist for “God Bless America” and “America the Beautiful.” (Yes; he is Police Supt. Anthony Riello’s son.)
Keynote speaker First Selectman Melissa Mack, along with State Representative Tami Zawistowski and Deputy Police Chief Richard Brown, emphasized the vital, brave role of the emergency responders in the 2011 terrorist attacks and the manner in which the entire country seemed to come together in response. Mrs. Mack particularly remembered the heroic actions of “The Man in the Red Bandana,” a young equities trader in the South Tower (and, like Mack, a Boston College graduate) who stayed to help others escape but died in the final collapse.
The Suffield High School band closed the program with “The Star-Spangled Banner.”