Princeton Area Events Commemorating the 10th Anniversary of Sept. 11

Friday, Sept. 9

Mercer County Community College will host a ceremony at 11 a.m. at the Memorial Garden next to the student center. The event will feature a wreath-laying, and a piece of steel beam from the World Trade Center will be on display. County officials and college administrators will participate. Hamilton Fire Co. Chief Dave Smolka, who was a member of the state Urban, Search and Rescue team, will speak.

Princeton Elks Lodge 2129 is hosting a group of police officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians who are participating in a 1,600-mile ride from Naples, Fla., to Ground Zero. The riders are raising money for the families of firefighters who were killed on Sept. 11. The event begins at 3 p.m. and will feature food, music and a memorial service with remarks by Mayor Mark Caliguire. The lodge is at 354 Route 518 in Blawenburg.

Montgomery Township’s annual blood drive in honor of fallen first responders will be held from 2 to 7 p.m. at the Otto Kaufman Community Center at 356 Skillman Road, Skillman.

Saturday, Sept. 10

The Historical Society of Princeton will hold an open house at the restored Updike Farmhouse. Guests are invited to reflect on the Sept. 11 anniversary through poetry and journal writing. The poem “For Our World,” by 11 year-old Mattie Stepanek, which was written on Sept. 11 of 2001, will be used as inspiration. Guests are asked to donate a canned fruit, juice box, Chef Boyardee or similar microwave pasta item. Donations will be included in bagged meals for homeless families and given to the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen.

The Morven Museum and Garden encourages visitors to write their thoughts about Sept. 11 on their memory board, which will become a part of the museum’s permanent commotion. The museum is open noon to 4 p.m. and the admission fee will be waived.

Playwright Charles Evered’s play “Ten”, a 10-minute, two-character drama set in a train station on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, will be presented in a staged reading at the Princeton Arts Council’s Paul Robeson Center for the Arts at 4:30 p.m. in the Solley Theatre. The Arts Council will also host the opening reception for “Re:Member” from 3-5 p.m.

Plainsboro Township will mark the anniversary with a candlelight vigil at 7:30 p.m. The vigil will begin at the Plainsboro Rescue Squad and proceed to the September 11th memorial on municipal grounds. The event will include township police, firefighters and first-aiders. Featured speakers will include township committee members and state Sen. Linda Greenstein. The West Windsor High School North choir and the Princeton Alliance choir will perform.

Sunday, Sept. 11

U.S. Rep. rush Holt will visit Nassau Presbyterian Church and reflect on the 10 years since Sept. 11. The discussion will run from  9:15-10:15 a.m. in the assembly room. The church is located at 60 Nassau St.

A 10-foot piece of steel from the World Trade Center will be unveiled and dedicated during a ceremony in Mercer County Park at 1 p.m.

West Windsor Township will host a ceremony at the Memorial Twin Ponds at Ronald Rogers Arboretum, where a steel beam from Ground Zero has been placed. The ervice will begin at 6 p.m. and include remarks from members of various faith communities and musical performances from West Windsor township youth and other musicians. The service will be held rain or shine.

Rider University will host the memorial concert “Reflections on 9/11” featuring the Princeton Brass Band. The concert will be held at the Bart Luedeke Theater Center at 2 p.m. 9/11.

The Morven Museum and Garden encourages visitors to write their thoughts about Sept. 11 on their memory board, which will become a part of the museum’s permanent commotion. The museum is open noon to 4 p.m. and the admission fee will be waived.

Princeton University will hold a ceremony that will include speakers such as former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley, class of 1965, President Shirley Tilghman, and Princeton University Professor Anthony Appiah. The university’s chapel choir and glee club will perform. The event will start at 1:30 p.m. on the Cannon Green (or Dillon Gymnasium in the event of rain). The event is open to the public.

The Princeton Area Clergy Association will host an interfaith service at the Princeton University Chapel at 7 p.m. The theme for this community wide-interfaith service “Living Between Memory and Hope,” will feature a mass Choir comprised from various houses of worship. Sacred texts and reflections from the Muslim, Christian, and Jewish will be offered. A prayer time will include the opportunity for participants to offer the names of family, friends, or colleagues who died on that day ten years ago.

Tuesday, Sept. 13

The Pace Center at Princeton University will host its annual Reflections on Service event. Shanta Devarajan ’75, chief economist of the World Bank’s Africa Region, will be the keynote speaker. Devarajan will follow four Princeton students, who will speak about their service and civic engagement experiences while at the university. The event is geared toward incoming freshmen, but is open to the public.  It begins at 4:15PM in McCosh 50.