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The centerpiece of the event is the sculpture, a striking glass tower created from huge sheets of Starfire glass with a center square cut out in the center. This space represents the absence of the World Trade Towers to their proportional dimensions.
Engraved on the backside of the inner polished glass panel are the names of all the Connecticut victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, with the names of Danbury residents highlighted at eye-level.
To open the ceremony, the trooping of the colors were presented by the Danbury Police Department Honor Guard and the Danbury Council of Veterans as the city closed down Main Street to accommodate the crowd attending the event.
Fire Chief TJ Widl and Deputy Chief Shaun J. McColgan placed a wreath next to the memorial sculpture.
Mayor Mark Boughton welcomed the crowd.
“On this day, I want you to think about where you are and to think about the 3,000 souls that were lost on that very day in 2001,” Boughton said. “I want you also to think about the firefighters and the police trying to help the people.
"But this is really our time to reflect and remember the beautiful people that we lost.”
After the welcome, Deacon William Murphy from St. Gregory the Great Church offered a prayer, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Robyn Higley, whose father Rob died in the attacks before she was born, and the National Anthem sung by Western Connecticut State University music performance major Charles Widmer.
The event near the end with a rifle salute by the Danbury Police Department Honor Guard and "Taps" from the Danbury Council of Veterans.
The ceremony closed on a poignant note as Amanda Higley, who was 4 when her father died, sang “God Bless America."
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