Budzinski to speak at Memorial Day ceremony at Camp Butler; public pools opening
![Dan McLean, a Vietnam Veteran with the U.S. Marine Corps, stands with the Chatham American Legion Post 759 and Chatham VFW Post 4763 during a Memorial Day silent vigil at Chatham Veterans Memorial Park in Chatham, Ill., Monday, May 31, 2021. [Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/JXcvuxDecKKEru2aNnuPlg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04NzE-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the-state-journal-register/9ba5dd388cea59a020886881e9a8bdb2)
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Memorial Day marks the "unofficial start" to summer with pools opening, travel, cookouts and picnics.
It looks to be a good weekend weather-wise, too.
According to the National Weather Service in Lincoln, Saturday, Sunday and Monday all look sunny and clear, with high temperatures of right around 80 to mid 80s each day.
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On a more solemn note, there are remembrance services at Camp Butler National Cemetery, where there are some 26,000 graves, and Calvary Cemetery, among others.
Time to make a splash
Veterans Memorial Outdoor Pool, 2700 Ely St., opens Saturday while Nelson Center Outdoor Pool in Lincoln Park opens on Monday. Both are operated by the Springfield Park District.
Admission prices stay the same. It is $6 for adults and $5.25 for seniors and children age 12 and under.
Veterans pool will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday to Sunday this summer. Nelson Center pool is open 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday and 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
In addition, there are "splash pads" available at both Comer Cox Park, 301 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr., and Southwind Park, 4965 S. Second St., from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend. The splash pads are free and available during normal park hours.
Splash Kingdom at Knight's Action Park, 1700 Recreation Dr., opens at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Adventure Park is open daily at Knight's and the Route 66 Twin Drive-in Theatre is open Friday and Saturday with double features each night.
Owner Doug Knight is adding a SurfStream to Splash Kingdom soon. Knight's is one of the first parks in Illinois to have a surf machine.
At the Illinois State Fairgrounds, the Giant Slide will be open from 2-8 p.m. Saturday.
Camp Butler commemoration ceremony
The commemoration ceremony at Camp Butler National Cemetery, 5063 Camp Butler Road, will be held at 2 p.m. Monday.
It will take place at the Rostrum, just outside the Administration Building, at the entrance to the cemetery.
Guest speakers will be 13th District U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield, and Dave Kalis, comptroller at Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency in Woodbridge, Virginia.
The ceremony will include a wreath laying, a rifle volley and the playing of "Taps." A flyover will be performed at the start of the ceremony by a C-130 Hercules from the 182nd Airlift Wing of the Illinois Air National Guard.
Music will be provided by the Springfield Municipal Band with Phillipa Porter, a Gold Star Mother, performing the National Anthem.
The Color Guard, rifle volley and "Taps" will be provided by the Marine Corps League Detachment 75 and the Inter-Veterans Burial Detail of Sangamon County.
About 200 Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts will place flags at the graves on Saturday.
Ceremony at Oak Ridge Cemetery
The 114th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment Reactivated will hold a wreath-laying ceremony at the Grand Army of the Republic Mound (Block 10) at Oak Ridge Cemetery at 9 a.m. Monday.
The ceremony will include a reading of Gen. John A. Logan's General Order No. 11 issued in 1868 establishing Memorial Day as a national holiday. Logan was the commander-in-chief of the GAR.
Former regiment members Theodore "Ted" Zelinski, who died in 2020, and Dave Hatton, who died earlier in 2023, will also be memorialized.
Following the ceremony, members of the 114th Regiment will caravan to Camp Butler to fire salutes over the graves of Union and Confederate veterans.
Field Mass at Calvary Cemetery
Springfield Catholic Bishop Thomas John Paprocki will be the principal celebrant of the traditional Field Mass at the Father Howard Altar at Calvary Cemetery, 2001 N. First St., at 9 a.m. Monday.
Accompanying Paprocki in the procession will be a bagpiper, a number of local priests and members of the Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus.
There will be limited seating available under the tent. Lawn chairs are welcome. A golf cart will be available to assist from the main gate to the Mass site.
For more information, call 217-523-3726.
Chatham service
Chatham American Legion Post 759 and Chatham-Auburn Memorial VFW Post 4763 will hold a joint service at Veterans Memorial Park in Chatham at 10 a.m. Monday.
Veterans will be selling poppies and Veterans Memorial t-shirts for donations.
Local Boy Scouts will be participating along with a Color Guard and Firing Detail. There will be a playing of "Echo Taps."
The keynote speaker will be retired U.S. Air Force Sgt. Frederick "Fritz" Pfister. He served in northern Thailand during the Vietnam War and received the Republic of Vietnam campaign ribbon and defense medal.
Chris Butler of Butler Funeral Homes will be presenting presidential citations.
Hot dogs and chili will be served at Chatham-Auburn VFW Post 4763, 214 W. Chestnut St., after the ceremony.
![People hold up their fists through their car windows as a parade of cars comes down South Grand Avenue during the Solidarity Vehicle Procession hosted by Black Lives Matters Springfield, Sunday, May 31, 2020, in Springfield, Ill. Over 2000 people joined in the the procession of cars that was in response to the deaths of Breonna Taylor, Dreasjon Reed and George Floyd of which all were killed by law enforcement officers. [Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/U1vPUL5L98PvujpLGNv1Kw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTcwMw--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the-state-journal-register/91269e7c3229531e07623435c45e6cc3)
BLM procession
Black Lives Matter SPI is hosting its annual "Black Lives Matter Solidarity Procession" Saturday.
The ride will remember Breonna Taylor, Dreasjon Reed and George Floyd along with other men and women killed at the hands of law enforcement.
The lineup at the Ninth and Adams parking lot across from the Bank of Springfield Center begins at noon with a program at 12:30 p.m. before the procession begins at 1 p.m..
A map of the route can be found at the BLM SPI Facebook page.
Morgan County VFW
The Morgan County VFW Post 1379 holds its remembrance ceremony at the Korean War Memorial in Community Park on South Main Street in Jacksonville at 11 a.m. Monday.
Televised event
PBS will televise the National Memorial Day Concert at 7 p.m. Sunday. It will be hosted by Tony Award-winner Joe Mantegna and Emmy Award-winner Gary Sinise with all-star performances and tributes from around the country honoring American heroes.
Among those taking part are country stars Trace Adkins and Jo Dee Messina; the husband-wife duo The War and Treaty and Yolanda Adams.
For more information, visit www.pbs.org.
Click it or ticket campaign
Sangamon County sheriff's deputies are stepping up enforcement of its "Click It or Ticket" campaign over the Memorial Day weekend.
Wearing seat belts can reduce the risk of fatal injury by 45%, according to a handout provided by Sheriff Jack Campbell.
Law enforcement will also be on the lookout for impaired drivers.
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: From the solemn to swimming, here are Memorial Day events in Springfield
