Both Lisbon and Mount Vernon will hold in-person Memorial Day ceremonies Monday, May 31.
Mount Vernon’s ceremony will begin at 9 a.m. at the Mount Vernon cemetery. There will be no parade preceding the service this year. The Mount Vernon school band will perform, the Gettysburg Address will be read, the Mount Vernon poet laureate Amelia Kibbie will read a poem. There will be no guest speaker at this year’s festivities.
The Lisbon American Legion will hold Memorial Day ceremonies Monday morning, announced post commander David Prasil. The event will kick off with a march from the Legion building downtown to the Lisbon Cemetery. The ceremony there includes a flag raising before continuing to the gazebo at the Lisbon cemetery. Fifth graders recognized in the American Legion “What the Flag Means to Me” essay contest will read their work.
Brett Mollenhauer will be this year’s guest speaker. Members of the Lisbon High School band will be participating in festivities, led by director Joseph Arch.
A decision in case of rain will be made the morning of the event, with the rain location being the Lion’s Den.
Mount Vernon and Lisbon City Halls will both be closed for the Memorial Day holiday. Linn County offices will also be closed for the Memorial Day holiday, though the county’s juvenile detention and diversion services will continue to operate.
Pools opening slightly after Memorial DayThe Lisbon Splash Pad and Mount Vernon pool will have delays opening for the season.
The Lisbon Splash Pad will be open officially for the first time on Tuesday, June 1, this season.
The hours for the splash pad are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 8 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
The Mount Vernon pool is looking to have a repair made to the pool early this week. How long it takes to make said repair may impact when the pool can officially open for the season. Mount Vernon city administrator reported about the minor leak at Monday, May 17’s council meeting, and the rainy weather this week has postponed any chances for the matter to be properly addressed and seal the area to fix the leak.
“That could put us at a delay of a week or two for when we’re first officially open,” Nosbisch said.
Nosbisch said another issue is staffing. The city is working hard to make sure they have lifeguards who are properly certified.
“We do have a group of lifeguards who will be going through training at Cedar Rapids in the next few weeks as the pool is repaired so we should have staff when the pool opens once this repair is made,” Nosbisch said.
Summer hours begin at Lester Buresh Center Beginning June 1, the Lester Buresh Family Community Wellness Center will also have reduced hours for the summer.
Matt Siders, Mount Vernon parks and recreation director, said the decision to go to these summer hours was being made to match practices of use at the facility.
“With temperatures warming up for the summer, we very rarely sell day passes to the facility after 7 p.m. most evenings,” Siders said. “We’re going to adapt staffing to when more people come and use the facility.”
Staffing hours for the facility will be 6 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Fridays and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays. The summertime hours will run from June 1 to the middle of August, when school begins again.
Siders said that if people want to make reservations, staff can make accommodations.
Those with memberships will still retain access to the facility via keycards for exercise when staff Is not at the building.
Memorial Day closures, ceremonies
May 27, 2021
About the Contributor
Nathan Countryman, Editor
Nathan Countryman is the Editor of the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun.