The City and County of Honolulu and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will present the 72nd Mayor’s Memorial Day Ceremony at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl on Monday at 8:30 a.m., and city officials are seeking donations of fresh lei and hosting lei-making workshops to adorn the graves at Punchbowl and at Hawaii Veterans Cemetery in Kaneohe.
The event, which is open to the public and will be broadcast on Olelo 49, will honor fallen soldiers with oli, color guard, the playing of taps and an F-22 aircraft flyover. It also will feature performances by the Royal Hawaiian Band and Sounds of Aloha Chorus and hula from the 94th Lei Court.
“We remember on this Memorial Day all those who paid the ultimate price in protecting our country, because we simply must never forget the price of freedom,” Mayor Rick Blangiardi said in a news release.
Pets are not allowed unless they are certified service animals. Additionally, only medically required chairs are allowed within the cemetery. Seats will be available to the public on a first-come, first-served basis.
Parking within Punchbowl is limited, but additional parking is available at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School and Robert Louis Stevenson Middle School starting at 7 a.m. Monday. Shuttles, reserved Handi-Vans and taxicabs will be available for service from the schools to the cemetery.
Free public parking also will be available at the Civic Center Parking Structure, and TheBus will offer a route 123 service from Alapai Transit Center to Punchbowl. Service from Alapai Transit Center to Punchbowl will begin at 7 a.m. with three following trips leaving every 20 minutes until 8 a.m. Return trips to the transit center from Punchbowl will begin at the end of the event. Regular bus fares will apply.
Prior to the ceremony, city officials are seeking assistance in adorning more than 50,000 graves at Punchbowl and the Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery with a fresh flower lei on Memorial Day. The public can drop off fresh flower or ti leaf lei, loose plumeria or crown flowers or anthurium bouquets at the following locations on Oahu and the Big Island:
>> All federal and city fire stations on Friday from 8 a.m.- 6 p.m.
>> Halawa District Park on Friday from 9 a.m.-noon.
>> Booth District Park on Friday from 9 a.m.-noon.
>> National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific on Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
>> Parks Permit Office (first floor at the Frank F. Fasi Municipal Building) Friday from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
>> KTA Super Store in Kailua-Kona today and Wednesday from 6 a.m.- 9 p.m.
>> KTA Super Store in Puainako, Hilo, today and Wednesday from 5:30 a.m.-9 p.m. and on Thursday from 5:30 a.m.-noon
>> KTA Super Store in Waimea today and Wednesday from 6 a.m.- 8 p.m. and on Thursday from 6 a.m.-noon
Volunteers also can attend lei- sewing workshops offered at various locations this week. Visit bit.ly/MayorsMemorialDay for times and locations of the workshops.
The Scouts of Hawaii will place the donated and handmade lei along with an American flag on each of the 38,000 graves at Punchbowl on Sunday. Following the event, the public is encouraged to volunteer and help the scouts remove the lei and the flags May 30 at 9 a.m.
To avoid crowding and traffic congestion at Punchbowl, city officials also recommend that anyone planning to pay respects at the gravesites of loved ones visit the cemetery on Saturday and Sunday, or Monday afternoon after the Memorial Day ceremony.
