TRR photo by David Hulse Jill Padua was among those attending Sunday night’s candelight vigil on the interstate bridge in Narrowsburg. (Click for larger image)

Candlelight vigil well attended

By TOM KANE

NARROWSBURG — In a show of solidarity and remembrance, over 200 residents from Narrowsburg and the surrounding area gathered on the bridge between New York and Pennsylvania last Sunday evening for a candlelight service honoring the World Trade Center dead.

The event was organized by Beverly Sterner of Milanville to link the river valley with the those who had gathered in Yankee Stadium on Sunday, September 23 to mourn and honor the heroes—incredible men and women—who have given their lives and continue to risk their lives to save others. She choose the Narrowsburg bridge as a symbol of connection.

Narrowsburg Brownie Troop 763 launched 50 small sailboats holding tea candles and tiny American flags that floated from Lander’s Campground, under the bridge in solemn tribute.

“We had our own service on the shore looking up at the crowd on the bridge,” said Lisa Haas, Brownie co-leader. Haas, along with co-leader Lisa Bercze, organized the event to “find a way to let the troop know how important the events of September 11 were. Sometimes it is hard to explain a prayer vigil to children that young.” The two-by-seven-inch boats were made by local woodworker Curtis Murns with wood donated by Narrowsburg Lumber Company. Parents of the troop, along with staff from Lander’s Canoes, recovered every boat, she said.

Following the procession of small boats and accompanied by faint strains of “Dona Nobis Pacem,” played by Laurie Stuart on the hammered dulcimer, the group proceeded with candles lit to an informal gathering at St. Francis Parish Hall. Here people expressed their grief, anger and personal experiences of the September 11 attack.

“I felt gratified that a community of people could gather to express a diversity of feelings and could talk to one another,” Sterner said. “Despite that at some moments the discussion was heated, we could still talk together, which is what this country is about. I think it is important that we get together and listen to one another,” she said.

“The wound is still open,” Father Tom Jones of St. Francis said. “It will take more time to heal.”