The Acton 9/11 Memorial Ceremony

If you don’t know by now, a small committee has formed with a strong backing of local private companies volunteering their time and money to construct a new September 11 memorial outside the Acton Public Safety Facility (PSF). Why Acton? Well, two Acton families were directly affected by the terrorists attacks and a small group of local individuals (a police officer, a fire fighter, a town employee and more) thought Acton needed a permanent place to remember not only the ones who were lost, but also the ones who volunteered.

The memorial will be unveiled on the 10^th anniversary of 9/11 outside the PSF with a local ceremony planned to start at 3 p.m. According to Acton 9/11 Memorial Fund Committee member, Tom Matthews, the public will not know what the finished product will look like until that day. Currently, there is a tall fence that surrounds the construction site and when the fence is down there will be something covering the actually memorial.

People/Businesses Working on the Construction:

• John Durkin (Onyx Corporation) are partnering with Dan Lenox (Lenox landscaping) to do the granite curbing and brick work.

• Jim Fenton (James Fenton & Sons), a retired firefighter from Acton, will be doing foundation and irrigation system work.

• David Calkins (Colmer Monuments), a retired firefighter from Acton, will be managing all the granite work for the memorial.

• Pyro Equipment Service made the brackets to attach the steel to the memorial.

• Chris McDonough (C.A.M. Electric) will be doing all the electrical work.

• Kennedy & Company Landscaping will handle all the landscaping installation and plants for the memorial.

• George Dimakarakos (Stamski & McNary, Inc.) has done all the engineering and final designs for the project.

• Jay Dolan (International Collision) will be coating the steel so that it will be protected with the weather.

• Kevin Shea (KTS Granite Lettering) will be handling all the sandblasting for the bricks.

“The support in getting this built has been unbelievable,” said Matthews. “The guys that are involved in getting this construction done have just been a tremendous help. Their generosity has just been incredible and we highly appreciate it. It wouldn’t have been as easy if they did not step forward and donate their time and materials.”

The ceremony:

When: September 11, 2011.

Where: The Acton Public Safety Building

What will be taking place:

• The Westford Fire Department will play bagpipes leading a small group of people into the ceremony.

Speakers:

• Town Manager, Steven Ledoux

• Board of Selectmen Chair, Mike Gowning

• Lauren Rosenzweig-Morton, Acton resident who lost her husband on 9/11/01

Musical Performance:

• Nashville Recording Artist, Mychael David, will perform the National Anthem

The memorial is designed to not only to commemorate Acton residents who lost their lives that day, , but for all those who lost their lives.

Click on these links for Acton Patch coverage of the Acton 9/11 memorial: