Solemn Day of Remembrance planned for September 11
Published on August 28th, 2002
STONEHAM, MA - With every passing day, the horrible spectre of September 11 recedes a little more to the background as people again become firmly entrenched in the day-to-day minutiae of their lives. While everyone would acknowledge that a return to the normal is the healthiest course of action for most people, the first Anniversary of the tragic events of September 11 is just around the corner. Town officials, religious groups and citizens across the nation have spent the last weeks and months with the unenviable task of preparing for that day.
The organizers have had to grapple with the notions of conducting a solemn remembrance for the bright light of life snuffed out by the terrorist attacks while also honoring the indomitable human spirit that marches on after such tragedies.
The Stoneham Interfaith Association has attempted to address both of these tasks with a symbolic labyrinth of 3000 empty shoes on the fertile grass of the Stoneham Town Common. The shoes, ranging from boots decorated by children at bible schools and art classes to the work shoes of courageous public safety officers, will be placed on the common for the duration of September 11.
“We want the common to become a place for meditation, prayer and peace for all who come to visit it,” said First Congregational Church Minister Dirkje Legerstee. “We hope that this day of remembrance combines the right mixture of solemnity, hope, resolve, mourning and honor.”
Legerstree has seen the powerful impact that an empty pair of shoes can bestow upon a place of remembrance. She is a second generation survivor of the Holocaust, and has visited the former nazi concentration camps in Poland and Germany.
“An empty pair of shoes can be a simple and harrowing symbol of a loss of life,” said Legerstee. “Above and beyond the traditional utilization of the symbolic empty shoes, shoes are indigenous to Stoneham and a vital cog in the history of the town.”
“They also remind us that we have to sometimes walk a mile in someone else’s moccasins, and that their shoes are our shoes,” added Legerstee.
The shoes seem to be taking on different meanings to different people, as some are tributes to lost loved ones and others are paeans to patriotism and the celebration of life. According to Legerstee, the First Congregational Church currently has approximately 350 shoes for the labyrinth, but has been assured by St. Patrick’s church officials that 3,000 shoes will be “no problem.”
Legerstee approached the Board of Selectmen this week to voice a series of requests to the Board of Selectmen. Among those request were that the Stoneham Interfaith Association gain permission to store excess shoes in the Town Hall Banquet Room until September 11, that visitors to the common will be able to utilize the nearby town hall bathrooms, that town officials aid in the printing of approximately 1,000 schedules of the day’s events, that event organizers have access to lighting equipment and volunteers to run electronic equipment, that Central Street be closed off between Church Street and Emerson Street, and the town aid interfaith organizers in tracking down painters able to help construct the painted labyrinth on the Stoneham Town Common.
The day will include the aforementioned labyrinth, a procession of ringing church bells, and a solemn town-wide moment of silence, a commemorative service where public safety officers and town officials will drop off their shoes, an unveiling of a commemorative stamp by the Post Office, choral groups, instrumental music players and poetry readings to celebrate life and healing.
The afternoon will also include message boards where people can leave messages, writing, poetry or prayers for the past, present or future. The evening will end with a candlelight worship service on the common from 7 p.m.- 9 p.m.
“We’re a society that prides ourselves on being on the go 24 hours a day, and never really stopping to pause for even a second of reflection,” said Legerstee. “This is going to be a day to be still with God, and to find the stillness in our hearts...and to be mindful of September 11.”
Legerstree also hoped that the true community effort between officials, residents and business owners continues, and that everyone in Stoneham put a candle in the window to honor the remembrance. In addition, Legerstee also stressed the importance of people attending the candlelight service to bring their candles in glass containers to prevent damage to the common.
This article is one of a two part series chronicling the town of Stoneham, and its planned events to commemorate September 11. Next week’s article will focus on the countless community leaders who have worked together to make this day of reflection a reality.
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