Residents wishing to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks can do so at Freedom Grove.
Local groups that include the Urbana Church of the Nazarene, Boy Scouts troops and Urbana Rotary Club will observe the attack’s 15th anniversary 8:30-10:30 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 11, at Freedom Grove, located at South U.S. Route 68 and state Route 55, Urbana.
The event will feature similar activities to last year’s, with times highlighted and visitors pausing to remember when the planes crashed – 8:46 a.m. for the first plane, and 10:28 a.m. for the last one, event committee Chair Steve Molton said.
One difference this year will be the church service. Since the anniversary is on a Sunday, the Nazarene church will move its Sunday services to Freedom Grove, Molton said. The event is free to the public and will feature community members and first responders.
The Ohio Flags of Honor will make a return appearance. The flags represent soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan since Sept. 11, 2001. Additional tribute flags from the community will join the display.
Ohio Flags of Honor started with Gino and Lisa Zimmer of Delaware. They are the parents of Spc. Nicholaus E. Zimmer of the U.S. Army, who was killed in Iraq. The Zimmers started the display in honor of their son. The flags travel to communities to recognize fallen soldiers.
Last year over 700 flags were on display, Molton said. This year, similar to last year, the flags will travel from the Champaign County Fairgrounds on Friday to Freedom Grove with the Boy Scouts escorting them. The Scouts will provide an honor guard around the clock for the flags throughout the weekend.
For more information about the Ohio Flags of Honor, visit ohioflagsofhonor.org.
