Ashland 9/11 memorial ceremony returns
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - Schuylkill County Sheriff Joe Groody speaks during Ashland's 9/11 memorial ceremony on Sept. 11, 2023.
ASHLAND – The Ashland community recognized and remembered those lost on 9/11 with the return of an annual memorial ceremony Monday evening.
The ceremony was organized by the Washington Fire Co. Ladies Auxiliary and took place on North 13th Street next to the firehouse.
Schuylkill County Sheriff Joe Groody recalled the day of the terrorist attack in 2001.
“Everybody here, I’m sure, remembers where they were on 9/11,” Groody said. “I know where I was. I was a police officer in this town for 31 years. I was on duty that morning and I had a phone call from my one sister that said a plane had hit one of the towers.”
“Like everybody else thought, I thought it was just a Piper Cub or something,” Groody continued. “Maybe 10 minutes after that, I was called to a domestic on Market Street and while I was in the house trying to break it up, there was a TV on and I saw the second jet hitting the tower.”
Groody said he was then called to the Marko Townhouse for a fire alarm and feared the worst.
“That’s why I go around and do this, to stress, and I can’t stress enough, to never, ever forget,” Groody said.
Groody stressed the service and sacrifice that first responders provided both that day and in the time since.
Ashland Fire Chief Phil Groody echoed similar sentiments, noting that remembering and recognizing the sacrifices made on 9/11 is one of the better ways to support volunteer firefighters like those in our region.
“Moving forward, we hope that in our lifetime, we never see [a day like 9/11] again,” Phil Groody said. “Thank you for remembering all of us.”
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