Duval County

Jacksonville mayor urges beach social distance this Memorial Day weekend; How to watch virtual ceremony

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — During a press conference Thursday held by the city of Jacksonville, Mayor Lenny Curry announced the city would be holding a virtual Memorial Day ceremony.

The digital observance will be posted on the City of Jacksonville YouTube Channel and social media platforms on Memorial Day, May 25 at 8 a.m. The video will contain remarks from Curry, local officials and military leadership, musical selections from the Jacksonville Voices, Jacksonville Pipes & Drums and Navy Band Southeast, a wreath-laying ceremony and more.

“This year’s observance is notably different than how Jacksonville normally honors our heroes on this sacred day,” Curry said. “As our city and communities throughout America work to recover from the COVID-19 crisis, we must still pause and reflect on those who lost their lives in service to our nation. Jacksonville will never forget their sacrifice.”

Curry also urged people to continue to practice caution over the holiday weekend by practicing social distance. If you’re out and about at the restaurants and there are crowds of people, he’s encouraging you to wear your mask.

During the news conference, Curry said that normally Jacksonville pools would be reopening this weekend, but they’re not. The mayor said his goal is to get pools and summer camps safely open as the city moves into the next phase working with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

When it comes to senior living facilities, Curry says they’re going to have to be cautious.

“When we start talking about senior living facilities, we have to be smart and thoughtful about understanding what level of unnecessary risk we might be putting people at, and that’s one we’re going to have to be incredibly cautious about,” Curry said.

The city of Jacksonville has also opened up its parks. Curry said the city is taking reservations at Hanna and Hugenot parks for camping. “Both locations are already booked for memorial day weekend but we’re accepting reservations for other times for campers moving forward,” Curry said.