Memorial Day

News

Morning Notes

By Katie Pyzyk

Obama Visits Arlington National Cemetery — President Obama laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns on Monday during a visit to Arlington National Cemetery in honor of Memorial Day. In addition to remembering fallen service members, Obama asked that Americans “not forget our nation is still at war.” [Washington Post]

Record High County GOP Membership — The Arlington County Republican Party chairman says the county’s membership is at an all time high, at least over what is has been for the past decade. The number of members now stands at 139. [Sun Gazette]

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News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Memorial Day Closures — Arlington County courts, offices, libraries, and schools will be closed for the Memorial Day holiday on Monday. Arlington’s three indoor public pools will be open on a holiday schedule on Monday. [Arlington County]

State Police Increasing Patrols — Virginia State Police say they’re increasing patrols statewide this weekend. “The additional patrols statewide are part of the annual Operation C.A.R.E., (Combined Accident Reduction Effort) to reduce crashes, fatalities and injuries associated with speed, failure to wear seatbelts and impaired driving. The state-sponsored, national program encourages law enforcement,” VSP said in a press release.

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News

Ballston Is the End of the Orange Line This Weekend

By ARLnow.com

The Vienna, Dunn Loring, West Falls Church, and East Falls Church stations will all be closed from 10:00 p.m. Friday to system closing on Monday (Memorial Day). The closures will allow crews to perform switch replacements, rail joint eliminations and tie and insulator renewal, Metro said.

Orange Line trains will operate between Ballston and New Carrollton at normal weekend intervals.

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Around Town

Arlington’s Sprayground Parks to Open Saturday

By ARLnow.com

The three parks — Drew Playground (3514 22nd Street S.), Hayes Park (1516 N. Lincoln Street) and Lyon Village Park (1800 N. Highland Street) — will open on Saturday will remain in service until Labor Day weekend. Hours of operation can be found online.

All three parks will be open from noon to 8:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Memorial Day, according to Arlington County Dept. of Parks and Recreation spokeswoman Susan Kalish. (On holidays, like Memorial Day and July 4, normal hours are preempted and the parks are open from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.)

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Around Town

Rolling Thunder to Arrive in Arlington Tomorrow

By ARLnow.com

(Updated on 5/24/13) The annual motorcycle rally known as Rolling Thunder will rumble into Arlington tomorrow (Friday) afternoon.

As in previous years, residents who live along I-395 and Route 1 can expect to hear the roar of motorcycle engines as hundreds of bikers make their way to the rally’s official hotel, the Hyatt Regency at 2799 Jefferson Davis Highway in Crystal City.

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Opinion

Morning Poll: Memorial Day Travel

By ARLnow.com

The organization forecasts that 873,500 area residents will travel 50 miles or more from home this weekend, down nearly 2 percent from 890,600 last year.

Of those traveling, 795,000 (91 percent) will travel by car and 58,500 (6.6 percent) will travel by plane, AAA said. The air travel forecast is 10 percent below the 65,106 residents who traveled by air around this time last year.

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Sponsored

Summer Photo Contest Results

ARLnow.com readers have spoken, and the photo above — “Morning Coffee at Iwo Jima” by Kevin Wolf — has been chosen as the best of the best in our pre-Memorial Day Summer Photo Contest.

The winning photo received 226 votes. “Fourth of July Fireworks from the Netherlands Carillon” by Clint Farrell was a close second with 210 votes, while our third place winner, “Douglas Park Fire Station” by Mary Troyan, received 183 votes.

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News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

‘Flags-In’ Ceremony at Arlington National — As they have done every year since 1948, members of the “Old Guard,” 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, placed an American flag at every grave in Arlington National Cemetery yesterday evening. The annual “Flags-In” ceremony is held each year in advance of Memorial Day weekend. The flags will be removed after Memorial Day. [Houston Chronicle]

Shuttleworth Campaign Profiled — Bruce Shuttleworth, who is challenging incumbent Rep. Jim Moran for the Eighth District Democratic congressional nomination, says he’s running against the 11-term congressman because of alleged ethics violations. “I think he votes the right way on social values, but he brazenly embraces conflicts of interest, and I think that’s unacceptable,” Shuttleworth told the Washington Post. Shuttleworth’s campaign, however, seems like a long shot — in March a group called the Campaign for Primary Accountability pulled its support of Shuttleworth to focus on “races where challengers understand what they must do to prevail.” [Washington Post]

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Around Town

Volunteers to Distribute Roses for Memorial Day

By Katie Pyzyk

This Monday, May 28, more than 100 volunteers from Memorial Day Flowers will hand out more than 50,000 roses at the cemetery. Visitors are given two roses, one to place on a grave, and one to take home in remembrance.

All of the flowers are donated by farmers throughout Ecuador. The idea was initiated by Ramiro Peñaherrera of Flowers for Kids. He’s part Ecuadorean and has family members buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Being that Ecuador is one of the largest rose producers in the world, he set out to get farmers there to donate roses for the cause.

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Around Town

Clarendon War Memorial Shows More than Just War History

By Katie Pyzyk
World War I plaque at war memorial in Clarendon

(Updated at 4:30 p.m.) In preparation for Memorial Day, there’s a place in Arlington that might be worth a look — and it’s not Arlington National Cemetery.

Thousands pass by it daily, but many don’t realize that the large, stone structure flanked by cannons across from Clarendon Ballroom (and near the Clarendon Metro station) is actually a war memorial. It was put up by the American Legion and honors Arlington citizens who died in combat, up through Vietnam.

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