Hundreds gather at Sag Harbor 9/11 vigil

There was no breeze at the Sag Harbor waterfront Sunday night, nothing to cause the American flag at half mast to flutter, and nothing to cause the metal fittings to clank against the masts of dozens of small sailboats docked in the harbor.

Instead, there was an almost-silent gathering of more than 200 people to remember the 9/11 attacks, who had come from prayers in 10 different local houses of worship -- all to gather at a candlelight vigil.

There were no microphones, and it was hard for people at one end of the large circle around the flagpole at Marine Park to even hear speakers, as they read passages from the Bible that talked about enduring hardship and finding hope.

Then, people in the crowd were asked to name something they could take comfort in, a decade after the disaster. It was hard to see the faces, and people had to listen carefully to hear the voices coming out of the near-dark.

One man said he was grateful that 22,000 people escaped from the towers. Someone said "Salvation Army" and someone else said "all the children born since then." One person said simply "Our faith in God."

Through much of the ceremony, the haunting sounds of a single flute served as a background.

Alison Cornish, pastor of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Fork in Bridgehampton, said the idea of a collective candlelight vigil had just evolved in the community, which has a long tradition of people banding together in times of tragedy.

"A lot of people turned to the faith community to express their grief and shock, from people who lost a loved one to people who lost their hope in the future," she said.