It won’t be like the first few years after 9/11. Remembrances Thursday will be fewer, quieter. But they’ll be there – from acts of kindness, like blood drives, to acts of patriotism, like flag waving – as the seventh anniversary is observed.

In Lewiston, firefighters will hold an outside ceremony. In Bethel, the town will explode with American flags. In Augusta, there’ll be a massive, day-long blood drive. At the Oxford Fair, there’ll be a tribute to military members and emergency responders.

There’s always debate on what’s enough or too much on 9/11, said Lewiston fire Chief Paul LeClair. “We feel there’s a place for it.”

It wasn’t only public safety workers who lost their lives, LeClair said. “A number of civilians died in the towers.”

Bethel will cover the town’s main streets with flags, making a dramatic statement of patriotism. “It looks great, especially on a day like today with the wind blowing,” said Town Manager Scott Cole. So many flags “give you a vivid reminder,” he said.

Another way to honor those who died on 9/11 is by giving blood, said Ellen Russell of the American Red Cross. Blood supplies are low, especially types O-positive and O-negative. “We haven’t had more than a two-day supply in the last year,” she said.

Reflection is yet another way.

Everyone should find some quiet time “to appreciate what we have and what we need to preserve,” said the Rev. Frank Murray of Auburn’s Sacred Heart Church. Without slowing down and giving ourselves some time for prayer and reflection, the day “keeps going” like every other, he said.

Sacred Heart has a daily service at 7:45 a.m., and the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston has services at 7 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Father Ted Toppses of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church of Lewiston said people should “treasure the freedoms our country has, and understand 9/11 was an attack on our freedom.”

The day should be one where those who died are remembered, and people will “not be afraid to show we’re proud to be an American.”

Toppses was at St. Catherine’s Church in Falls Church, Va. – six miles from the Pentagon – when it was attacked that day. “We could hear the boom. Then we could see the smoke. It was very surreal.”

Dud Hendrick agreed 9/11 is a day for reflection. But as the head of Maine Veterans for Peace, the day represents not only those killed by hijacked planes, but a time “when the country took a drastic turn for the worst in response to 9/11.”

The attacks were criminal acts, and should not have been “a declaration of war, Hendrick said. The day “should reflect the loss of lives everywhere around the world.”