When the Lanoka Harbor Fire Department set out to build their 9/11 memorial, they asked for community support in the form of money, time, trades or skills. The Forked River Rotary Club did just that as they presented a $2,500 check to the fire company at the township committee meeting on Thursday, Sept. 22. “This memorial, although located at the Lanoka Harbor Firehouse, is truly a township memorial,” Kathy Nelm said. “With the members of the department being the guardians, so to speak, of this piece of our nation’s history.” Members of the fire department worked diligently on planning the …

Over $100,000 was raised for the families of wounded and fallen soldiers at the State Elks Association’s seventh annual Army of Hope event held on Sept. 11 at the Lacey Elks Lodge. “The event was held to pay tribute and show support for our Fallen Heroes, our Wounded Warriors and their families, and the brave members of the armed forces from New Jersey for their dedication and sacrifice in defending our freedoms,” spokesperson Jeffrey Hein said. The event typically raises approximately $100,000 annually but Rich Tabachuck, Chairman of the State Elks was hoping to raise enough to donate $1,000…

Keith Elias, a 1990 graduate of Lacey Township High School, will be the featured guest at a 9/11 memorial ceremony hosted by Barnegat Township Schools on Friday at 6 p.m. at the Barnegat High School football stadium. The memorial, which will be unveiled Friday night, includes a piece of steel from the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Elias was signed as a free agent out of college by the New York Giants where he played from 1994 through 1996. He last played in the NFL two seasons with the Indianapolis Colts in 1998 and 1999. In college, Elias played for the Princeton Tigers football …

Sept. 11, 2011, marked the 10-year anniversary of the devastating attacks on the United States. The following are images taken from Jersey City's Liberty State Park across from Manhattan last year as well as this year. I traveled from Toms River to Jersey City this and last year on and around Sept. 11 to capture some of the memorial activities. The lights have been going on for some time during Sept. 11, and this year was their last, but there's a new element to the memorial in Jersey City: This year's photos include images of the new memorial unveiled this year, called "Empty Sky: New Jersey…

Lacey Soccer Club kicked-off their first game of the season against Manalapan at Gille Park. Military men and woman were honored and 9/11 commemorated. The U13 tournament began by welcoming Cpl. Frank Dorsey for the first coin toss for the season. The soccer club also collected supplies for the nation’s troops and has a bake sale to benefit the American Recreational Military Services (A.R.M.S.) program.

United we stand. That’s how residents of Ocean County stood under the roof of St. Pius the Tenth Parish Roman Catholic Church in Forked River today as congregations of all faiths joined together for a 9/11-remembrance ceremony. “You talk about a faith community. This was it,” Peggy Craft of Lacey Township said. Leadership from a variety of congregations including B’nai Israel in Toms River, the Islamic Center of Ocean County, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Toms River and several churches in Lacey read from the Bible, Torah and Koran. Rev. Elizabeth Scheuerman of the Unitarian …

When Anthony J. Dixon told his parents he joined the U.S. Army, his parents were shocked. They had thought he left the home to sign up for the National Guard. But six years after his death, his mother stands proud at the State Elks’ seventh annual Army of Hope event. “I look forward to this every year,” Jacquelyn Dixon said. “It’s a great organization. They just show you so much respect. It makes you feel so warm and special.” Families of fallen and wounded soldiers were escorted and honored at the Lacey Elks Lodge as over 1,000 erupted in applause for their service. After the events of 9/11…

As a poet from a working-class New Jersey background who teaches at a small community college tucked into the Northwest corner of his home state, BJ Ward is accustomed to being ignored. Which makes the public’s awareness — and gratitude — for one of his poems, For the Children of the World Trade Center Victims, all the more remarkable to him. Ten years after the Sept. 11 attacks, Ward still hears from the children and wives of Sept. 11 (but no husbands so far) emailing or calling to thank him for expressing what they are still trying to absorb. “They are the living victims. They still have an…

Over 150 Lacey residents stood outside of the Lanoka Harbor Fire Company as a new 9/11 memorial was unveiled on the tenth anniversary of the tragedy. The memorial incorporates two six-foot-tall granite towers and a piece of steel from the World Trade Center. The water fountain illuminates blue during the night. With white lights shining and the red from the Lanoka Harbor Fire Department's sign, the memorial lights up red, white and blue - a feature that was not planned, Ziemian said. An American "flag of heroes" that will list the names of first responders was laid over the steel. The …

In Holiday City, Toms River and elsewhere, Jersey Shore residents remembered, cried and came to terms with what happened 10 years ago, when 3,000 people - some of them local, others not - perished at the hands of terrorists. A large crowd gathered at Holiday City at Berkeley's Clubhouse 2 for a ceremony to honor those who were lost during the attacks of 9/11. Berkeley Mayor Jason Varano addressed the audience and said although the tragedy was horrific, it united the country. "While the loss was great beyond description... we came together to support each other during those terrible days," …

