5 Ways To Remember Sept. 11 In Monmouth County

ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS, NJ — In total, Monmouth County lost 147 residents in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Here are all five ways you can remember them, as this year is the 20th anniversary of the attacks:

1. Attend the Saturday morning ceremony at Mount Mitchell: First, the Monmouth County Board of County Commissioners will sponsor a “Tribute in Lights” for three nights beginning this Friday, Sept. 10.

These are powerful beams of light that will shoot up into the sky from the Mount Mitchill scenic overlook in Atlantic Highlands. The lights will be illuminated from sunset to 11 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 10, Saturday, Sept. 11 and Sunday, Sept. 12.

The lights will be visible for miles around.

Monmouth County will also hold its own ceremony at 8 a.m. Saturday at Mount Mitchill, 460 Ocean Boulevard, Atlantic Highlands. That is open and welcome to all to attend.

At 266 feet, Mount Mitchell sits on the highest natural elevation on the Atlantic seaboard (excluding islands) from Maine all the way down to the Yucatan in Mexico, providing beautiful views of Sandy Hook, Sandy Hook Bay, Raritan Bay and the New York skyline. This 12-acre site is also home to Monmouth County's 9/11 Memorial.

In the days and weeks after the attacks, many locals flocked to Mount Mitchill because it is highest spot in the area. Sadly, the smoldering, burning remnants of the World Trade Center site could be seen from there for days.

2. Meet on the waterfront Saturday night: Secondly, Monmouth County is inviting all residents to join them on the waterfront this Saturday, Sept. 11 with candles or cell phones in hand. All residents of all 53 Monmouth County towns are instructed to go to the shoreline in whatever town they are in and gather at water's edge at 8:46 p.m. Saturday with either a candle, their cell phone or another light source. From above, drones will shoot what will likely be a dramatic gathering of light and remembrance.

Middletown is telling its residents to go to the Belford Ferry Terminal. There is lots of parking available and Lower Manhattan is visible.

8:46 p.m. is 12 hours after the first plane flew into the North Tower twenty years ago.

The event is being held in conjunction with all 53 towns in Monmouth County. Check with your local town about where you should go.

3. Attend Middletown's town service just before the waterfront gathering: Middletown will host its own memorial service this Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at the Middletown World Trade Center Memorial Gardens, located next to the Middletown Arts Center (36 Church Street).

The tribute will honor the 37 Middletown residents who lost their lives that day. General parking will be available at the main lot at the Middletown Train Station. The tribute will be held rain or shine.

This year, Middletown has sold nearly 1,500 9/11 remembrance yard signs. Look for personalized street banners that will begin to line Kings Highway and Church Street leading up to Saturday's memorial ceremony.

4. Tour the Middletown WTC Memorial Gardens: To mark the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the Middletown WTC Memorial Gardens Committee is also making improvements to the Gardens, which rest under a canopy of trees and feature a landscaped path with benches and a personalized memorial to honor each of the 37 Middletown residents who died that day.

This year, the committee will be installing new landscaping, lighting and a walkway of personalized bricks that lead to the memorial pathway. A first responder/military memorial is also being installed, as well as a memorial for those we lost due to 9/11-related illnesses, including the late Detective Lt. Joseph Capriotti.

Detective Lt. Capriotti was known as the "keeper of the list" of the friends and neighbors we lost. He personally notified every single Middletown family who had lost a loved one that day.

The WTC Memorial Gardens Committee is also raising funds for a fountain to be built at the end of the memorial walkway. The fountain will include pieces from the original World Trade Center, and an inspirational poem embedded in the concrete path around it, "The Rise of Hope."

5. Tour the brand-new Monmouth County 9/11 exhibit in Middletown: An exhibit called “Monmouth County, 9/11 and Its Aftermath,” will open this Saturday at Middletown’s historic Taylor-Butler House.

It will be open daily through Nov. 11, Veterans Day.

This exhibit is run by the Monmouth County Historical Association. Learn more about it in this preview from the Asbury Park Press.

The 37 Middletown residents who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks:

Lorraine D. Antigua

Jane S. Beatty

Donna Bernaerts-Kearns

Alfred J. Braca

Ronald M. Breitweiser

Patrick J. Buhse

Stephen J. Cangialosi

Swede Joseph Chevalier

Dolores Marie Costa

Edward Desimone III

Michael Egan

David Ferrugio

Daniel J. Gallagher

John M. Grazioso

Felicia Hamilton

Patrick A. Hoey

Kathleen A. HuntCasey

Brendan Mark Lang

Roseanne P. Lang

Anna A. Laverty

Michael Patrick McDonnell

Peter T. Milano

Louis J. Minervino

Justin John Molisani, Jr.

James Thomas Murphy

Christopher Newton-Carter

Paul R. Nimbley

Robert Emmett Parks, Jr.

Nicholas P. Pietrunti

John M. Pocher

Beth Ann Quigley

Gregg Reidy

Robert Andrew Spencer

Dick Stadelberger

Kenneth Tietjen

Anthony Ventura

Rodney James Wotton

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