Pine Plains parade honors Sept. 11 anniversary

PINE PLAINS — At 4 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 11, the bell rang outside Pine Plains Hose Company No.1 to signify the start of the parade that honored the 10th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and the hijacking of Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania.

Roughly 200 people, including local firefighters, war veterans, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and members of the public, marched solemnly through town from the Pine Plains firehouse to Seymour Smith Elementary School.

Spectators watched the procession from flag-lined sidewalks, doorways, windows and porches.

The march was eerily silent; missing was the usual parade music and playful laughter. But there was only the simple low murmur of voices.

Even the sky chose a muted, silky gray instead of overwhelming sunny brilliance.

The marchers ended at the Seymour Smith building and gathered on the grass and the sidewalk to listen to speeches and poems from town Supervisor Gregg Pulver, members of the Pine Plains Hose Company and other notables.

Above their heads, a large flag hung from an extended firetruck ladder, inviting the crowd to look skyward while remembering the nearly 3,000 people who were killed 10 years earlier.

“[Remembering Sept. 11] is really important to our history,” said Amanda Yorck, who marched in the parade with her family. “We can’t forget or else those lives were lost for nothing.”

Near the end of the ceremony, Lee Greenwood’s “I’m Proud To Be an American” was played over the speakers. Without telling each other to do so, the audience began waving the small American flags that were handed out before the parade.

“I have one request,” said one of the Pine Plains firefighters to the audience. “When you leave today, fly your flags high and proud.”
 

Click here to see another photo of the parade.

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