Edhat Staff
If you’re sticking around town this holiday weekend you’d notice Memorial Day has brought in a decent number of tourists while locals plan semi-foggy beach BBQs and backyard gatherings. Above all else, Memorial Day honors Americans who have died in service to their country.
A free community gathering will take place at the Santa Barbara Cemetery at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, sponsored by the Pierre Claeyssens Veterans Foundation. This free event is open to the public with an open air ceremony including presentations and performances by the UCSB ROTC Color Guard; Gold Coast Pipe & Drum Band; David Gonzales and the Santa Barbara Choral Society, The Prime Time Band, and a flyover by The Condor Squadron. Additionally, 150 White doves will be released during the singing of the Star Spangled Banner.
Guest speakers will include Lieutenant Colonel Joe Ruhl and US Army Commanding Officer UCSB ROTC, BGen. Fred Lopez, USMCR (ret.), a Vietnam veteran who served in the US Marine Corps Reserve for 31 years. Learn more about the event here.
The weekend is also known as the unofficial kickoff to summer with gatherings, shopping Memorial Day sales, and traveling for a long weekend trip. This year, it’s estimated that 52% of Americans plan to barbeque while 17% are taking a trip. Although looking at gas stations and airports it appears more than 17% of people are traveling this weekend.
According to a survey by WalletHub, 97 members of the 118th Congress have served in the U.S. military, only the 4th time in the last 50 years with an increase at all in the total veterans elected.
Over 100 million Households worldwide will watch the National Memorial Day parade broadcast on TV, 3.5 million people are expected to travel by plane over Memorial Day weekend (up 5% over 2023), 818 hot dogs will be consumed every second from Memorial Day to Labor Day (seven billion total), and 15 to 80% off can be expected during Memorial Day weekend sales.
Learn more in the graphic below.