The light was unmistakable. Not from the flames, dripping through the ceiling of an abandoned hallway, but from the sun, the actual sun. And there in the stairwell, at nearly 1,000 feet above the ground, a soft breeze carried the air – fresh air from the east – in through a gaping hole in the side of the skyscraper on a cloudless morning in New York City. Reflecting on that day nearly a decade ago, there’s a hint of regret in John Pyndus’ voice as he recalls seeing, with unparalleled clarity, the faces of those he knew who would never make it out alive. Perhaps it’s simply a realization, …

As the 10th anniversary of the attacks approaches, Patch is inviting all readers to share their stories of that day and the aftermath. Below, Lacey Patch readers shared their 9/11 experiences. What is your story? Where were you on this dark day? Share in the comments. Krystle Damion: ‎Eight grade in Florida. First class of the day. Maryann Pietruska: At Bayonne High School, teaching and watching the towers come down. Then the city was locked in. Couldn't go over the turnpike or Bayonne Bridges. Allison Kreitz Parrino: Senior year history class. Laura Eden: I was at work in Lacey. We didn't …

The story that follows is another in our series profiling local residents affected by 9/11. As the 10th anniversary of the attacks approaches, Patch is inviting all readers to share their stories of that day and its aftermath. Salvatore Velez watches every 9/11 special and documentary he can find. When police and fire communications from the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center are released, the retired New York City firefighter listens to all the recordings. He's not trying to torture himself. He said he’s just trying, from the distance of a decade, to catch a glimpse of the friends he …

In the days surrounding Sept. 11 this year, many will find personal ways to reckon with the tragic events of a decade earlier. Some will travel to New York City, Washington D.C. or to a field in rural Pennsylvania to visit memorials established to honor those lives lost or changed forever on that day. But residents of Brick Township have a very special monument in their own backyard.  In Windward Beach Park, just off Princeton Avenue, they will find a statue titled, Angel in Anguish. Kneeling in a circular garden near the edge of the Metedconk River, this sorrowful bronze figure wraps her …

Laraine Sgroi will be speing the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in Brick. That's just where she was when they occured, claiming the life of her ex-husband, Thomas, who worked on the 95th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center when it was hit. "We avoid the city altogether," she said, when asked if she would be attending the memorial event in New York City scheduled for the anniversary next month. "I don't put the TV on. I don't watch the ceremony, because for us it's not just that day. It's every day." But Sgroi still wants her hometown to remember what happened. …

OCEAN COUNTY BARNEGAT 9-11 ceremonyBarnegat American Legion and Township CommitteeSunday, 11 a.m.Location: Municipal Dock 411 East Bay AvenueMemorial ceremonyPresentation of a 9/11 flagSunday, 11 a.m.Location: Four Seasons at Mirage clubhouse1 Esplande Drive 9/11 memorial dedicationFriday, 6 p.m.Location: Township memorialNear Barnegat High School football field BERKELEY September 11 memorial service and dedication of Twin Towers SteelSaturday, 6:30 p.m.Location: Veterans Park Annual Sept. 11 memorial serviceSunday, noonLocation: Holiday City at BerkeleyClubhouse II on Port Royal Drive BRICK …

As a poet from a working-class New Jersey background who teaches at a small community college tucked into the Northwest corner of his home state, BJ Ward is accustomed to being ignored. Which makes the public’s awareness — and gratitude — for one of his poems, For the Children of the World Trade Center Victims, all the more remarkable to him. Ten years after the Sept. 11 attacks, Ward still hears from the children and wives of Sept. 11 (but no husbands so far) emailing or calling to thank him for expressing what they are still trying to absorb. “They are the living victims. They still have an…

I've long wondered how I should lend my voice to the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. As the Jersey Shore regional editor for Patch.com, I often get called on to write the obituary of record, or to find the right prose for the event of the month—Hurricane Irene, for example—that commands the attention of my hometown area.This time, I was expecting to step into the background, and let others shine. Little did I know, however, that the words were already written.The book of my family, "A Legacy of Madness: Recovering My Family From Generations of Mental Illness," will be released on …

Although no Lacey Township residents lost their lives in 2001 when two hijacked airplanes were flown into the World Trade Center towers, the community was deeply impacted, Mayor Gary Quinn said. Ceremonies and services are scheduled around the township this Sunday, the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11, when nearly 3,000 people died in attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, and the crash of a fourth hijacked plane in Pennsylvania. “It’s great to see our community and folks around the country coming together and remembering the people who lost their lives — innocent people,” said Quinn. “…

"This is the hour of lead Remembered if outlived, As freezing persons recollect the snow — First chill, then stupor, then the letting go." —Emily Dickinson   Colleen Meehan Barkow and her mother JoAnn Meehan spent the weekend before Sept. 11, 2001 happily shopping for towels and linens for the 26-year-old's new home in the Poconos. Colleen and her husband Daniel, married less than a year, were planning to move into the house at the end of October. It meant a long commute into New York, where Colleen worked as a facilities director for Cantor Fitzgerald, on the 103rd floor of the North Tower …