They themselves might not be old enough to fully remember the events of Sept. 11, 2001, but this fact was no barrier to boys of Cub Scout Packs 90 and 93 and Boy Scout Troop 194, who hosted a memorial ceremony at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School on the morning of 9/11’s ninth anniversary.
The ceremony was part of a national program called Scout Surge, which seeks to engage the scouting community with local leaders and the general public to remember and honor those who died on Sept. 11.
Ewell Hopkins, cubmaster for the Cub Scout packs, described Scout Surge as a way to make 9/11 “a living memory,” an aim that takes on greater import as time marches away from the initial event.
“It’s not some abstract thing,” Mr. Hopkins commented after the ceremony. “It’s real, it’s personal.”
Mr. Hopkins served as master of ceremonies for the event, presenting a welcome speech on behalf of the Scouts.
“I wanted to say things that were encouraging,” he said of the speech, in which he focused on the importance of memory and Scout Surge’s role as a means towards this end.
Boy Scout troop leader Doug Hathaway and soon-to-be leader Dan Nelson also took part in the proceedings.
The program began with the raising of the American flag. Invocation was delivered by the Rev. Richard Rego of the United Methodist Church, and the Pledge of Allegiance was spoken at 8:46 a.m., the moment of impact for the first plane. The pledge was followed by a moment of silence in honor of the victims of 9/11.
Following a rendition of the national anthem, representatives from the six fire departments and police departments, as well as the Dukes County Sheriff’s Office, were each presented with a flag of honor and a flag of heroes. The former contains the names of those who were killed in the attacks, while the latter holds the names of the emergency responders who died saving others. The gifts of the flags were made possibly by donations from Cape and Islands district attorney Michael O’Keefe and Barnstable county sheriff James Cummings.
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