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Easton residents gathered on the green in front of the town library Saturday morning to dedicate the ground for a future Sept. 11 memorial. Among those in attendance were Lee and Eunice Hanson, parents of Easton native Peter Hanson, who was aboard the plane that crashed into the South Tower with his wife, Sue, and their 2-year-old daughter, Christine.
Monsignor Thomas Driscoll, pastor of Notre Dame Parish, said that the memorial, designed by architect Mark Halstead, will always be a place to contemplate and pray and remember the terrorist attacks in 2001.
Easton Library director Bernadette Baldino expressed her gratitude that the town chose the library grounds for the memorial, noting that the sunny weather was not unlike it was the day of the attacks.
"It's amazing. Today is as beautiful as the day this tragedy occurred," she said. Baldino said the library seems a fitting spot for the memorial as thousands visit the library each year and will be reminded.
Sept. 11 Memorial committee member Andy Ketchell thanked the town for its ongoing support and donations for the project. He thanked the Easton EMS, fire and police officials for their service after an ambulance and several officers left the ceremony to attend a call.
Tom McMorran, principal of Joel Barlow High School, invited the community to join his students Monday at 9 a.m. in the school lobby for a memorial ceremony, which he said the Hansons have attended every year for the presentation of the Peter Hanson Scholarship Fund recipient.
The crowd sang along with local musician Katie Tressler as she performed an original song for the Hanson family. Peter and Sue Hanson had held their wedding party at her home. "The answer's not hate, it's the presence of love, straight to the heart from heaven above," she sang while playing her guitar. "Greet all the sorrows that broke our hearts, the healing goes on."
Attendees were invited into the library community room following the ceremony to see drawings of the future memorial and to take a moment to reflect over photographs of the Hanson family.
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