City schedules Sept. 11 event at Legacy Traditional School

Legacy Traditional School has been chosen by Maricopa city officials as the site for the 10th anniversary event honoring Sept. 11, 2001.

The school’s morning flag ceremony will be extended on Monday, Sept. 12, from 7:45 to 8:30 a.m. so the community can join school children and first responders as they commemorate the anniversary of the terrorists attacks on New York City and the Pentagon.

The public event will have participants from Legacy Traditional School, the Maricopa Police and Fire departments, Mayor Tony Smith and other city officials, as well as representatives from the Maricopa Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion.

“It is an honor to have been chosen for this special day,” said Bill Gregory, cofounder of Legacy Traditional School said. “It is vital to our community that we honor this day and pass along our experiences to the next generation.”

In an effort to help our community, from the youngest to the oldest, to never forget the events of Sept. 11, this special morning will have many activities to pay tribute those Americans who were lost and to those who serve our nation.

John Hancock, who was working for the U.S. Defense Department in Washington D.C. during the events of Sept. 11, will be the keynote speaker.  He will give a recount of the day’s events from the State Department’s perspective, including the international reaction to the events. Nicole Mangum, Legacy Traditional School assistant principal and Hancock’s daughter, remembers the morning of Sept. 11 well as she believed her father was at the Pentagon the morning that it was attacked. 

“I hope to give the next generation the ability to forgive, but never forget the events of Sept. 11,” Hancock said.