Memorial Day 2010 Ceremony at Point Reyes National Seashore

Date: May 26, 2010
Contact: Kim Hawkins, 415-464-5130
Contact: John Golda, 415-464-5143

Point Reyes National Seashore will be honoring the sacrifice of the men who served to protect America’s coast as a part of the United States Lifesaving Service on Memorial Day, at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, May 31, 2010, at the historic graveyard located at G Ranch. Join the National Park Service and the United States Coast Guard for services at the Historic Life-Saving Cemetery. Following the ceremony, there will be an open house at the Point Reyes Lifesaving Service Boathouse Station from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. The small cemetery contains the graves of four surfmen who died serving their country as part of the lifesaving crew that operated on the Point Reyes Headlands. Over the course of 79 years, crews participated in an estimated 100 rescues in cold Pacific Ocean waters.

The cemetery is located on a beautiful knoll overlooking Drakes Estero just off Sir Francis Drake near the Coast Guard facility in the northern district of Point Reyes. A parking area has been constructed on the Coast Guard access road and the cemetery is a short walk from the paved access road. As part of Memorial Day celebrations the Historic Life Saving Service Boathouse will be open from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. Refreshments will be served. The historic Lifesaving Service Boathouse Station is located near the Chimney Rock Road Parking area.

For more information and directions to the Memorial Day Commemoration, visit our website at www.nps.gov/pore or contact Park Guide, Kim Hawkins at [phone] or John Golda at [phone].

-NPS-