Residents Have Options

To Observe 9/11

Newtowners have at least two ways to observe the 11th anniversary of 9/11.

The 12th Annual CT United Ride will take place on Sunday. Motorcyclists from all over Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, and from as far south as Maryland are preparing to participate.

One of the largest single charity rides in New England, and officially recognized and proclaimed by Governor Danel Malloy as “the largest 9/11 tribute in the state of Connecticut,” attendance this year is expected to surpass 4,000 participants.

The state’s largest 9/11 event ceremony will begin this year at Norden Industries in Norwalk, at 10:30 am, and will bring a parade of motorcycles on a 60-mile route through 11 communities including Newtown.

Riders will depart from Norwalk at 11:30 and are expected to be in Newtown within 40 minutes.

Approximately 50 motorcycle police from more than a dozen towns and cities will provide an escort for the riders, who travel their route without stopping.

Last year’s event attracted approximately 3,000 motorcycles, many with passengers.

The local route enters Newtown on Dodgingtown Road/Route 302 at the Bethel Line and follows 302 to its intersection with Main Street and then follows Route 25 south into Monroe.

The route goes in front of Dodgingtown firehouse, at 55 Dodgingtown Road, and Botsford firehouse, 315 Main Street South. Hook & Ladder and Sandy Hook firefighters will be stationed, using their ladder trucks to fly a large flag over Main Street for the riders to drive under near Amaral Motors at 40 South Main Street. Fire companies in each city and town station apparatus along the route, with at least one ladder truck flying an American flag in each municipality.

The public is invited to join firefighters at any of these locations, or to watch the riders at any point along the route.

The parade of motorcycles was estimated to be nine miles long in 2010. The procession has extended from the Bethel-Newtown town line all the way to the Newtown-Monroe town line, following Route 302 and Route 25, for several years running. Motorists should note that the ride can take 30-40 minutes to fully pass through an area and plan their travel through town on Sunday accordingly.

Riders pay $25, and passengers pay an additional $25, to participate. While the first CT United Ride was a fundraiser for New York City firefighters; since that year CT United has divided its annual funds raised between Connecticut firefighters, Connecticut law enforcement personnel, and two local United Way agencies.

For additional information visit CTUnitedRide.com or find The CT United Ride on Facebook.

Annual Service In Dodgingtown

Local resident and former American Stock Exchange floor broker Howard Lasher is again inviting the public to attend a special memorial service at 8 am on Tuesday, September 11, at his Route 302 property in Dodgingtown.

The annual ceremony will commemorate those lost during the attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., along with the victims aboard United Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania.

Mr Lasher’s property borders the Newtown-Bethel line and is the site of a grove of maple trees painted by the artist David Merrill to represent the American flag. The art honors several of Mr Lasher’s friends and colleagues killed in the attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center.

Music will be performed, local elected officials have been invited to speak, and Mr Lasher will offer a keynote address during the annual service.