The Town Council voted to reschedule meetings if they were to fall on Sept. 11 in the future.

The vote, which was proposed by Councilman Mike O’Hagan and seconded by Councilwoman Amy Martin, was conducted on September 11, 2017  and passed with a unanimous vote.  This law will prohibit any town meetings, whether public meetings or work sessions, to be held on Sept. 11.  

Councilman Art Pazan, who has served on the town council for 12 years, remembers exactly where he was on Sept. 11, “I was on the top floor of my building, in Jersey City, and actually witnessed the second plane going in.”  

Pazan said he was upset when sitting through town council meetings on Sept. 11.

“It was hard sitting through the meetings because September 11th is such an emotional day, so I was proud to vote on not having any Council meetings on September 11th,” he said.

Pazan remembers the first memorial in Glen Rock. “We all lit candles outside our houses,” he said.  

From that first memorial, the ceremony has only gotten better according to Pazan.  In recent years, the ceremony has been held at Veterans Park.  Each year, something new is added to the service that enhances the ceremony.

The vote, according to Pazan, was to set a principle and to initiate change within our society. Sept. 11 is a date of remembrance for those who lost their lives on that day, and a reminder of how fortunate we are to be alive.  

“We pray that by our example other municipalities will follow the same and State and Federal government officials will make future September 11th days a day of rest and memory,” Pazan said.