Sarasota Memorial Day Parade: Everything You Need To Know

SARASOTA, FL — The annual Memorial Day Parade in Sarasota will take place at 10 a.m. Monday, May 31.

According to city organizers, this year’s theme is “All Gave Some. Some Gave All." The parade will feature the Sarasota Military Academy band, veterans’ organizations, local dignitaries, public safety agencies and more.

"We hope you can attend these community events or pause during the day to remember those who went before us and made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation," the city said in an email to residents.

The parade starts at Main Street and Osprey Avenue. It will travel down Main Street to Gulfstream Avenue, where a remembrance ceremony will be held in Chaplain J.D. Hamel Park at approximately 11 a.m.

Due to the parade occurring on Main Street, the Bay Runner, the city's free trolley service, will offer modified service starting at 8 a.m. from South Lido at Ted Sperling Park to the Ringling Boulevard — Palm Avenue intersection.

According to the city, this abbreviated route will continue until the parade and ceremony conclude approximately after the noon hour, then the regular route will resume.

Memorial Day History

It Was Originally Called Decoration Day: Remembering veterans who died while in military service in late May dates back to 1868, when Gen. John A. Logan called for a day of remembrance to honor the Northern lives lost amid battle during the Civil War that had ended just a few years earlier, according to History.com. Logan called it "Decoration Day," which it was known as for several years. As time passed, more and more people called it Memorial Day, History.com reported, and it became a federal holiday in 1971.

Birthplace Of Memorial Day: The Memorial Day holiday tradition in Waterloo, New York, dates back even longer than Logan's call for a day of remembrance. Waterloo first celebrated on May 5, 1866, as local businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers and flags, according to History.com.

"The people of Waterloo are justly proud of this outstanding event in the history of their community," then-New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller said in 1966, when the federal government recognized the upstate village about midway between Rochester and Syracuse as the "birthplace of Memorial Day."

Although its event is canceled for the second consecutive year due to the coronavirus, Waterloo holds a yearly two-day celebration — complete with a car show, Civil War memorial and 5K races — as a nod to the village's rich connection to the holiday's history.

A Civil War Holiday At First: Until World War I, Memorial Day, or Decoration Day as noted above, was only meant to honor those who died while fighting for the union in the Civil War, as Southern states honored their war dead on a separate day. After the 116,000-plus American deaths in World War I, the holiday took on a new role to remember all who have died while serving in the military.

National Moment Of Remembrance: Every year, a national moment of remembrance is held at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day. The midday time was chosen "because it is the time when many Americans are enjoying their freedoms on the national holiday," according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.