HARTFORD – Governor Ned Lamont and Lt Governor Susan Bysiewicz are inviting readers to attend the State of Connecticut’s annual 9/11 Memorial Ceremony honoring and celebrating the lives of those killed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

This year’s ceremony will be held at 5:30 pm on Thursday, September 5 at Sherwood Island State Park in Westport.

Family members of those who were killed in the attacks will participate, and the names of the 161 victims with ties to Connecticut will be read aloud.

Every year, the State of Connecticut intentionally schedules its official memorial ceremony to be held several days prior to the actual anniversary in order to accommodate the family members and friends of the victims. Because Connecticut is in such close proximity to New York City, many family members and friends who live in the state choose to also attend the annual ceremony that is held at the site of the World Trade Center on September 11.

Connecticut’s official memorial honoring the victims of the attacks is located on a peninsula at Sherwood Island State Park, where on a clear day the Manhattan skyline can be viewed across Long Island Sound. The memorial features stones engraved with the names of the people with ties to Connecticut who were killed in the attacks. The state park was chosen as the site for the memorial because it is the location where, in the hours immediately following the attacks in 2001, many people gathered to observe the smoke and devastation on Lower Manhattan from across Long Island Sound. Additionally, the site was used immediately after the attacks by the Connecticut National Guard as a staging area for Connecticut’s relief efforts for New York City.