Jamestown schedules Memorial Day observances, honoring veterans and fallen service members

Veterans, Gold Star families and other residents will gather in Jamestown on Monday, May 25, for a Memorial Day observance centered at the Gladstone Inn & Suites, then spread across some of the city’s most familiar remembrance sites.

The Jamestown Patriotic Council will open the day with a remembrance program at 9 a.m. at Shady’s in the Gladstone Inn & Suites. From there, the observance will move to Nickeus Park bridge for a naval ceremony and a 21-gun salute, a visible tribute meant to honor those who died in military service and to give families a public place to pause together.

The day’s schedule will continue at cemeteries around Jamestown, where ceremonies will be held simultaneously rather than one at a time. That approach lets families visit multiple gravesites without having to follow a single procession, and it reflects the way Memorial Day in Stutsman County has become a shared countywide observance instead of a single downtown event.

The final program will take place at Fort Seward, where the Veterans’ Memorial Wall ceremony has long served as the closing tribute. A freewill-donation luncheon has traditionally followed at the All Vets Club, giving participants a place to gather after the formal ceremonies and continue honoring the day together. In past years, the observance has also included recognition of Gold Star families, along with music and speakers chosen by organizers.

Jamestown’s Memorial Day observance has regularly drawn the support of American Legion Post 14, VFW Post 760, DAV Chapter 31 and the Jamestown Drum and Bugle Corps. Similar observances have also been held beyond Jamestown in Gackle, Kensal, Medina, Pingree, Sanborn and Woodworth, underscoring how the day reaches families across Stutsman County and beyond.