CRANSTON, R.I. -- A year after a nightclub fire killed 100 people in West Warwick, R.I., mourners returned to the scene of the tragedy to pay their respects.

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More than 100 crosses made from charred remains of the club called The Station now mark the site and form a circle where the building's perimeter used to be. At steady flow of visitors has been seen all day.

Many left flowers, candles and balloons. One person attached roses. Another attached balloons to all of the crosses

"It is overwhelming," one mourner told WJAR-TV in Providence, R.I. "You hear the numbers, but it is one thing to hear a number, 100. It is another to see countless crosses and flowers and pictures and to see family connected with the people."

Also Friday, a memorial service was held in nearby Cranston. Hundreds attended the one-hour Mass at St. Ann's Church to honor the dead and the survivors of the fire, which was sparked by the band Great White's pyrotechnics only seconds into a concert on Feb. 20, 2003.

At the scene of the tragedy, everyone seemed to have a connection.

Suzanne Fox lost her son, Jeff Martin.

"It is part of the process. It takes a long time to get through all of this. You never really get over it. You just learn it live with it," she told WJAR.

Kimberly Richards lost her husband, Walter, in the fire. She and her son visited the site Friday.

"Just to remember him and the tragedy that took him from all of us. A lot of people that loved him and knew him and he was taken away from us tragically and so soon," he said. "It was just the time to remember him and just be together."

A memorial service at the site is scheduled for 9:30 Friday night.

The first memorial service Friday mirrored a similar one held Thursday, during which Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri urged the suffering to find a reason to keep on living.

Carcieri (pictured, right) said he would continue to pray for the fire's survivors. He told them to go forward, despite the injuries they endure.

"You survived for a reason," he said. "Find it."

Rescue workers who responded to the fire on Feb. 20, 2003, rang a bell 100 times -- once for each person who died in the fire.

Anger, Criticism Remain

Some families mourning the victims said Friday they are still angered by the senselessness of the tragedy.

Al Gray, who lost his 22-year-old son, Derek, in the fire, said he's still mad at West Warwick town officials.

"Somebody didn't do their job, and everyone here should think about that," Gray said.

The fire at the one-story wood-frame nightclub started when sparks from Great White's pyrotechnic display set fire to flammable foam -- a fire-code violation -- that had been placed around the stage as soundproofing, investigators say.

Great White's lead singer, Jack Russell, has maintained the nightclub owners gave the band permission to use the pyrotechnics.

The club's owners, Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, said they never gave permission for the use of fireworks. But Russell says the Derderians lied to protect themselves. (Full Story.)

The band lost its guitarist, Ty Longley, in the fire.

Russell told radio station WKKB-FM on Thursday that he'll spend Friday honoring those injured or killed in the fire.

"I'm going to go to church for the first time in 20 years and light a candle and pray for everyone," he said.