When Robert Horry returned home, we asked the community to turn out and show their support for a native son who had done well. For Robert's sake, you turned out in droves, filling the gymnasium at Andalusia Elementary School.

Now, we ask you to turn out again, for a far more somber occasion. Tomorrow, the city will host a special ceremony on the Square, honoring those who died Sept.11 in the terrorist attack on this country. As community, we need to join together for this event, even as we joined together a year ago. One proverb tells us that grief shared is grief halved - a sorrow as monumental as this one must be borne on many, many shoulders to be made bearable at all.

We expect our civic leaders and elected officials to be there, if at all possible, and we are confident that both they and those campaigning to become elected officials will observe the solemnity of the day and leave their soapboxes behind. But the attacks on our country were about more than elected officials - they were about every citizen of this country, and every citizen should be there.

This is not a holiday. We have mentioned before that creating a federal holiday to honor the victims of those attacks would eventually distill the impact of the day. The observation planned by the city is ideal - we return to work after our brief communion, our hearts and minds filled with memories of the tragedy.

All this week, schools and churches are commemorating September 11. Tonight, there will be a special program at Andalusia Elementary School. Tomorrow morning, there will be one at Straughn. Human beings have always regarded anniversaries with special awe, because we find ourselves moving forward - as we should –

but we find ourselves needing to remember.

Join us on the Square tomorrow and let us remember together.