Hope. Peace. Love. Confidence in things eternal. When the Bach Choir of Bethlehem participated in a series of concerts in New York City on Friday in observance of the 10th anniversary of 9/11, the message of the music was very clear. The intent of the project was to promote reconciliation, and to demonstrate the power that music has to heal, unify and uplift. Every piece of music included in the programs for eight one-hour concerts and a culminating two-and-a-half hour concert by massed choir—all presented free to the public--was carefully chosen to express themes of reassurance, comfort, …
The image on the television screen was one that no one believed they would ever see. The World Trade Center towers were on fire. Lehigh University freshman Jordan Smith, 18, from Nazareth, was watching. "It's so surreal to watch everything happen," Smith said. "You know it is and what is going to happen but they (news reporters) don't." As part of the events commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America, Lehigh University was airing CNN's coverage that morning of the terrorist attacks as they took place. The university had planned a day's worth of 9/11 …
They stood around an illuminated tree in silence -- in remembrance -- each one holding a candle. Each holding a candle to remember a lost life in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America. On the Moravian College campus in Bethlehem Sunday night, America's sixth-oldest college commemorated the 10th anniversary of the attacks through candles, song, stories, prayer and performance. "For remembrance, we pray that the unity of spirit be a lasting memorial to those who died," Moravian Chaplain C. Hopeton Clennon said. "For hope, let it strengthen us against all who try to destroy us." More than 100 …
Muslims from across the Lehigh Valley gave blood at the Bethlehem Township Community Center on Sunday to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11. "I want to help people," said first-time blood donor Fatima Dia of Bethlehem. "Our religion is about helping. Some people don't understand what our religion means. They think all Muslims are bad." The Easton-based chapter of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, which organized the blood drive, was formed more than a year ago and has about 55 members. They worship in each other's homes, but hope to build a local mosque some day. The group hoped to have at …
A unique four-ton sculpture carved from Ground Zero concrete has found a temporary home in front of City Hall in Bethlehem as the country stops to commemorate the 10th anniversary of September 11. “Victorii Rebuild” was carved by Florida artist Sandra Priest from a four-foot thick piece of slurry wall that still protects the foundation of the 16-acre World Trade Center site – the so-called “bathtub” that keeps the Hudson River from surging into the center’s seven-story substructure. The wall survived the terrorist attack with minor damage. Pieces of it were removed only to expand the “bathtub…
As part of a September 11 Commemoration at the PBS39 Public Media and Education Center Plaza at SteelStacks in Bethlehem, a World Peace Flag Ceremony and Peace Pole dedication will be held Sunday from 3:30 to 5pm, PBS39 has announced. According to a press release issued by the public television station, the event will celebrate "11 Days of Global Unity" with prayers for peace, speakers and music, and is part of the grand opening of the station's new headquarters at 839 Sesame Street on the SteelStacks campus in South Bethlehem. The World Peace Flag Ceremony will feature a display of flags …
While others memorialize the victims on the tenth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks with speeches, members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community will be giving blood to honor and remember the victims of the terrorist attacks by potentially saving the lives of others. From 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 11, members will be at the Bethlehem Township Community Center as part of “Muslims for Life”, an Ahmadiyya campaign which aims to collect 10,000 units of blood during the month of September in 50 cities across the country to reiterate the message that Islam values the sanctity of life. …
When approached to give the sermon at Central Moravian Church for this coming Sunday, Reverend Craig Atwood was tempted to decline. The thought of developing a message that might lift the hearts and spirits of a congregation in the midst of reflecting upon such a tragedy as 9/11 is a daunting task for any minister. In his sermon, “Dealing with Tragedy in the House of Grace,” which will be delivered Sunday at the 9 a.m. service, Rev. Atwood will discuss the Moravian response to the events of 9/11 and what the events reveal about Moravians themselves. “A crisis like 9/11 reveals our true …
The Bach Choir of Bethlehem is participating today in 9/11 remembrances near Ground Zero in New York City. At 5 p.m., the choir appears at historic Trinity Church on Wall Street to sing works featuring Bach, Brahms and Mendelssohn. The performance is available to listen to through live streaming on the Web. At 8:30 p.m., the choir will once again appear as part of a larger performance joining the Bach Choir with five others -- The Trinity Wall Street Choir, NYC Master Chorale, Young People's Chorus of NYC, The Washington Chorus and the Copley Singers. Once again, that performance will be …
New York Police Lt. Cmdr. Vertel Martin, commanding about 100 Internal Affairs Bureau officers from Queens, arrived at the World Trade Center 25 minutes after the South Tower collapsed. Three minutes after their arrival, the North Tower came down. Not long after, something else terrifying: An airplane heading toward Ground Zero. “Is it the enemy?” Martin asked. “’Arm yourselves! Take cover!’ We scatter. We hold on to the injured and with our bodies cover them. “Our adrenaline is pumping. Our hearts are about to jump out of our chests. And just when we thought we couldn’t take the suspense …
September 11, 2001 is a day so etched in our memories that most people can remember exactly where they were and what they were doing at the time of the attacks. Like many others, I learned about what was happening from breaking news broadcasts on TV. The feelings of helplessness, fear and sorrow were overwhelming, and as a nation we grieved the loss of the men and women who died in the Twin Towers, on United Airlines Flight 93 and in the Pentagon, as well as the police, firefighters and volunteers who died in heroic rescue attempts. Ten years later, we are commemorating that day with hope, …
Bethlehem's Kim Plyler was an eyewitness when Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. She was standing in a parking lot about 100 feet from the building. Plyler shared her recollection of the attack in this WFMZ report. Plyler was so close to the plane as it lowered that she could see the face of a passenger looking out a window - a face filled with fear and disbelief. Plyler decided to move back to the Lehigh Valley after the 9/11 attacks.
Northampton Community College Prof. Vertel Martin was the highest-ranking officer in the New York Police Department’s Queens Internal Affairs Bureau when the World Trade Center was attacked by terrorists on Sept. 11. Lt. Commander Martin led her officers to Ground Zero to begin search and rescue operations and was subsequently made the commanding officer of the World Trade Center Missing Persons Task Force. For months, Martin led the effort to locate the thousands who were killed, thought to be killed or missing as a result of the attack. As a member of the NYPD, she received the New York …
Somewhat lost in the road construction that now dominates W. Third Street in South Bethlehem is a decorated bus shelter and 9/11 memorial that many would view as a priceless piece of “outsider art.” A team led by world-renowned artist Gregory Warmack, better known to his fans and followers as Mr. Imagination, put the concrete, painted, sculpted and bejeweled structure together where it sits in front of the Banana Factory’s parking lot. The interior of the shelter depicts the Twin Towers, surrounded by angels. Under the towers is an American flag and the words, “God Bless America.” Mr. I, as …
