Washington Crossing Park To Host Memorial Day Weekend Events

Washington Crossing Historic Park is set to commemorate Memorial Day weekend with a series of events honoring those who made the ultimate sacrifice for the nation.

The weekend will feature a free jazz concert and the park’s annual Memorial Day ceremony.

The festivities kick off Saturday, May 24, with a “Jazz Concert on the Riverbank” from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The concert will be held near the park’s Visitor Center on the banks of the Delaware River in Upper Makefield Township.

The Council Rock South Concert Jazz Band will open the evening with a performance from 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. They will be followed by The Triple Ts, a Philadelphia jazz-fusion trio, who will play a mix of original music and jazz standards.

Attendees are encouraged to bring picnic dinners, chairs and blankets. Rita’s Ice will be available for purchase. Alcohol is not permitted in the state park, and leashed dogs are welcome.

No registration is required for this free event, and the rain date for the concert is Monday, May 26, at the same time.

The concert is a collaboration between the Friends of Washington Crossing Park and the historic Newtown Theatre.

On Sunday, May 25, the park will hold its annual Memorial Day ceremony at 1 p.m. at The Revolutionary War Soldiers Gravesite, which is behind the Thompson Neely House at 1638 River Road in Solebury Township.

The ceremony will include a colonial color guard, fife and drum music, and Revolutionary War reenactors, alongside veterans and other honored guests.

The keynote speaker is Col. Jeffrey R. McGeary, chief of military programs at the U.S. Army Center of Military History at Fort McNair in Washington D.C. A lifelong Bucks County native and Doylestown resident, McGeary is a graduate of Council Rock High School. He began his Army service at Valley Forge Military Academy and College and holds degrees from West Chester University and LaSalle University. His career includes deployments to Germany, Kuwait, and Afghanistan, and he has received numerous awards, including the Meritorious Service Medal and the Afghanistan Campaign Medal.

During the ceremony, American flags will be placed on the graves that mark the resting place of soldiers who died during the Continental Army’s December 1776 encampment in Bucks County.

Advertisement