FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 6, 2002

9/11 REMEMBRANCE CEREMONY TO BE HELD AT CITY HALL

The City will join the rest of the nation in observing the one-year anniversary of September 11, with a Remembrance Ceremony. It will be held at the Eternal Flame Memorial on the front lawn of Honolulu Hale beginning at 9:45 a.m. on Wednesday (September 11).

Like its counterparts across the nation, the Honolulu Fire Department (HFD) has coordinated this 9/11 first anniversary observance. The observance will include the tolling of a fire bell and the bells at Kawaiahao Church followed by a moment of silence at 10:05 a.m. and again at 10:28 a.m.--the times when the first and second towers of the World Trade Center collapsed on that tragic day.

The HFD Honor Guard will be joined by the Honolulu Police Department (HPD) Color Guard in a combined presentation of colors, while 14-year-old Jennifer, recently signed by Sony to a multi-album contract, will sing the National Anthem. Popular local entertainer Henry Kapono will present “Hawa`ii Ponô`i,” the State anthem. Both anthems will be sung acapella.

Deputy Fire Chief John Clark will serve as the master of ceremonies, and will present the Fire Fighters Prayer. Mayor Jeremy Harris and Fire Chief Atillio Leonardi will offer remarks and also lay a wreath at the base of the Eternal Flame. HPD Chief Lee Donohue and Emergency Medical Service Chief Robin McCulloch will present a second wreath.

“Our Nation in Song”, written and recorded the evening of September 11, 2001 by DisGuyz, will be sung by the popular group prior to the wreath presentations. Following the wreath layings, “Remember the Heroes” will be performed by Forte. Both songs are on a national remembrance album. The Celtic Pipe and Drum of Hawaii will also play a musical tribute, “Amazing Grace.”

The public invited. Free parking for the Remembrance Ceremony will be available at the Alapai Parking Lot. Metered parking will be available at the Honolulu Municipal Office Parking Garage.

The Eternal Flame ceremony is part of a week of observance that begins with Sunset on the Beach on Sunday, September 8, sponsored by Central Pacific Bank and the Waikiki Improvement Association. A poignant rendition of “Give Aloha”, the song composed for “Hawaii Synergy Day” last November, will be sung by more than 70 island entertainers; the performance will be videotaped and sent as a gift to New York from the people of Hawaii. The week closes with the premiere of Edgy Lee’s movie “A Tribute to Hawaii’s Firefighters” at Sunset on the Beach, prior to the movie on Saturday, September 14.

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Wednesday, October 09, 2002