ANN ARBOR, MI — Communities across Southeast Michigan are preparing a wide slate of fall events to remember the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and honor the first responders and volunteers who answered that day.
The calendar includes memorial services, public ceremonies, campus programs, motorcycle tributes and theater productions. Together, they reflect how the anniversary continues to shape local remembrance more than two decades later.
Organizers are also using the occasion to recognize the people with Michigan ties among the dead. The Michigan Remembers 9-11 Fund says 42 victims had connections to the state, including graduates of the University of Michigan and Michigan State University and several Detroit natives.
Michigan connections remain central to the anniversary
Among the people identified with Michigan connections are Margaret Elaine Mattic, Marsha D. Ratchford and Sandra Lee Wright, all of whom were Detroit natives, according to the Michigan Remembers 9-11 Fund.
The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people after two hijacked planes struck the World Trade Center in New York and the towers collapsed, a third plane hit the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., and a fourth crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.
In later years, parts of recovered steel from the World Trade Center were sent to communities around the country and turned into permanent memorials. In Southeast Michigan, those artifacts became part of the region’s physical reminders of the day and its aftermath.
Theater productions bring the story of Sept. 11 to local stages
Several area theaters are marking the season with Come From Away, the ensemble musical that tells the story of airline passengers diverted to Gander, Newfoundland, after the attacks. The show has seen renewed interest from school and community theaters this year.
The Croswell Opera House in Adrian will stage the production on selected dates from Sept. 11-20. The University of Michigan Department of Musical Theater will follow with performances Oct. 8-18 at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre in Ann Arbor.
The play first opened in 2015, and the Broadway production began in 2017. Its place in this year’s local programming shows how arts groups are helping younger audiences and longtime residents revisit the human side of the national tragedy.
Memorial services will draw crowds from Grosse Pointe Farms to Pontiac
Traditional remembrance ceremonies remain at the center of the region’s observances. In Grosse Pointe Farms, the 9/11 Service of Remembrance begins at 8:30 a.m. Friday at The War Memorial on Lake Shore Drive.
The ceremony will include a color guard from the Navy Reserve Center Detroit Honor Guard, along with remarks from Mayor John Gillooly and the Rev. Andrew Van Culin of Christ Church Grosse Pointe. In Holly, the fire department’s Day of Remembrance begins at 8 a.m. Friday at the station on North Saginaw Street, with a reading of the names of the FDNY firefighters and first responders who died.
Pontiac’s 9/11 remembrance at 1 p.m. Friday is open to the public. It will be held at the memorial on North Telegraph Road and County Center Drive East, near the Michigan Fallen Heroes Memorial at the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office headquarters.
Firehouses, campuses and civic spaces are hosting their own tributes
Other ceremonies are planned in settings that connect public service with memory. In Lansing, the 9/11 Remembrance Memorial at Wentworth Park will be open to visitors, and the 2026 ceremony begins at 8:30 a.m. Friday.
The memorial features an H-beam salvaged from the World Trade Center site. Lansing Fire Department Chief Carrie Edwards-Clemons and Lansing Police Department Chief Robert Backus are set to speak.
Eastern Michigan University will hold its Day of Remembrance at 8:35 a.m. Friday at Pease Park on campus in Ypsilanti. The program includes remarks from President Brendan Kelly, flowers placed on a steel beam from the World Trade Center and a ROTC ceremony, with U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell and Ypsilanti Mayor Nicole Brown listed as special guests.
Veterans, bikers and scouts join the day of remembrance
Some of the planned events broaden the focus beyond the attacks themselves to include military service and community support. In Mt. Clemens, Macomb County Fallen Heroes will hold its annual 9/11 ceremony at 7 p.m. Friday in front of the circuit court building on North Main Street.
The program will honor the victims of Sept. 11 as well as Deputy Theodore Radlinski, who died in the line of duty in February 1940, and Emily Barker, who died while working at wildfires along the Utah-Colorado border. At Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Patrick Anderson, a World Trade Center survivor and founder of the Michigan Remembers 9-11 Fund, is scheduled to speak during a ceremony this week.
Elsewhere, the Stellantis Veterans Group will lead a ruck march at 11 a.m. Friday along the CTC test track, with more than 400 employees, veterans and company leaders taking part. The backpacks will carry donated supplies for veterans in the community.
Community programs stretch from Farmington to Madison Heights
A separate 9/11 Day of Remembrance and Scout Salute is bringing together scouting troops, religious organizations and other community groups to thank and honor military members and first responders. Organizers say the series is meant to be community-based and accessible in multiple locations.
In Southeast Michigan, the program includes stops at Riley Park in Farmington at 4 p.m., Mahican District-Young Patriots Park in Riverview at 5 p.m., the Dundee Civil War Memorial at 6 p.m., Brighton Area Fire Authority at 7 p.m. and Madison Heights Fire Department at 9 p.m.
From formal memorials to neighborhood gatherings, the events show how Sept. 11 continues to be marked locally through public ritual, shared memory and service-oriented tributes.
