Riverhead area to mark 25th anniversary of Sept. 11 with memorial ceremonies

Local first responders and residents will mark the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks with three public memorial observances on Friday, Sept. 11.

Riverhead Town’s 25th Anniversary 9/11 Memorial Ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. at the World Trade Center Memorial Park, at the corner of Edwards and Riley avenues in Calverton.

The ceremony will honor those who lost their lives on Sept. 11 and recognize the heroism and the sacrifices of first responders and recovery workers, the Town of Riverhead said in a press release.

Residents are invited to join town officials, employees, first responders, veterans and community members in paying tribute to those affected by the attacks.

Riverhead Town Hall will have a delayed opening 11:30 a.m. that day, to allow town employees to attend the memorial service, according to the town.

The Sound Park Heights Civic Association will observe the anniversary with its annual 9/11 candlelight walk and ceremony that evening at 9-11 Memorial Park, at Sound Avenue and Park Road. The walk begins at 5:45 p.m., followed by the ceremony at 6 p.m. 

Flanders Fire Department will host its annual memorial service at 6 p.m. on Sept. 11 at Fireman’s Memorial Park on Flanders Road. The fire department erected a World Trade Center memorial in the park, which includes two pieces of steel from the fallen towers.

Two summer residents of the Reeves Park community lost their lives in the attacks. Lt. Thomas Kelly, 38, a member of FDNY Ladder Co. 105 in Brooklyn, and Jonathan Ielpi, 29, a member of FDNY Squad 288 in Queens, both perished in the collapse of the South Tower, when it collapsed at 9:59 a.m. on that fateful day, 56 minutes after impact by United Airlines Flight 175.

Derrick Washington, 33, of  Calverton, perished in the attack. Washington was a Verizon technician working in the World Trade Center that day. He left behind a wife and three young children.