Newtown Anniversary

Newtown Anniversary, Newtown is planning to mark one year since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting massacre with private memorial services and the ringing of bells for the victims.

Connecticut’s governor has asked for houses of worship around the state Saturday to ring their bells 26 times – once for each of the 20 children and six educators gunned down inside the school on Dec. 14, 2012. Vigils were planned elsewhere in the country, and President Obama and the first lady planned to observe a moment of silence at the White House.

In his weekly radio address Saturday, Obama said that the country should do more to keep dangerous people from getting their hands on guns and to heal troubled minds.

Newtown officials have called for privacy and asked town residents to honor the victims through acts of service and kindness. At a joint appearance during the week in Newtown, some of the victims’ families urged people to find ways to give back to their own communities.

“In this way, we hope that some small measure of good may be returned to the world,” JoAnn Bacon, whose 6-year-old daughter, Charlotte, was killed at Sandy Hook.