Saturday, Sept. 11 will mark the 20-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks that rocked the nation and forever altered life as we knew it.

To commemorate the day, the VFW and American Legion will hold a ceremony on the Guilford Green at 9 a.m. Steve Spurrell, the organizer of the event, said that the ceremony will likely last around an hour. The event will feature a handful of speeches by local politicians, performances by local singers, and a chance for regular citizens to share their stories. Social distancing measures should be observed and organizers ask that non-vaccinated people wear a mask.

“We are still looking for people with 9/11 related experience to come up on stage and share their stories,” Spurrell said.

Spurrell said the speakers don’t necessarily have to be related to Guilford, but he said he would like to speak with potential speakers beforehand to make sure the stories are appropriate.

Interested speakers should contact Spurrell at sspurrell@pagetaft.com or call 203-627-4404.

“We’re looking for anybody who has a story to share that’s moving,” said Spurrell.

On Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001 Americans and people across the globe were shocked, saddened, and angered after terrorists hijacked four planes and crashed them into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. A fourth plane, reportedly headed for the Capitol Building in Washington D.C., crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers aboard the flight disrupted the hijackers and prevented the plane from going to its intended destination. The attacks claimed the lives of close to 3,000 people and had far reaching and life altering effects after.

Sadly, the shockwaves were also felt close to home. Eight people with ties to eastern Connecticut were killed in the attacks including a person whose hometown was neighboring Madison.

“It was a big loss of life that day. We’re very close to New York and we have a lot of people from here that would do that commute to New York on the train every day and people who still do it,” Spurrell said of the local effects.

With a significant anniversary coming up, Spurrell said he asked the town last year to do a ceremony and then organized it because to him it was important to mark the day in some way.

“That tragedy touched a lot of people in a lot of ways and they should be held up,” said Spurrell.