Compassion Beyond Crisis: Manchester Remembers the Events of Sept. 11, 2001

JoAnn Post was nowhere near New York City on Sept. 11, 2001, when the largest terrorist attack on American soil claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 unsuspecting men and women.

And hers is not one of the thousands of stories of people who dropped everything, jumped in their cars, and headed down to Ground Zero immediately afterward to lend whatever hand they could. Instead, Post, now the pastor at Concordia Lutheran Church in town, watched the tragic events of that day unfold on a TV screen, first from a hospital almost 1,000 miles away in Dubuque, IA, where she was visiting a sick parishioner, and then from the offices of her former church nearby.

“We turned on the TV and we didn’t do a damn thing all day,” Post recalls. “We just sat there watching the TV.”

Now chairing the planning committee for the town’s 10th anniversary commemoration of the attacks, Post said the intent of Manchester’s memorial event is to pay respect to those who lost their lives that day, but also to emphasize how the country has progressed and moved beyond those horrific attacks 10 years later.

“We didn’t want it to be a political event, we didn’t want it to be a funeral, and we didn’t want the day to become a forum for remorse and blame,” Post told Patch recently. “What do we want to accomplish? We want to honor the dead and remember the day, but we’ve moved on from there.”

What Sept. 11, 2011, will bring to the Manchester community is “Compassion Beyond Crisis,” a day of events starting at 8:30 a.m. that morning with the on Tolland Turnpike and culminating with a community commemoration that evening in Center Park at 7 p.m.

“’Compassion Beyond Crisis,’ is a day of events that may cause us to remember the tragedy and consider the lessons of mutual care, deeper respect and greater compassion that have resulted,” said Joyce Hodgson, executive director of the Little Theatre of Manchester at Cheney Hall. “Led by various town leaders and other citizens, the event will include music by The Salvation Army’s brass ensemble, Anita Schubert and Megan Shellito will sing, an essay will be read to represent the young people of the community and how they were affected, and candles will be lit by local youngsters and everyone gathering together that night will light each other’s candles in a symbolic gesture of hope for our community.”

The day of events in honor of the 10th anniversary of the attacks, which falls on a Sunday this year, will also see an organ and piano concert at 2 p.m. at Cheney Hall and a blood drive from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the headquarters of the Manchester Fire Department 8th Utilities District at 32 S. Main St.

It is rare to see a blood drive on a Sunday, Post noted, and because of the significance of the day and the fact that many people will have it off, she is hopeful the drive will lead to considerable donations to the Red Cross.

Post is also searching for young writers ages 17 to 30 to of 500 to 750 words detailing where they were and what they remember doing and feeling on Sept. 11, 2001, what they feel about the events now, and how they think the memory of the tragedy has shaped the country since. One essay will be selected and read aloud during the commemoration ceremony that evening.

“Anniversaries are important. It’s a way to let us remember what happened and give thanks for what’s past,” Post said of the event. “The question now is how has it changed America? That’s what we’re asking.” 

Essays may be submitted to Post by email at: pastorpost@concordia.necoxmail.com.