Some will run in road races. Others will shop at a farmer's market, attend festivals or family reunions. Many will watch college football other than the UK Wildcats, who have an open date, or go to swanky fund-raising galas.
Still others will take their dogs for a season-ending swim in pools or watch stallions dance to an orchestra at the Kentucky Horse Park. For boxing fans, the corpulent pugilist "Butterbean" will sign autographs in Bowling Green.
The past two years, people en masse attended commemorative events or at least shared a collective sense of mourning that separated the day from others.
This year, the day for most is shaping up to be a busy Saturday in September.
That's not to say 9/11 is forgotten. A noontime ceremony is scheduled at the Roots and Heritage Festival in downtown Lexington. A flagpole and plaque dedication will be held in the town of Ewing in Fleming County. At Cumberland College, a sculpture crafted from a World Trade Center steel beam will be dedicated.
Some weddings are scheduled, but not as many as normal for a Saturday in September.
Yet, for many in Kentucky, what happened three years ago on Sept. 11 will not dominate the day.
That could mean people have worked through the grief experienced in the moments and days after the attacks, said Patricia Wisocki, a University of Massachusetts-Amherst professor. She does note that there are several 9/11 events scheduled in the Northeast.
Stages of bereavement experienced by mourners include shock, protest, despair, detachment, reorganization and recovery, she said. Now, the general public is at the stage where they reorganize their lives and perspectives in relation to 9/11, Wisocki said.
"It would not be good to maintain the nation's grief indefinitely," she said.
Non-commemorative events
One of the many non-commemorative events scheduled for Saturday in Central Kentucky will see 15 or so men travel from Calvary Christian Church in Lexington to an "outdoor ministry" event in Perry County. There, they will participate in activities such as dove hunting, elk siting or target shooting.
The fact that it was the third anniversary date of the terrorist attacks wasn't a factor in picking the date. Saturday was "really the only date that worked for the guys," said Jeff Story, Calvary Christian's recreation minister. Other fall dates were spoken for or eliminated because of UK football games. There was an appropriate time to mourn, but with events such as the war in Iraq, "I think people in some respects have moved on," Story said.
Still, the stigma of the day holds for some. Although some weddings are scheduled for Saturday, wedding planners interviewed by the Herald-Leader said they will have the day off.
Phyllis Robinson, a wedding coordinator and ministry assistant at Southland Christian Church, said she offered the date to brides, but also mentioned it was the 9/11 anniversary. All of them passed.
"It's a date that has a connotation. They don't want something important in their lives associated with that day," Robinson said.
Others think about it differently.
Matt Rommel will wed Laura O'Neal Saturday afternoon in Cincinnati. The Lexington engineer admits the anniversary of the attacks was in the back of his mind when he and his fiancee picked the date. But the couple wanted a September wedding and this was the weekend they could book the church. A rose on the altar will symbolize people who perished in the attacks, Rommel said.
"Life's got to go on. Hopefully, we can make it into a good day," he said.
Planners for the Sierra Music Festival talked about whether Saturday would be an appropriate date for a bluegrass show, but "it was the date offered to us," said Lane Boldman, Sierra Club Cumberland Chapter president. The attacks and the memories of people killed three years ago will be acknowledged during the show, she said.
Troubling for some
For a few Kentuckians, the dearth of commemoration events in many communities is troubling.
Claudette Thomas lost her nephew, Ed Earhart, in the Pentagon attack. She thinks most people have forgotten the anger and sadness they felt three years ago and that she still carries.
At the same time, she's watched the memory of 9/11 used for political and fund-raising purposes even though Osama bin Laden has not been caught and homeland security is in many ways still a goal instead of a reality.
In Kentucky, she said, most people were not affected by the attacks as much as her family. In Morehead, she recently saw the Rowan County Fiscal Court reject the placement of a historical marker naming Earhart as the first military casualty. Earhart is the great nephew of Rowan's judge-executive and some think the fallen soldier has received enough recognition. Some might be worn out by the constant reminders, Thomas said, "but there were thousands of people murdered in this country."
In 2002, most of Earhart's family went to the Pentagon for a ceremony. Last year, they attended a wreath ceremony at a site dedication for a planned local law enforcement monument. This year, some family members will attend a dedication for a flagpole in Ewing. A plaque will bear Earhart's name. Thomas will attend a fund-raiser at Morehead State University for the emergency workers' monument.
Her nephew can be remembered privately anytime by the family and on Veterans Day, Thomas said. "But," she asked, "as a nation, are we going back to the same complacency?"
Related:
- Part Of WTC To Be Displayed At Dedication Of New Firehouse
- The Rebirth Of A Workhorse
- 9/11 Hero Visits Central Iowa
- North Carolina Firefighters, Police to Remember 9/11
- Kentucky Remembers 9/11, Three Years Later
- Marylanders to Remember 9/11 Three Years Later
- New York City Plans Third Remembrance of 9/11 Victims
- Goldfeder Commentary: NO...It's Not Too Late
- Fear of Terror Attack Persists Among Americans
- Kansas Town Forms Connection With Bronx Firehouse, Family After 9/11 Attacks
