Photos: Sept. 11 remembrance ceremonies in Riverhead

A jet’s contrail, reflecting the setting sun that just ducked beyond the western horizon, cuts a fiery orange line in the deepening blue-purple sky.

As dusk falls on Sept. 11, 2015, the procession of neighbors and friends walk back up the hill to to their quiet little enclave on the bluffs of the Sound. Some clasp hands, others have arms draped around one another’s shoulders, some still shield the flickering flames of candles from the gentle breeze as they march homeward.

Brian Noone, a 12-year-old who lives in the neighborhood, lifts his trumpet to his lips and “Amazing Grace” fills the warm night air of Reeves Park.

Some in the procession wear eyes still rimmed in red after a day marked by too many tears — just as it has been each Sept. 11 since 2001, when they lost their beloved brothers, friends and neighbors, Thomas Kelly, 38, and Jonathan Ielpi, 29, both NYC firefighters who died trying to rescue people trapped in the twin towers. Both were Reeves Park summer residents.

As the doleful notes of Brian’s trumpet recede in the gathering darkness, a small knot of visitors linger near the candlelit memorial in 9-11 Memorial Park.

The four-acre park is the result of years of effort by Reeves Park residents, civic activists and concerned citizens, who fought the town and a developer’s plans for a retail center there. The county eventually purchased the site and the park was built by the town, a shaded oasis on a busy country highway. A path — built with paving stones donated by a local volunteer firefighter — leads from a display of steel from the fallen towers to a flagpole where the Stars and Stripes stand at half-mast. There are benches placed along the path for visitors to sit in quiet reflection.

The 9-11 Memorial Park opened in 2013, in time for the Sept. 11 remembrance ceremonies held by the Reeves Park neighborhood each year. They begin with a candlelight procession down Thomas Kelly Memorial Drive to the park, where prayers are offered, remembrances spoken and taps are played. The Riverhead Fire Department deploys a ladder truck to display a giant American flag, and firefighters in Class A dress uniforms lead the solemn procession. Boy Scouts in uniform file in behind their Color Guard.

The Rev. Larry Duncklee, pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church in Riverhead, officiated ceremonies this year, leading a large group of neighborhood residents and visitors, including town council members John Dunleavy, James Wooten and Jodi Giglio, in prayer and reflection.

“Fourteen years ago, all of us here who are old enough were deeply affected by the tragic events of that day, whether by the loss of a family member, a friend, a neighbor or by the tragedy that befell our country that day,” Duncklee told the assembled crowd.

“There’s a difference between dwelling on those events, dwelling on that tragedy and remembering them,” he said. “Dwelling is not doing anything. Dwelling is allowing our bitterness and anger to overwhelm us. Remembering allows us to move forward, to take what happened and learn from it,” the priest said.

Jean Marie Farrell, Thomas Kelly’s sister, read a Bible verse, as the rest of her family — including brothers Jim and Bob Kelly, and the next generation of the Kelly family — looked on.

Lee and Ann Ielpi, who lost their son in the terrorist attack, moved to their Reeves Park home full-time last year. The family lived in Great Neck, where in 2002 a park was named in Jonathan Ielpi’s memory, the Jonathan L. Ielpi Firefighters Park.

Lee Ielpi was a founder of the “Band of Dads,” fathers of firefighters who spent months sifting through the rubble of Ground Zero after the towers collapsed. Ielpi was the only father to recover his son’s body intact, on Dec. 11, 2001.

Even all these years later, the pain is still fresh and raw, especially on Sept. 11, Ann Ielpi said, standing at the memorial after the service, as she watched people file out. She glanced over at the Kellys, who also lingered till the last, sharing stories, hugs and tears.

“I don’t think it ever will.”