MINNEAPOLIS (AP) &045; There was no heightened terror alert, no extra watch at the borders. Television news didn’t deluge viewers with stock footage of the horrific events from a year earlier.

In Minnesota, as elsewhere, remembrances on the second anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were more scarce and less emotional than a year before.

An afternoon prayer service at the University of Minnesota was largely ignored by students sitting outside to read or study. The eight or so people leading the service may have outnumbered students and faculty who came out of their way to see it.

Art student Jamie Barber wandered by the proceedings because he heard an amplified voice floating from the steps of Northrop Auditorium. He had forgotten that Thursday was the anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

&uot;You should honor the victims. But the more you dwell on it, the more power you’re giving to the people who caused it,&uot; Barber said. &uot;I think it’s better to move on.&uot;

Steve Nelson and Pat Vitale, friends and relatives by marriage, also didn’t think much about the anniversary. They spent Thursday afternoon playing with their children in a Minneapolis park.

&uot;I’m not doing anything different,&uot; Nelson said. &uot;Two years ago, it was frightening and shocking. But I don’t have time to think about it now.&uot;

Nelson and his family, including twin 3-year-old daughters he pushed on swings at the park, are traveling to North Carolina soon to visit the beach. He says he feels safe now, and he’s not worried about traveling with his daughters.

Nelson said he saved a newspaper from Sept. 12, 2001, that he eventually plans to show to the girls &045; someday.

&uot;I haven’t even talked to them about it,&uot; he said, gesturing to Sarah, while she lobbied for his attention with a butterfly she had just caught by its wings. &uot;See? You can’t get a word in. That’s what we talk about &045; butterflies.&uot;

Vitale said she wasn’t doing anything special to commemorate the date either.

&uot;I didn’t even realize it,&uot; she said.

Pouring rain limited the crowd to about 200 people Thursday night at a gathering at Midway Stadium in St. Paul.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who spoke at the event, appealed for the continuing support of Minnesotans who have relatives serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. &uot;The war on terror started with the efforts of sucker-punching cowards, and it is far from over,&uot; he said.

The governor presented a plaque to Thomas and Beverly Burnett, parents of Thomas Burnett Jr., the Bloomington native who died in the hijacked plane that crashed over Pennsylvania.

A VFW post in south Minneapolis was quiet Thursday afternoon. Jim Lahay, who works there, said they hadn’t planned anything special for the day, but he was considering stopping at the evening celebration at Midway on his way home.