Memorial Day service, Central Park crosses won’t happen this year

HENDERSON, Ky. - The annual Memorial Day service and the massive display of white veterans crosses downtown in Central Park are the latest local victims in the coronavirus pandemic's scrub of public events in 2020.

The service and the annual cross display -- which has gone on yearly since 1947 -- are now added to a growing list of nixed Henderson traditions, including the Tri-Fest and the W.C. Handy Blues & Barbecue Festival.

Representatives with the Henderson War Memorial Foundation, the American Legion Worsham Post No. 40 and the city of Henderson have gone back and forth in recent days about the Memorial Day observations.

At first both events, hosted in the city's Central Park downtown, were canceled.

Then an effort was made to put together a plan for erecting the 6,000 or so veterans crosses in Central Park using volunteers from the public. Normally, that week-long chore is handled by middle-schoolers along with residents from the local women's drug rehab center.

But school classes and gatherings have been canceled for the rest of the year, and the Women's Addiction and Recovery Manor -- a group home setting -- is on lockdown due to COVID-19.

The idea was floated that other volunteers from the public could work in limited shifts, keeping their distance from one another and wearing masks and gloves.

But, in the end, the logistics and public health risks of trying to keep up the project were too much. Aside from just putting up the display of crosses, the impressive display serves as a busy magnet for family members bringing flowers and others wishing to pay their respects.

City Commissioner Brad Staton, who had been working with regular organizer Jim Hanley, said Hanley told him that he'd been contacted by multiple concerned people.

Hanley told The Gleaner Wednesday that, "I got to thinking about it. I wanted to do it really bad for the veterans and their families here. But my gut feeling is I had to call it off. I'd hate for somebody down there to get sick and possibly be in a deadly situation to them."

Depending on how the pandemic plays out in the months to come, Hanley said the display and service might still be put on this year, possibly in November in conjunction with Veterans Day.

Meanwhile, if you would like to donate to help keep alive the tradition of the Memorial Day crosses and local monuments to veterans, you can give to:

• The American Legion Cross Fund, 1790 Madison St., Henderson, KY 42420
• The Henderson War Memorial Fund, 300 First St., Henderson, KY 42419-0596

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Slide 1 of 10: Operating like a well-oiled machine, North Middle High School students set some of the more than 5,000 crosses erected in Central Park, each with the name of a deceased Henderson County veteran, Thursday May 9, 2019.

This article originally appeared on Henderson Gleaner: Memorial Day service, Central Park crosses won't happen this year