ALEXANDRIA - Despite the drizzle Wednesday night, about 800 people packed St. Mary's Church here to remember the victims of the region's deadliest blaze, as well as their rescuers.
"Tonight we remember a memorable night - a night that was filled with much suffering, with heroism, with dread and with generosity," said the Rev. Joseph Brink, pastor of St. Mary's Church.
In sheer numbers, the fire that raced through the Beverly Hills Supper Club on May 28, 1977, was astounding: 165 dead and 164 injured in the second-worst nightclub disaster in the nation.
Veteran newsman Nick Clooney, whose television station brought many Tristate residents their first pictures of the fire 20 years ago, recalled how that night on a Southgate hilltop changed his life.
"There will come a time when this event in history will become numbers and names, but never for us," he said.
At the 20th anniversary service, police honor guards from seven Northern Kentucky departments, and dozens of uniformed police, firefighters, and life squad workers bore solemn witness to the toll the fire has taken on the Tristate.
Fire trucks and rescue equipment lined the driveway to the church, much as rescue vehicles from throughout the Tristate lined the supper club's winding driveway on that fateful night 20 years ago.
Organized by Wayne Dammert, a former banquet captain at the club and co-author of the recently published Inside the Beverly Hills Supper Club Fire, the service combined tales of heroism and sadness with messages of hope for those who lost loved ones.
Mr. Dammert recalled the helplessness he felt that night, as he prayed over bodies "that looked as if they were sleeping," while flames shot 100 feet into the air.
"We not only lost 10 of our fellow employees, we also lost 155 friends who came there that night to enjoy our fine entertainment," Mr. Dammert said.
In his sermon, the Most Rev. William Hughes, retired bishop of Covington, noted that God does not cause, or interfere with, such tragedies as the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire. "What God does give us, however, is the faith to deal with sorrow and tragedy," he said.
At the conclusion of the non-denominational service, the Hamilton County sheriff's bagpipe honor guard marched out of the packed church to the tune of a mournful dirge.
"The safety of our citizens demands that the Beverly Hills fire not be forgotten," said former Kentucky Gov. Julian Carroll.
Stan Chesley, the lawyer who won $50 million for fire victims and their survivors, paid tribute "to the courage and inspiration" of those who lost loved ones.
"Let a day never go by without remembering the people who died and the people who were injured," he said.
Dick Riesenberg, who was Southgate's fire chief at the time of the tragedy, noted that many fire safety improvements came about both statewide and nationally as a result of the fire. He urged the crowd to develop personal fire safety plans and equip their homes with smoke detectors. lives 20 years ago go unanswered," he said, as the crowd gave him a standing ovation.
Christi Kettman was among the 200 youngsters who lost one or both parents in the fire.
Ms. Kettman, who was living with her parents, Robert and Susan Kettman, and two sisters in Mount Carmel at the time of the fire, was only 7 when her parents perished.
After the fire, Ms. Kettman and her sisters, Pam and Cari, went to live with different relatives. Years would pass before they would be reunited.
"So many lives were affected by that tragic evening - the lives lost and those of the survivors," Ms. Kettman said.
While she no longer remembers the touch of her parents and their voices, Ms. Kettman said she and her sisters have learned to live again and to find peace. some sheets of rusty tin and scattered bits of pavement remain of the Southgate nightclub once billed "The Showplace of the Nation."
In place of the sprawling entertainment complex, a thick forest of trees, small bushes and weeds carpets the vacant hillside overlooking U.S. 27 and Interstate 471.
"You learn from tragedies like this, and you move forward," said Campbell County Judge-executive Ken Paul, Southgate's mayor at the time. "But I think for those who were there that night - the firefighters, and of course those who lost their loved ones - it's something that never goes away. It'll stay with you forever."
ENQUIRER SPECIAL REPORT: 'THE FIRE THAT STILL RAGES'
Previous daily stories
MEMORIAL SERVICE TONIGHT May 28, 1997
FROM BEVERLY HILLS ASHES COME LIFE-SAVING LESSONS May 25, 1997
SCHILLING REJECTS RESPONSIBILITY May 24, 1997
BUSBOY LED 1,000 TO SAFETY May 23, 1997
