McKinney moves Memorial Day celebration to Monday observance

McKinney moved its annual Memorial Day observance to Monday, May 25, and set the city ceremony for 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Corporal R.D. Foster Veterans Memorial Park, a rain-or-shine gathering meant to honor Collin County heroes and the service members who gave their lives for the country.

The change mattered because the city had traditionally held the observance on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. By shifting the ceremony to the holiday itself, McKinney tied the local program more closely to the national purpose of Memorial Day, giving families, veterans and military-connected residents a clearer moment to gather in reflection rather than splitting attention with weekend plans.

The event took place at 6053 Weiskopf Ave. in McKinney, at the memorial park in Van Tuyl Plaza at Craig Ranch. The site spans 1.67 acres and was built as a place of remembrance, not just a public lawn, with a Wall of Honor engraved with the names of Collin County servicemen and women who died in defense of freedom. A lighted American flag flies above the wall around the clock.

McKinney renamed the park in 2023 to honor Ronnie “R.D.” Foster, a Marine Corps veteran from McKinney who campaigned for the memorial’s creation and served on the McKinney Armed Services Memorial Board. That board conducts the city’s Memorial Day and Veterans Day ceremonies, raises funds for special projects and helps qualify veterans’ names for inclusion on the Wall of Honor.

The memorial’s setting gives the observance added weight. The city’s memorial park materials also recognize Gold Star families of Texas, underscoring that the ceremony is aimed at families carrying the loss of a loved one who died in service, not only at veterans already home. By holding the program at Corporal R.D. Foster Veterans Memorial Park, McKinney anchored its annual remembrance in a dedicated veterans site built to honor local sacrifice.

For residents attending, the city’s notice made the basics clear: the ceremony was Monday morning, rain or shine, at the veterans memorial park on Weiskopf Avenue. In a city that has used the same memorial site for years, the move to the holiday itself gave McKinney’s observance a more direct connection to the day being marked, and to the men and women whose names and service the park was created to remember.