March 21
...serving up your daily dish.
Baristanet joins the community in remembering those killed at the Fairfield Street post office in Montclair. Scot Surbeck's words and photos tell the story of today's memorial ceremony:
The observance started with the arrival of more than 40 postal vans, which parked two rows deep around the west side of the plaza and extended down Fairfield Street, flanking the site of the massacre. Amidst an intermittent cold drizzle, the somber crowd, comprised of mostly postal workers, huddled near the monument stone.
Postal employee and minister John Taylor, pictured above with postal employees Bill Cluney (l.) and Anthony Calia, gave a blessing beside a wreath displaying the names of the five victims.
When the ceremony ended, postal workers fanned out to their vans to return to work.
Pretty somber stuff. From someone who didn't live here when it happened, and now lives only 2 blocks from the Post Office, it's hard to imagine such a thing happening in Watchung Plaza. (I'm not sure why the shooter's family cares about painting it as a botched robbery instead of some kind of drug crazed psychotic incident, but whatever.)
Posted by: commentguy | Mar 21, 2005 3:30:40 PM
I was there during the ceremony. We had only just moved to Montclair a year before. It was very sad. I still can't believe it actually happened.
Posted by: walleroo | Mar 21, 2005 10:55:33 PM
I remember that day vividly. I was driving home and was making a left onto Valley Road from Watchung Ave. There was usually a lot a traffic coming up Watchung at that time of day and making the left would take a while. This day there was no problem. As it turns out Watchung Ave. was shut down east of Valley. We were living in the Gordonhurst Apartments at the time, which is about a block away. The basement doors were never locked and I kept thinking that whoever did it may be hiding there. It was pretty scary. I remember the police helicopter flying overhead searching for the suspect.
I did not know any of the customers who were shot but both Ernest and Scott were really nice. I'm a stamp collector and Scott was very helpful in getting me the latest issues. My best to all the victims families.
Posted by: parkinlot | Mar 22, 2005 11:35:55 AM
