Sept. 11 memorial events around Kansas City

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Eleven years after the worst terrorist attacks in U.S. history, a handful of memorial events are set for Tuesday, Sept. 11, across the Kansas City area.

The day starts as a remnant from the World Trade Center -- whose twin towers fell after being struck by hijacked airplanes -- is dedicated in Overland Park, Kan., as part of a memorial to the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives in New York and Washington, D.C.

The central element of the new memorial outside the Overland Park Fire Training Center, 12401 Hemlock St., is a steel beam recovered from the WTC debris.

The event starts at 7:15 a.m. with remarks by Mayor Carl Gerlach and Fire Chief Bryan Dehner. At 7:30 a.m. an honor guard will lower the American flag to half-staff. Then, between 7:46 and 9:29 a.m., a series of six bell strikes and wreath-laying ceremonies are set -- one for each moment when a hijacked plane struck the twin towers, the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, Pa., and when each of the WTC towers collapsed.

Harvesters-The Community Food Network , at 3801 Topping Ave., will participate in the national memorial observance of the 9/11 attacks by inviting volunteers to serve the community by sorting and packing donated food for families at risk of hunger. The event runs all day, between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

Each two-hour volunteer shift will open with a short reflection remembering the victims of the terrorist attacks and their families.

The In God We Trust PAC Tea Party invites the public to take part in a "We Remember 911" rally from 10 a.m. to noon in Mill Creek Park, at the corner of 47th Street and J.C. Nichols Parkway. Founder Kristi Nichols encourages attendees to wear red, white and blue.

Finally, the locally based non-profit organization the Patriots’ Run Club will sponsor its 10th annual Patriots’ Run at Olathe’s Great Mall of the Great Plains, 20700 W. 151st St. Proceeds will benefit the Salvation Army.

The event starts at noon and continues until 9:11 p.m., during which time participants may choose among seven different events.The gun to start the marathon goes off at noon, while the 5K run starts at 6:30 p.m. The events are held on a one-mile loop on mall property.

The other five events have no formal start time. Participants may start and finish whenever they want between noon and 9:11 p.m. and run as many laps as they choose. They will be timed with a computer chip. Those events are the casual run/walk, the ultra-marathon (anything over 26.2 miles), the team walk (a relay with up to 10 members), the race walk and the wheelchair run.

For more information, visit patriotsrun.org .