Ranch to Participate in Blue Star Museums Program
George Ranch Historical Park is one of more than 2,000 museums across America to offer free admission to military personnel and their families this summer
RICHMOND, TEXAS – Today, George Ranch Historical Park announced its participation in the 9th annual Blue Star Museums, a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and more than 2,000 museums across America to offer free admission to the nation’s active duty military personnel and their families from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
“We participate in the Blue Star Museum program each year because it gives us an opportunity to reach out to the military community and support those who have served us,” said Claire Rogers, executive director of the Fort Bend History Association. “As a history organization, we are grateful to be able to provide service members and their families a way to connect with each other and with our community’s past in a greater way during the summer.”
The Memorial Day Remembrance event kicks off the program and will be held Saturday, May 26 and Monday, May 28 at the George Ranch Historical Park. The event traces Memorial Day’s historical roots as “Decoration Day,” when Americans would remember those who were lost in war or other conflicts. A special Decoration Day ceremony will be held at 11:30 a.m. at the 1890s Davis Victorian Mansion, where guests will be able to listen to the very first Decoration Day speech from 1868 and will help clean and decorate the graves in the real family cemetery. A new addition to the ceremony will be the riderless horse presentation, which is an ancient symbol of a fallen warrior and one of the highest military honors that can be bestowed upon the fallen.
A special USO-inspired Memorial Day lunch will also take place at 12:30 p.m. The menu includes homemade cream of tomato soup, sliced roast turkey, sliced spiced ham, assorted breads and cheeses, pickled okra, onions, beets, potato salad, pasta salad, molasses baked beans, apple and peach cobblers, tea and water. Reservations for the historic lunch are required; please call (281) 343-0218 or make reservations online.
To see additional participating museums nationwide, please visit arts.gov/bluestarmuseums. For more information about the Park’s Memorial Day Remembrance event, please visit https://www.georgeranch.org/event-calendar/memorial-day-remembrance-3/.
