Memorial Day Weekend! What do You Plan on Doing? [POLL]

This weekend is the unofficial start of summer! Everyone looks forward to Memorial Day for that much needed three day weekend. As you're enjoying the weekend with family and friends, remember what Memorial Day is really about! It's a day to remember the men and women who have died while serving and protecting our country.

There are many different stories as to how Memorial Day first started. Dozens of towns claim to be the first to celebrate this holiday, but it is known that women's groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War.

New York was the first state to officially recognize the holiday back in 1873.  States in the north were observing a Memorial Day by 1890, but it was for the men that died during the Civil War. The southern states wouldn't acknowledge the same day and honored their dead on a separate day. That changed after World War I. Memorial Day was changed from remembering only those who died in the Civil War to honoring all Americans who died fighting in any war. Congress didn't make it a national holiday until 1973.

Whatever your plans are for Memorial Day, make sure you take a few minutes to remember all of the brave men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

Here are a couple of ceremonies that are taking place on Monday:

Memorial Day Walk and Ceremony in Texarkana
11:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.
The walk will start at the  Miller County Courthouse to Korea/Vietnam Memorial.  The ceremony will continue at the Hillcrest Memorial Park in Wake Village on Highway 67 West at 1 P.M.