Text and Photos by Glenn C. Silva, Neighb News Correspondent
About 200 people gathered on the lawn of the Acushnet Fire Station for the seventh annual night of remembrance on Tuesday, 9/11, at the site of the Acushnet 9-11 memorial. The memorial includes a piece of metal from the Twin Towers terrorism site.
The 6 p.m. ceremony followed a 5:15 p.m. Requiem Mass by Fr. Riley Williams across the street at St. Francis Xavier Church, for those killed in the attacks of 9/11/01.
The Acushnet Lions Club teamed up this year with the Acushnet Fire & E.M.S. for “Light for Sight,” a program where tea light candles are lit in personalized votive holders with the names of individuals that have passed away. Throughout the service Jared Alves read approximately 200 names in the background.
Acushnet Fire Chief Kevin A. Gallagher and Selectboard members were on hand as well as the Acushnet Fire and E.M.S. Tori Kalisz, Miss New Bedford Outstanding Teen, sang the Eric Clapton song “Tears in Heaven.”
The theme of the night was “Community.” Chief Gallagher spoke about the “Purple Army Project.” He said the goal is to reduce the number of purple flags on the fire station lawn: Each one represents a person who died from opioids in the past year.
The chief said the town is doing five things to combat the opioid epidemic. Acushnet began a public awareness program back in August of 2015; the town also started “Acushnet Cares” in September of 2015, which involves in home visits by medical and clergy to those troubled by addiction.
In January 2018 the town got a non-opioid drug on the ambulance and the town now has a machine to destroy needles and no longer has to send them out to be destroyed. Lastly the town has been distributing “Deactivation Pouches” to help people get rid of non-used drugs.
“This time two years ago we had 22 flags on the lawn, now we have 12, and no one should take credit for that,” said Chief Gallagher. “The ones that are fighting the addiction are the ones who are the heroes and I’ll take that reduction in flags and the community should as well.”
To conclude the ceremony Acushnet firefighter Eric Arruda and two of his three sons, Mason and Bryce, placed flowers at the memorial in honor of those lost during the 9-11 attacks, and the flag was raised back up from half-mast by Lieutenant Zachary Stupalski.
Tori Kalisz closed out the event with a great rendition of “God Bless AmThe Town of Fairhaven will hold its annual auction this Saturday, 9/15, at 9 a.m., in the back garage at 5 Arsene Street, at the DPW. NO credit cards accepted. Here is a list of items that will be available for the public to bid on. For the complete list, visit https://www.fairhaven-ma.gov
Town Hall
• Oak Desk
• Assorted toners, inks and small office supplies
• Elliptical machine
Highway Department
• #7 – 1994 GMC Sierra C1500
• #8 – 2003 Ford Explorer
• Cement Mixer
• Wheel Horse Tractor
• Truck Utility Body
• Computer Table
• 3 Cabinets
• 7 Bicycles
Water Department:
• 2” portable centrifugal trash pumps with gas engine (2)
• 3” Portable diaphragm pump with gas engine
• 3” piston pump – no motor
Sewer Department
• #45 – 2002 Ford Box Truck
• #48 – 1999 Ford F350 Superduty
School Department:
• 2 Library bookcases
The Fairhaven Fire Department:
• HP Office Jet 7310 All in One Printer, Old but operational
• Pentax 35 mm camera with case and accessories. Film, no longer used.
• VHS Tapes (quantity 10) Brand new never used black VHS Tapes for VCR
• Magnavox VCR/DVD Player. Works
• Kodak Carousel Projectors, 2 units. Slide projector from 80’s/90’s
• Projector Screen – White
• Dewalt Battery Charge system, 2 units plus three (3) batteries
• Portable Trash Pumps (4 Total).All are mechanically not working: Pacer Pump, will not start; Honda GX120, gas leak will not start; Homelite, will not start; Unknown Manufacturer, will not start
• Electrical Cabinet, no door 3’x6’
• Computer Speakers
The Fairhaven Fire Department EMA Division:
• 1995 GMC Sierra Truck. Truck has extensive corrosion and has been deemed unsafe by mechanics.
• 1997 Ford Explorer. Truck has extensive corrosion and has been deemed unsafe by mechanics.
Recreation Department:
• 1-Sanyo 21” TV
• 1-Sanyo 27” TV
• 1-Phillips 30” TV
• 4-Jaypro Volleyball Poles
• 4-Jaypro Volleyball Pole Mats
• 2-Volleyball nets
• 1-Jaypro Volleyball Pole Cart
• 1-Blue Ball Cage with only 3 wheels
• 1-True 600 exercise bike
• 2-Horizontal three drawer file cabinets
• 1-Chair cart
• 1-Craig Karaoke machine and Mic
• 1-Charmglow Gas Grill
• Multiple T-shirts- various sizes
Council on Aging:
• One gas grill, old but works
• One lawn mower, works
Police Department
• 3 Razor Scooters
• 3 Bicycles
• 1 MDT keyboard
• 3 Vehicle Computer stands
• 1 Lawn chair
• 2 Child safety car seats
• 1 Rear Ford Explorer Seat
• 1 Portable radar sign
• 1TVSet
• 1 Steel door frame
• 1 Steel window frame
• 1 Solid wood interior door
• 1 Plastic security case
• 1 flashlight
erica” accompanied by those on hand.
Candles may be purchased for $5 for next year’s memorial service. Please contact a member of the Acushnet Lions Club for more information.
On September 11, 2001, the United States was attacked by terrorists who crashed two planes into the World Trade Center Towers in New York City, which resulted in the towers collapsing; crashed a plane into the Pentagon; and tried to crash a fourth plane, whose target is unknown, because passengers had heard about the previous crashes and thwarted the hijackers, although everyone on board died when the plane crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks.
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