Stay in your vehicle for Memorial Day ceremony

Various events, sports and graduation ceremonies are cancelled or on hold around the nation due to COVID-19 concerns, but that doesn’t mean that all meaningful rituals  in our community won’t be kept, such as those honoring our fallen Americans.  Jessie Martin Post No. 9 American Legion will hold a Memorial Day ceremony May 25 in the Glenrock Cemetery at 10:30 a.m. 

Although the ceremony will be conducted as usual, attendees must stay in their vehicles while they watch it.

“People should be able to hear and see the ceremony from their automobiles,” Legion Post Commander Scott Howe said. “There’s plenty of parking.”

Attendees will still be allowed to visit the gravestones of their fallen loved ones after the ceremony.

Initially, Howe sent a variance to state and county health officers which would have allowed for more than 25 people to gather outside, although it was denied.

“We were hoping in the open air there would be less need for social distancing,” he said.

Another change to the memorial service will be the lack of the usual cannon being fired off at 8 a.m., as people would then congregate and there would be no way to enforce social distancing.

“It’s going to be one or the other,” Howe said. “There’s either going to be a lot of people here, they want to get out of the house, they want normalcy. But at the same time, you have to follow your social distancing.”