A week of remembering

Danette Goulet

Prayers and patriotism have become a common sight and way of life in

Huntington Beach.

Since Friday, the day President Bush declared a Day of Prayer and

Remembrance, residents -- many of them children -- have stood outside

their homes with candles aloft. They wave flags and hold signs reading

“Honk if you love America.”

Fund-raising efforts have sprung up all over. Longboard Restaurant on

Main Street raised $6,500 for the New York City Firefighters Fund over

the weekend.

Last night, a candlelight vigil was held at Golden West College.

Students and staff gathered to remember those who lost their lives or

loved ones Sept. 11, when terrorists hijacked four passenger-filled

commercial airplanes and crashed them into the twin World Trade Center

towers, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania.

Despite the great physical distance between Huntington Beach and the

sites of the horrific acts, it was a close hit emotionally for many here.

Kay Dolton was stunned when she heard the news. She said her heart

immediately went out to those in the planes and buildings. Her second

thought: “Oh God, where is my son?”

Jon Dolton, 32, is a hopeful actor who moved to New York City in June

and was working at an Olive Garden Restaurant in downtown Manhattan.

Though he was in Manhattan on Tuesday morning, he was unharmed, merely

stranded in the midst of chaos.

“I was so relieved to hear his voice,” Kay Dolton said. “He was

standing there in this God awful world. He had no idea how he was going

to get back to Brooklyn, to his apartment. I think he walked.”

Kay Dolton’s fear for her son soon turned to pride as she learned that

since the tragedy he has volunteered to help courier food to rescue

workers.

“I’m glad he’s doing it, but I’m not surprised. It’s typical Jon,” she

said. “But I’ll tell you, my heart was in my throat.”

She was not alone. The events of Sept. 11 left scars on many in

Huntington Beach.

“I’m a New Yorker. Those were my towers,” said Huntington Beach

resident Aida Sprowls through sobs. “I can’t stop crying.”

Sprowls has four family members in New York, all of whom were

unharmed.

“I rejoice for that, yet I feel guilty,” she said. “I cry because it’s

all I can do. A part of me wants to hate, and I know I can’t.”

Sprowls was one of hundreds of residents who stopped what they were

doing Friday to head down to the Huntington Beach Central Library, where

the Greater Huntington Beach Interfaith Council held a service.

The crowd -- families, neighbors and couples -- sat in folding chairs

and on blankets. Some wore black; others red, white and blue. Many

carried the American flag. Patriotism was so visible, it could have been

the Fourth of July, except for the somber mood.

Onlookers pledged their allegiance to the country as a vow rather than

a meaningless recitation.

The crowd heard from religious leaders from the Islamic, Jewish,

Christian, Lutheran, Catholic, Mormon and Buddhist communities.

Each brought a message of sorrow and a hope for peace.

“We are a community of friends brought together by adversary and bound

by hope,” said Ananda Guruge, a Buddhist who stood at the top of the

World Trade Center just two weeks ago with his 9-year-old grandson.

Guruge spoke of what many for granted -- that Americans will return

home to their families from work each day, safe.

It is that simple trust, a trust in humanity, that he said he fears

was lost Sept. 11.

It must be restored, he said.

As the religious leaders struggled to give hope-filled messages to

those gathered, they begged for tolerance.

“Brothers and sisters, my fellow Americans, we Muslim Americans, and

Arab Americans are just like you,” said Haitham Bundakji of the Islamic

Society of Orange County. “We have been hurt because we are part of the

community.”