Donora to host 9/11 rededication ceremony at Palmer Park trail

A section of a walking trail will be named in honor of native Larry Senko, who lost his life in the 9/11 World Trade Center attack.

The 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks will have special meaning in Donora as a section of Palmer Park will be dedicated to a native son who lost his life in the World Trade Center.

A rededication ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. Friday for the Larry Senko Heritage Walking Trail at Palmer Park, commemorating the 15th anniversary of the original dedication of the trail in 2011 and the 25th anniversary of the terroristic attacks.

The entrance sign, as well as 18 other signs spread across the trail, will have QR codes that direct visitors to videos that provide historical context about Donora’s founding and past, Senko’s life and information about the trail’s formation and symbolic significance.

Donora Council Vice President DeAnne Pavelko said it was a group effort by many who supported the project.

“It is a big project, and I’m so proud of everybody that we worked hard to meet deadlines and make it happen,” Pavelko said. “The history of Donora is shining bright in Palmer Park.”

The Larry Senko Heritage Walking Trail is one of three trails in Palmer Park alongside two others, the Steel Loop spanning 0.55 miles and the Zinc Loop at 0.48 miles. Each loop features placards that provide historical information for the industrial influences on Donora’s development, as well as additional informa- tion about the trail. The trail’s rededication will also commemorate America’s 250th anniversary and Donora’s 125th anniversary.

Senko’s father wanted a bench to be dedicated to Senko several years after the tragedy, but he died prior to the first stone sign dedicated to Senko to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in 2011.

“At that time, they stopped letting people put memorial benches in the park because they had so many of them,” Pavelko said. “So my husband (Donora Mayor Don Pavelko) came up with the idea to name it the Walking Trail, after Larry Senko. His father wasn’t living when it happened, but now we’re able to make it the Larry Senko Donora Heritage Trail, which is even more impressive.”

Larry Senko was working in the north tower of World Trade Center where he died as a result of the tower’s collapse.

The ceremony will begin with a moment of silence and prayer by Rev. Lee A. Haney of St. Paul Baptist Church, followed by guest speakers Dr. Dave Lonich and Mark Pawelec of the Donora Historical Society and Smog Museum.

The service will also include dedications for the new “Deacon” Dan Towler Pavilion along with the Robert D. “Bob” Megela RC Airfield.

A community luncheon will follow. The public is welcome to attend.