A guide to Memorial Day 2026. Above, local veterans honoring Memorial Day following the 2023 parade in Syosset
In Honor of Memorial Day
Memorial Day is a time of solemn remembrance, where those who served and those who care for them come together to honor those who died in service to our country.
Please do not wish a veteran a happy Memorial Day. Instead, perhaps, offer that person space to reflect, an intention of quiet comfort, a willingness to go with them wherever they need. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t offer a little light and levity – I’ve had more than one tell me the children and the barbecues are as important as the parades, because these are what they would fight to preserve — but it does mean you should do so with care and respect.
It’s also a good time for the rest of us to engage in personal reflection; to think about the responsibility we have as citizens to do what we can to ensure that those who offer so much to “US” – their very freedom at the very least — are treated well, and that we give it our best to be a nation somehow worthy of such sacrifice.
Here are facts and traditions from the Old Farmer’s Almanac, including why the Poppy is so important not only as a symbol of those who were lost, but of hope and healing as well. Here’s another at History.com.
Find information on the National Memorial Day Concert, share your remembrances and read others’ on PBS.
Honoring those lost to war is a practice older than time. Even in its modern form, people still have a hard time tracing the origin of Memorial Day. We know the concept of an annual day of remembrance began to take widespread root in the United States following the Civil War. While many communities likely came together independently to honor their dead, Waterloo, NY was declared the official birthplace of Memorial Day in 1866. New York was also the first state to officially recognize it as a holiday in 1873. The last Monday in May finally became a uniform day of remembrance across the nation in 1971.
Something A Little Different This Year At Jones Beach
There will still be a major celebration in the sky at Jones Beach. It’s just not going to be the Blue Angles….yet!
Normally occurring this weekend, the 2026 edition of the ever-popular FourLeaf Air Show at Jones Beach is going to happen Independence Day Weekend in connection with the 250th Anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence.
This weekend will be another event of a similar theme: There will be a Revolutionary War Reenactment Village, live music performance and a 1,000 drone aerial light show. Here’s a report from CBS Eyewitness News. Specific details regarding this weekend may be found here at jonesbeach.com.
More Memorial Day 2025 Events Across Long Island.
We encourage you to check out your own hyper-local paper to see what’s happening in your hamlet. Here’s what we’ve found:
In Newsday, Gina Taburas has compiled “Long Island 2026 Memorial Day Parades and Ceremonies,” offering a simple, informative listing of parades, ceremonies and other Memorial Day events on Sunday May 24 in Cedarhurst-Lawrence, Commack, East Meadow, Farmingdale, Hempstead, Huntington, Wantagh & Yaphank, on Monday May 25 in Amityville, Babylon Village, Baldwin, Bayport, Bay Shore, Bayville, Bellport, Bethpage, Bohemia, Brentwood, Brookhaven, Calverton, Center Moriches, Centerport, Central Islip, Commack/Elwood, Copiague, Coram, East Meadow, East Northport, East Norwich, East Rockaway, Elmont, Farmingdale, Floral Park, Franklin Square, Freeport, Glen Cove, Glen Head, Great Neck, Greenlawn, Hicksville, Huntington, Kings Park, Lake Ronkonkoma, Levittown, Lindenhurst, Little Neck/Douglaston, Locust Valley, Manhasset, Massapequa Park, Mastic Beach, Melville, Merrick, Mineola, Northport, Oyster Bay, Port Jefferson, Port Washington, Rocky Point, Rockville Centre, Sayville, Seaford, Smithtown, Sound Beach, Southampton, St. James, Syosset, Wantagh, West Babylon, West Hempstead, Westbury, and Williston Park, and on Saturday, May 30 in Rocky Point. (there is a paywall. Please support local journalism)
Jaime Sumersille, writing for Mommypoppins.com also has kid-friendly events, including many of the parades already listed, as well as park openings, food fests and experiences such as an Owl Prowl at the Science Museum, A Long Island History Hunt, a “Red White & Blue Block” exhibition at the LI Children’s Museum, Decoration Day in Old Bethpage Village, Kite Day in Patchogue, Memorial Day Crafts at the Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery, and “The Story of America: 1776-2026” at the Southampton Arts Center.
Finally, if you just want to escape, in Patch NYC Lisa Finn offers “Memorial Day Getaways From NYC: Where to Eat and Where to Stay,” including great places to eat and stay close to home, as well as adventures off the Island.
Remembering "Mr. Memorial Day": Costantino "Gus" Scutari
Every year….ok…well…more often than that….I reread this story I wrote with “Mr. Memorial Day,” the “Americanism Chairman of Nassau County,” dear treasure of a soul Gus Scutari. He wrote that article with me when he was well into his 90s. He would be over 100 now. They were certainly words of wisdom — I don’t think I will ever fail to get something new out of them.
Gus had a way of saying things that seemed simple at first; things that would then reverberate with deeper meaning as time passed. I will never forget his face when I asked if he’d like me to read the final copy of his article aloud to him. He saw me realize I’d probably insulted him, and then smiled. He took the draft from me, proofread the whole thing carefully, and then offered a final comment or two, making sure everything was just right.
In 2019, Gus organized the Syosset parade from his room in the local nursing home, where he was living with his wife Fran (another Syosset treasure). Having heard a final phone conversation, I am just about certain that if it weren’t for the parade being cancelled due to COVID, he’d still be here with us making final preparations for it now.
When the parade returned in 2022, the community honored Gus by declaring there would be no Grand Marshal of Syosset’s Memorial Day Parade. They also renamed Underhill Boulevard in his honor, as well as the specific spot on the corner where he led so many moving ceremonies. His beloved VFW, Post 6394 in Syosset, is now The Gus Scutari Post. We suspect that, given the opportunity, Gus would make it clear that the Eugene S. Smith American Legion Post 135 was also very important to him, but is already named after a notable veteran.
Gus wanted us to remember that Memorial Day is about people who gave EVERYTHING for their country. He also wanted us to always remember that this is OUR country, that we should honor that and always remember that it will only ever be as good as we will make it.
Through the parade, and really through every interaction he had with anyone he happened to meet, Gus endeavored to bring people together as Americans. He encouraged us all to give it our best to be good citizens; To think, to honor, to smile…to be the kind of people worthy of those folks who will give everything to defend them. He often worried what would happen to the parade once he was gone. I am grateful to say the community was quietly supporting him more than he knew while he was still here, and has done a good job of carrying his spirit forward, best they can, ever since. I suspect he would be quietly pleased.
Gus never wanted Memorial Day to be about him, though on some level it always was. I suspect it will probably continue to be so in Syosset, at least for a little while. That’s ok. So much of what he was about was apropos of everything.
Still, I will try to get this all out of my system today and tomorrow and then focus where he wanted me to come this weekend.
May God bless America. May God bless everyone. May we give it our best such that none of this ever be in vain.
