A paved walkway following the path of United Airlines Flight 93 in a quiet park in Southern New Hampshire leads visitors to a steel beam that was part of the World Trade Center.
Hudson is one of four towns in the Granite State to display pieces of the original towers to memorialize those lost on September 11, 2001. Each of those spots will host ceremonies this weekend to commemorate 20 years since the attacks.
Located within Benson Park, the memorial was dedicated 10 years ago to the firefighters, first responders and citizens who died that day, including Hudson resident David Kovalcin, a passenger on Flight 11 when it struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
“His children went to our schools,” said Selectman and former Fire Captain David Morin. “When 9/11 happened, the town and the firefighters had put together a huge equipment and food drive to bring down to New York City.”
The monument was a result of an outpouring of community effort spearheaded by Morin and Fire Chief Robert Buxton. Immediately after the idea was brought up to the community, a 9/11 Memorial Committee was formed, consisting of first responders, public workers, officials and residents. The design of the monument was drafted by the committee within 15 minutes of their first meeting.
“Between all of the people who were there, they threw out ideas and it was drawn on a table napkin,” said Morin.
The memorial itself was constructed within two weeks, in order to prepare it for its dedication on September 11, 2011.
The committee members took construction into their own hands to get it done in time for the 10 year anniversary, Morin and Buxton said.
The memorial has immense attention to detail, with each piece having some relation to the attack. For example, the path of the sidewalk leading up to the memorial follows the flight path of United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
The town holds an annual ceremony for those lost on September 11,…