This year the Floral Haven Memorial Day Weekend will kickoff on Thursday, May 21, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. Volunteers from American Legion Post #308 will place small flags on veterans’ gravesites throughout the cemetery. If your loved one’s grave was missed by these veteran volunteers, please stop by the office or an information tent to obtain a flag.

Friday, May 22, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. there will be the Raising of the Avenue of Flags at Floral Have. Cadets will raise the 4,460 casket flags of veterans donated in years past from area public school JROTC programs, family members, and Floral Haven staff.

Saturday, May 23, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. there will be the Memorial Day Weekend Observance Program and the Raising of the Newly Donated Veterans’ Flags. Everyone is welcome to this program and ceremony. Please consult the next pages for details about this special program. The ceremony will conclude with the family members of those veterans whose casket flags have been donated in the last year, raising them for the first time on the grounds, assisted by JROTC cadets.

On the weekend, Saturday, May 23 to Monday, May 25, 2026 the Broken Arrow Blue Star Mothers Chapter 5 is sponsoring a collection for Freedom Boxes, which are sent to our military troops overseas. Items can be donated at the Funeral Home and Information Tents.

The following is a list of supplies urgently needed for the troops as of May 2026 As always, we ask that you please donate small sizes due to size restrictions in the Freedom Boxes. Please call (918) 259-9479, (918) 857-9751 or (918) 630-3556 if you prefer to provide financial assistance for shipping these items, for information concerning future donations or to request a Freedom Box for a loved one serving in the war zones. You may also contact them through their website at: www.babluestar.org.

Urgently Needed Items: All items must be individually sized, in easy open or pop-top containers. Food items: Ready-to-eat pasta, soup, tuna, chicken pouches, salmon pouches, canned fruit, beef jerky, Slim Jims, Vienna sausages, breakfast bars, pop tarts, peanut butter, sunflower seeds, trail mix, and individually wrapped coffee/tea bags, powdered drink mixes. Also needed are travel sized re-sealable containers of unscented baby wipes, foot powder, hand sanitizer, toothbrushes, Tylenol, Aleve, Advil, cough drops and Zip-Lock baggies in all sizes.

Other Items Needed: Individual or travel sized containers of apple cider, candy, creamer/sugar packets, sunscreen, lip balm, dental floss, mouthwash, disposable razors, black crew socks, AA & AAA batteries and pens or mechanical pencils.

You may donate items at any of the Floral Haven Information tents this Memorial Weekend.

Also during the weekend,Saturday, May 23  to  Monday, May 25, 2026, there will the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.  Youth on Guard will reenact the “Changing of the Guard” at the replica of the Tomb of the Unknowns west of Floral Haven Funeral Home. They will perform this solemn ceremony 24 hours a day, every half hour during the daytime and every hour at night, beginning at 1:00 PM on Saturday. Many of these cadets have undergone special training with the Honor Guard at Arlington National Cemetery.

On Monday, May 25, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. there will be the National Moment of Remembrance. The White House Commission on Remembrance, an independent, bipartisan executive branch agency, asks that everyone in the United States observe one minute of silence at 3:00 PM on Memorial Day. This is in remembrance and tribute to those who have fallen, those who have served, those who are still serving, and their families.

Later on Monday, at 5:00 p.m. will be the Retiring of the Colors. Members of the Indian Nations Council of the Boy Scouts of America will retire the Garrison Flag and the other flags surrounding the Veterans Field of Honor with their own special ceremonies. The Scouts will then retire all flags in the Floral Haven Avenue of Flags for another year. You are cordially invited to attend this final ceremony of Memorial Day Weekend.