Hundreds Expected to Walk in Memory of Paramus 9-11 Victims

Each September hundreds from the community gather for a silent walk in memory of those  taken too soon on 9-11 as well as the emergency responders and veterans who serve our country. 

The seventh annual Freedom Walk is set for Sunday, Sept. 8 this year.

Founder and lead organizer Joey Rizzolo and his committee are gearing up for the annual event which is held at the ground of the Paramus Public Library with a ceremony at the Howland Memorial Grove. 

Rizzolo was just 11-years old when he founded the Freedom Walk seven years earlier. He had been working with Operation Goody Bag, which makes goody bags to send the troops overseas, when he learned of a group called "America Supports You' conduct a Freedom Walk in Washington, D.C. He loved the idea and set out to bring it to his own community. 

The walk will begin at the Paramus Library band shell and continue to the memorial will the group will pay their respects to the Paramus victims of 9-11.

Jack L. D'Ambrosi Jr., Deborah Kaplan, Paul Laszcznski, Joseph M. Navis, Dominique Pandolfo, Thomas E. Sinton and Julie Lynne Zipper are remembered year after year. 

Ceremony will begin about 7:30 followed by the walk and the committee plans to serve refreshments this year hot dogs, hamburgers, water and soda said Rizzolo. 

Rizzolo was recently recognized with the  New Jersey State Governor's Jefferson Youth Award for his work with the Freedom Walk.