The events of Sept. 11, 2001 will be recalled across Fayette County this weekend in a variety of venues.
Rising Starr Middle School near Peachtree City will hold a “10th Anniversary of 9/11 Remembrance” on Friday, Sept. 9 at 8:30 a.m. at the school complex off Ga. Highway 74 South. The community is invited to pay tribute to all of those who were affected by the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. The school particularly wishes to honor military, law enforcement and firefighters for their service to our country and invites them to attend in uniform.
The Villages Amphitheater in Fayetteville will host the “9/11 — 10 Years After, Prayer & Remembrance Concert” beginning at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 11. The free event will feature a 75-minute program that will include the 80-piece orchestra, Tara Winds.
“We wanted to do something special this year. Especially with Bin Laden being taken down, people have a heightened sense of patriotism and are ready for a program like this now,” said Fayetteville Main Street Director Brian Wismer.
Wismer said this will be the Tara Winds’ first performance at the Villages. The all-adult symphony orchestra is mainly composed of musicians from the metro-Atlanta area, but its membership extends across the entire state.
“They have performed all over the world and have been in existence since 1988,” said Wismer. ”Their program at the Villages will include an assortment of classic patriotic hymns and compositions.”
The Fredrick Brown, Jr. Amphitheater in Peachtree City will hold the “Sept. 11 10th Anniversary Memorial Concert” on Sunday at 7 p.m.
Members of the Fayette Pops Symphony Orchestra, led by Maestro Ken White, and the Fayette County Mass High School Choir will present the memorial concert. The concert is free of charge. The concert will also feature local musicians Jason Bowen, Ed and Patty Richardson, Dana Smith, and the Pops Men’s Quartet.
Inspirational and patriotic traditional songs common to such a memorial event will be included in the concert, as well as songs reminiscent of the South. The program will conclude with the singing of the popular duet “The Prayer,” followed by “God Bless America.”
“To take an evening to gather as a common people, pausing to reflect through music and commemorative word, joining hands to pray and express regret for those who died innocently and thanks for those who sacrificed wholly on 9-11 for the common good of America; to this cause we need to come forward as a united people, hundreds strong each and every year,” White said of the new 9/11 annual memorial concert.
Also at the concert, Pastor Doug Fultz, senior minister at Heritage Christian Church in Fayetteville, will lead a memorial prayer moment in the program, and Dr. Dean Fuller, of Fuller Life Chiropractic Centers in Peachtree City, will speak on the hope present in America.
In one of many other 9/11 events, Peachtree City United Methodist Church and its Chancel Choir and PTCUMC Orchestra will provide special music for both worship services on Sept. 11 to commemorate a decade of remembrance of 9/11.
The PTCUMC Orchestra will perform “Flight of Valor” by James Swearingen. This piece was commissioned to honor the people who lost their lives on United Flight #93 in Pennsylvania. The Chancel Choir and Orchestra will join together presenting “Blades of Grass and Pure White Stones,” words and music by Sen. Orrin Hatch, Lowell Alexander and Phil Naish.
The pastors and congregation will prayerfully honor those who lost their lives and those who lost loved ones on that tragic day. The public is invited to attend these special worship services at 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.
Peachtree City United Methodist Church is located at 225 Robinson Road in Peachtree City. For information call the church office 770-487-6499 or visit www.ptcumc.org.
Dogwood Church in Tyrone will have a special time of remembrance and a message of hope on Sunday, Sept. 11 at 9:30 a.m. and again at 11 a.m.
The church is located at 975 Ga. Highway South in Tyrone. For more information visit www.dogwoodchurch.org
Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran Church in Peachtree City is planning an occasion of special music for the Sept. 11 services.
During worship on Sept. 11, the Sanctuary Choir at COS will sing “A Prayer for Our Time,” which was written “in response to the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001,” according to composer Joseph Martin. Handbells with flutist Sara Kahley and readers Ashleigh Shriner and Morgan Wiese will present “Make Me an Instrument of Thy Peace,” a setting of the familiar Prayer of St. Francis.
The Christ Our Shepherd Flute Choir will play “America the Beautiful” at a special 6 p.m. “Service of Remembrance and Hope.” This one-hour service marking the tenth anniversary of America’s most devastating terrorist attack will include reflections by Delta pilot Karl Dietmeyer and pastors Fritz Wiese and Miriam Beecher.
The church is on the corner of Ga. Highway 54 and Peachtree Parkway in Peachtree City.
New Hope Baptist Church will have services at both campuses on Sunday, Sept. 11. The South Campus service, located at 1563 South Joel Cowan Parkway in Senoia, starts at 9:15 a.m. while the North Campus service at 551 New Hope Road in Fayetteville starts at 10:55 a.m. For more information, call 770-461-4337 or visit www.newhopebc.org.
Harp’s Crossing Baptist Church will host a special commemorative service Saturday evening, Sept. 10, in remembrance of events of Sept. 11, 2001. The service will begin at 7 p.m. with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. Special guest speaker will be Rear Adm. Deborah Loewer who was director of the White House situation room on Sept. 11, 2001. Loewer will present a glimpse of what actually occurred as she accompanied former President George W. Bush throughout that tragic day and the days that followed.
U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland will be a special guest and will introduce the speaker. A special invitation is issued to community, city and county leaders as well as emergency personnel.
Harp’s Crossing is located at 1183 Ga. Hwy. 92 South near Fayetteville. For more information, call the church office at 770-461-5318, or visit www.harpscrossing.com
Woolsey Baptist Church will present a Sept. 11 10th anniversary tribute on Sept. 11.
The Celebration Choir of Woolsey Baptist will present “America We Must Not Forget, A Patriotic Call for Revival in America,” as a 10th Anniversary tribute of 9/11 at 6 p.m. in the church sanctuary.
The musical was created by Mike Harland with Chris Machen and Luke Garrett and arranged and orchestrated by Richard Kingsmore.
The musical tribute will commemorate that day in America ten years ago. On this night, all heroes will be invited and honored, including military, police, firemen, EMTs, doctors, nurses, plus others, for their service to our community, state and country. Childcare will be provided.
Woolsey Baptist Church is located at 115 Hampton Road. For more information call the church office at 770-461-9618 or visit www.woolseybaptist.org.
There is yet another type of remembrance that can be found along South Peachtree Parkway near Crosstown Road in Peachtree City.
Mary Ann Wakefield, homeowners’ association president at the Village Park subdivision, designed a 9/11 display that can be found at roadside. Emblazoned with the phrase, “We did not forget,” Wakefield said it was about a year ago that she began thinking about the upcoming 10th anniversary.
Wakefield designed the visual remembrance while her daughter, son-in-law and grandson handled the construction. Peachtree City waived the customary permit fee that would have been required, Wakefield said.
Positioned at the entrance to the seniors subdivision, the display represents steel girders and rubble on the ground that symbolize the destruction on that day, Wakefield explained. Between the girders is a banner stating, “We did not forget.” The display is highlighted throughout with American flags.
On an island inside the subdivision there is a second display. This one has three small crosses in the foreground, each adorned with flowers and American flags. On each of the crosses can be found the number and designation of those who lost their lives: 343 firemen, 2,752 casualties and 60 policemen. And positioned behind the crosses is a red, white and blue sign denoting the dates Sept. 11, 2001 and Sept. 11, 2011 and the 2,000 first responders injured.
And throughout the subdivision flags can be found on all the mailboxes.
“Everybody knows where they were on that day. It’s something that hit everybody, something that changed America and brought back patriotic feelings,” Wakefield said.
