The Budget Chef
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Memorial Day Ideas & Activities
Memorial Day Ideas & Activities
by: Patricia Mendez
Memorial Day is the day we honor those who have given their lives in the military to defend our freedom and our country. Getting together with family and friends for an afternoon of great food and socializing adds wealth and quality to life! It is important to not only look back and remember, but also to look forward and celebrate life and freedom. In this week’s column, find Memorial Day weekend decorating ideas, traditions and activity ideas.
Easy, Budget Friendly Decorating Ideas:
Fly the flag at your front door! Many discount and drug stores carry inexpensive flags with mounting hardware in one kit.
Give each guest a poppy to wear (with pin or sticky tape) in honor of those who have fallen in battle. This tradition started after WWI to honor those who had died in battle.
Decorate the table in red, white and blue. Purchase a white or blue tablecloth and patriotic disposable tableware. Have a low vase of beautiful poppies (or other red flowers) on the table and purchase small flags at a party supply store and put them in festive containers like aluminum galvanized or enamel buckets in sand. Or use patriotic banners for decorations on your serving table. Use a clean wheelbarrow or child’s red wagon with ice to chill drinks.
Start a tradition:
Take a few moments to share a story about a fallen veteran (family member or any soldier). This puts the focus on honoring and celebrating a real hero’s life and sacrifice.
Activities:
Make homemade vanilla ice cream with an old fashioned crank ice-cream maker. Let the kids help!
Pull out the badminton, volleyball or have a family softball game. Play games like three-legged race, balloon toss, sack race.
Visit a national park during Memorial Day weekend. Many national parks observe Memorial Day weekend by parades, memorial speeches, reenactments and living history demonstrations, and the decoration of graves with flowers and flags.
View a parade: Go to: http://www.vetfriends.com/memorial_day_parade/index.cfm to find parades in your area.
Patricia is the author of the book, Easy Entertaining for Beginners. The book is an award-winning finalist in the cookbook category of the National Best Books 2008 Awards, Finalist in the cookbook category of the 2009 Indie Excellence Awards, First Place in the cookbook category of the 2009 Reader Views Literary Awards and Silver Recipient in the 2008 Mom's Choice Awards.
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