Commemorative events are planned this weekend and next week to honor the heroes and victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Close to 3,000 people died when Islamic extremists hijacked four planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center towers in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Local events include the following:
Saturday, Sept. 7
- 5th Annual Never Forget 9/11 Cruise. Registration opens at 9 a.m. Vehicles will depart from Roots Market around 11 a.m., ending at Ephrata Elks Lodge #115, at about 12 noon. Cost is $10 per driver, $5 per passenger, children 5 and under free. Proceeds benefit Brickerville Fire Co.
Sunday, Sept. 8
- 14th annual 9-11 Memorial Stair Climb at Clipper Magazine Stadium. Registration opens at 8 a.m. Cost is $40. Proceeds benefit the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation to support the Fire Department of New York’s counseling service unit.
Wednesday, Sept. 11
- Manheim Township 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony: Time: 8 a.m. Location: Manheim Township 9/11 Memorial (at the Manheim Township Public Library, 595 Granite Run Drive). Township police and fire/rescue departments will lay wreaths to remember the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Flight 93 in Shanksville.
- Lancaster County 9/11 Memorial Ceremony: Time: 9 a.m. Location: Lancaster County Public Safety Training Center, 101 Champ Blvd., Manheim. The keynote speaker is Lt. Col. (Ret.) Sean J. Gallagher, a career Army veteran who served in Iraq and whose brother lost his life in the World Trade Center attack. The Lancaster County commissioners will lay a wreath to honor the 52 county first responders who have died in the line of duty.
