Above / The 16th anniversary observance at the Cmdr. Dan Shanower Sept. 11 Memorial along the Riverwalk will feature remarks from public officials as well as Retired DeKalb Fire Chief Lanny Russell with patriotic music by the Naperville Municipal Band. (PN File Photo 2016)
NAPERVILLE, Ill. – On the 16th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Exchange Club of Naperville is once again sponsoring Naperville’s annual September 11 Remembrance.
This year’s event will take place starting at 6PM on Monday, September 11 at the Cmdr. Dan Shanower Memorial, located behind the Naperville Municipal Center, 400 S. Eagle St., along the Riverwalk. In case of rain, the event will take place inside the Municipal Center Council Chambers.
Bells in the Millennium Carillon will be heard beginning at 5:30PM. The Naperville Municipal Band will play at 5:45PM. prior to the start of the event.
This year’s featured speaker is Lanson W. “Lanny” Russell, who retired as Chief of the DeKalb Fire Department in July 2008 following a storied 44-year fire service career. Russell was a chief for 31 years of his career, serving four departments: Peotone, Villa Park, Downers Grove and DeKalb. While in Peotone, Russell was part of the team that established the first all-volunteer paramedic program in Illinois, and he was fire chief in DeKalb when the deadly shooting that took the lives of five students and injured another 18 occurred at Northern Illinois University.
Russell is a graduate of the Executive Fire Officer Program at the National Fire Academy and the Senior Executive Institute at the University of Virginia. He is a past president of the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association and the DuPage Fire Chiefs Association and has served on the Board of Directors of the Illinois Fire Chiefs Educational and Research Foundation for almost 40 years. Chief Russell was among the first eight members to be recognized as Fire Chief Emeritus by the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association in October 2008.
30-minute commemorative concert of carillon bells begins at noon
From noon to 12:30PM that day, a special 30-minute concert on the bells of the Millennium Carillon in remembrance of September 11 also will occur along the Riverwalk at Rotary Hill.
This will include a solemn tolling of the “Big Joe” bell followed by “In Memoriam,” a carillon piece written following the events of September 11 meant to be played in bell towers throughout the world.
Patriotic selections and others that focus on the themes of hope and peace will make up the remainder of the concert.
