Bayonne’s annual Holocaust Remembrance Service is scheduled for Thursday, April 24, at 6:00 p.m., in the Dorothy Harrington City Council Chambers at 630 Avenue C.  The event is sponsored by the United Jewish Appeal (UJA) Federation of Bayonne and the Bayonne Interfaith Clergy and is hosted by the City of Bayonne.  Mayor Jimmy Davis is the honorary chairman of the program.

          At the memorial program, elected officials will offer brief remarks and present proclamations, resolutions, and citations.  Clergy from various faiths will offer prayers and reflections. Members of Bayonne’s veterans’ groups will carry the colors and the banners of their posts.  Bayonne students will also participate in the procession.  The Bayonne Interfaith Choir will sing. 

Hara Lynn Benjamin, a cantorial singer with the Temple Beth-El Religious School, will lead the singing of Hatikvah.  Alan Gordon Smulen, a cantorial singer from Temple Emanu-El and President of the board of Amore Opera, will lead the singing of the Star-Spangled Banner.  The accompanist will be Sidney Hagans, Director of the Bayonne Interfaith Choir.  Lee Smulen is also a member of the event’s music committee. 

          The event will include a candlelighting ceremony to remember the victims of the Holocaust. 

          The winners of the Holocaust writing contest at Bayonne High School will read from their compositions.  The students will receive awards sponsored by the Preminger and Epstein families.

          Arnold Wendroff is President of the UJA Federation of Bayonne. Dr. Ellen Goldberg is the Executive Director of the UJA Federation and the Jewish Community Center. Ilona Rosenberg is President of the Bayonne Jewish Community Center.  Helene Kessel Nagiar and Joseph E. Ryan will co-chair the service.

          This memorial program is free and open to the public.