Blackhawk firefighters, Reagan Boyhood Home, Shannon’s Blue Mass to commemorate 9/11

The Blackhawk Firefighters Association, the Reagan Boyhood Home and the community of Shannon will conduct observances of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The attacks by 19 al-Qaeda terrorists involved the hijacking of four commercial airliners that ended in suicide crashes at the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Casualties from that day were 2,977 people killed and more than 25,000 others injured.

Here is list of announced observances:

Blackhawk Firefighters

The Blackhawk Firefighters Association is hosting “Community Together in Unity” to remember the 21st anniversary of 9/11.

The association’s ceremony will be at noon Sunday at the Dixon Fire Department, 210 S. Hennepin Ave.

The public is invited to attend the memorial service. Available seating will be limited, so attendees are asked to plan accordingly.

The association is based in Amboy and provides training and education for fire departments and emergency medical services.

Reagan Boyhood Home

The Reagan Boyhood Home will have a flag-laying ceremony at 9 a.m. Saturday on the home’s grounds at 810 S. Hennepin Ave. in Dixon.

Members of the community are asked to participate in making the display.

The home, which is operated by Young America’s Foundation, has a 9/11 Never Forget Project. For 19 years, it has erected displays of 2,997 flags on high school and college campuses where it has chapters and at its facilities, including the Reagan Boyhood Home and the Reagan Ranch in California.

The Reagan Boyhood Home is open for tours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, with the last tour leaving at 3 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults and free for students, teachers, police officers, firefighters, emergency medical services professionals and active and retired military.

Blue Mass

The St. Wedelin Knights of Columbus will conduct ceremonies Sunday in Shannon. The Blue Mass has been held since 2002.

It begins with a procession starting at 6:30 p.m. at the Shannon Fire Station flag pole, with members of the Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus serving as honor guard.

There will be a Blue Mass service 7 p.m. at St. Wendelin’s Church at 18 S. Linn St. The Blue Mass is a service that honors men and women, current and retired, devoted to service in law enforcement, firefighters and emergency medical services.

The service will be conducted by the Rev. Michael Bolger, pastor of St. Wendelin’s, and Ellis Boughton, chaplain at the Shannon Fire Department.

The ceremony will include the traditional recitation of “The Names,” a poem by Billy Collins, former poet laureate of the United States, to commemorate the victims of 9/11.

The ceremony will conclude with a bell and light tribute on the front steps of the church.