Saturday is the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Nine years is a long time. Preteen and younger children have no firsthand memories of the events, but for everyone else, the images of those crumbling World Trade Center towers in New York remain raw and vivid, a scar on the collective American psyche.

Many will mark the moment in solitude, but it’s an anniversary that should be a shared experience.

To that end, Covington First United Methodist Church, 1113 Conyers St., will play host to a service of remembrance at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in the main sanctuary. The service will follow the Fuzz Run downtown and dress is casual.

The service will honor local fire and police and military and will feature patriotic music performed by an ensemble formed by Mack McKibben of McKibben Music. Firefighters and police will provide a color guard, and church pastors Dr. Douglas Gilreath and the Rev. Gail Thompson will preside.

The service is a great opportunity for parents and grandparents to provide a lesson to the young people in their lives on citizenship and what binds us together as Americans. You don’t need to dress up, you just need to go.