Memorial Day

[SparkleNana]

Memorial Day Weekend -- the "unofficial" kickoff to summer in the USA!

Do you have traditional celebrations? Low-key? Bar-b-q's? Picnics? Are you beginning to get ready now?

I am working on getting the back porch -- and the garden/yard/outdoor seating area.... set up. The outdoor cushions (for the outdoor furniture) are still in the attic. But.... lots of flowers have been planted. Progress IS being made.

How about you?

 

[sweetpumkinpye]

SN can you explain the tradition of memorial day to me please. It is not a holiday that we celebrate here in Australia.
Our next holiday is in June and it is Queens Birthday, so obviously we celebrate different holidays through out the year.

 

[SparkleNana]

Sure. My understanding is that "Memorial Day" is to honor the men and women who have served our country in the military. Many people go to the cemetaries near that day, to care for family graves and remember family members.

There are often "Memorial Day Parades" -- which are patriotic parades. And Memorial Day celebrations acknowledge the beginning of the summer season. Foods are usually traditional summer foods - hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, cole slaw, deviled eggs, watermellon, corn on the cob, green salad, cupcakes.

 

[Kim Loves Snow]

Great explanation, SparkleNana!

Pumpinpye - It is also the weekend that a lot of pools open for the summer. And, after Memorial weekend most kids are anxious to get out of school for the summer. Ours will go about another 15 days of school after Memorial weekend. It's an anticipated 3-day weekend with Monday being the holiday!

Can you explain your June holiday - Queen's Birthday?

 

[sweetpumkinpye]

SN and KIM thanks for your great explanation. Memorial day would be very much like our ANZAC Day which is April 25th. That day is to remember all of the men and women who have served to protect our country. It is just about our true national day, and is very important to us.

Queen's birthday is really just an excuse to have a holiday weekend. Because Australia is part of the Commonwealth we are in essence "OWNED" by England. As a subject of the British Empire we get to celebrate the Queen's Birthday with a holiday in June. (I think her actual b'day is in April).. I am not sure if our Canadian friends who are also part of the Commonwealth get a holiday or not. Eventually Australia will become a republic so that we can no longer be Owned by anyone and be an independent country

 

[luludou]

Funny here in Canada, the day for the queen's birthday is May 24th which is a holiday.... what date is really the queen's birthday???


Our memorial day is November 11th.

 

[Christmas Girl]

The Queen's birthday is April 21st however here in the UK even we don't celebrate it then, it's usually June for some reason. Then they have the 'Trooping of the Colour' which is a big parade.

I wonder why no countries celebrate on the actual day?

Lucie - we also have a memorial day on November 11th

 

[Pam Spaur]

When I was a young child back in the dark ages, I read somewhere that the reason the Queen's birthday is celebrated in June is because the weather in April is rainy and crappy. The June weather is much better....usually.

 

[MrsSoup]

November 11th for us is called Veteran's Day here in the states. So it is a day of remembrance and a day of thanks to our servicepeople present and past.

I always think of Memorial Day as the beginning of summer as our schools are always out by then and like Kim said, the pools open up. But we usually spend the weekend on the lake on our boat with my parents. I'm not sure what we'll be doing this year since moving will be so close.

Here is a great link of the history of Memorial Day: http://www.usmemorialday.org/backgrnd.html

And here is one that explains Veterans Day: http://www1.va.gov/opa/vetsday/vetdayhistory.asp

Sorry for all the links, I was wondering what the difference was and couldn't remember exactly about November 11th, sad since i'm a veteran.

 

[teachermomof2]

I am hoping that I will be camping that weekend....we'll see how things are going with the houses. lol

 

[aggy]

I always attend a special service at the Veteran cemetary where my granddad is buried. I put down flowers at his gravesite and sit there recalling the fun times I spent with him. Over the holiday weekend I usually attend 1 or 2 bbq's that are going on.

 

[aggy]

When I was a young child back in the dark ages, I read somewhere that the reason the Queen's birthday is celebrated in June is because the weather in April is rainy and crappy. The June weather is much better....usually.

Pam I heard that too on a PBS station that featured a story on the Queen.

 

[sweetpumkinpye]

There are some similarities between us. We celebrate Remembrance day on November 11th. It is not a holiday for us but is an important day. I hope that you all have a great memorial day. It is nice to hear how you will all celebrate.

 

[Darcy]

My girlfriend and I visit our parent's and friend's graves and decorate them together. We make a day of it. Collecting flowers and other items to decorate with. My parents are buried one hour south of where we live, so we start there and work our ways backwards towards home. We visit 4-5 cemetaries, have lunch, talk about memories and make a somewhat sad event fun.