The annual September 11 Remembrance will begin at 6PM Mon., Sept. 11, at the Cmdr. Dan Shanower Memorial on the 20-year anniversary of the dedication of the memorial. (Photo courtesy Marty Walker)
Update, Sept. 11, 2023 / Rainy weather will move the observance inside to Council Chambers at the Naperville Municipal Center. “Big Joe,” the biggest of the 72 carillon bells in Moser Tower, will toll at 5:30PM.
Original Post, Aug. 24, 2023 / The Exchange Club of Naperville again will sponsor Naperville’s annual September 11 Remembrance. This year’s observance marks the 22nd anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the nation and the 20-year anniversary of the Cmdr. Dan Shanower Memorial.
The remembrance will take place starting at 6PM on Monday, Sept. 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 be held in Council Chambers.
The Naperville Municipal Band will begin playing music at 5:45PM.
The speaker this year is Dan Bacso, founding member of American Pride, Inc. As a survivor of the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, Bacso will provide his personal and chronological account of the activities, challenges and heartbreak of that fateful day.
Brief remarks also will be given by Brief marks will also be given by Mayor Scott A. Wehrli, Police Chief Jason Arres and Fire Chief Mark Puknaitis.
“We’re also grateful to Naperville Responds for Veterans for its sponsorship of the commemorative wreath,” added organizer Marty Walker, for the Exchange Club of Naperville.
The memorial was designed as a tribute to Cmdr. Dan Shanower, a Naperville native and Navy officer who died at his post in the Pentagon on Sept. 11, and to more than 3,000 individuals who died in the terrorist attacks that day.
The Naperville memorial, one of the first in the nation to be completed, was dedicated on Sept. 11, 2003.
For more information about the Sept. 11 Memorial Monument with the Wall of Faces, “Lean On Us” sculpture and “Freedom Isn’t Free” tributes to Cmdr. Shanower, visit www.centurywalk.org.
