Hobby Thread - May 24, 2025 [TRex]

Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the Horde in this little corner of the interweb. This is the mighty, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread. We gave the Ace of Spades Wheel of Hobbies(TM) a spin and it came up with Memorial Day traditions!

Memorial Day remembers those deceased who served in the US armed forces. It is also the traditional kick off of summer. Two good reasons to talk about tradition.

Veterans Day honors those still living who served, so don't mix up the two. Wishing a veteran "Happy Memorial Day" is a little awkward. Because of the emphasis on those who have passed, Memorial Day is often a time of visiting cemeteries and laying wreaths or decorating stones with American flags.

Are you putting out flags or draping bunting or otherwise decorating your abode or business? Does your local community do anything to honor the holiday like a ceremony or parade?

Do you have a tradition of visiting a local cemetery to remember a relative or pay honor to any who slumber in eternal rest?

Many will head to the backyard, the pool, the beach or the lake to kick off the season. Thousands of motorsports fans will mark the weekend with a pilgrimage to the Indy 500 or the Charlotte 600, two massive races held on the same day. What are your plans? Is it watermelon season yet?

Memorial day crafting and hobbying with patriotic themes also works for flag day (June 14) and July 4. There are lot of creative red, white and blue crafts and projects on the interwebs. Anyone making new decorations this year?

Memorial Day trivia:

The holiday traces to the later years of the Civil War. Women's groups often gathered to decorate graves. There was no single day or organized national event, but the practice laid the groundwork for a federal holiday.

A single date of remembrance started on May 30, 1868. General John Logan, leader of an organization for Northern Civil War veterans, called for a nationwide day of remembrance. He chose May 30th because it wasn't the anniversary of any Civil War battle.

It was initially known as Decoration Day. Over the years, it became informally known as Memorial Day. In 1971, it was officially named as Memorial Day and officially designated as a federal holiday.

Memorial day involves particular flag etiquette. Do not fly the flag at half-mast all day. Per the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the flag should be flown at half-staff "from sunrise until noon only, then raised briskly to the top of the staff until sunset, in honor of the nation's battle heroes."

The National Moment of Remembrance is at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day.

Cleaning graves has become a thing on social media. The host typically shows a grave "before" with dirt and grime and perhaps cracks and damage. A short video clip shows the cleaning and repair process and sometimes provides history on what is known about the resident.

Does anyone do this? No need to have a social media presence but wondering if some among the Horde have taken it upon themselves to clean cemetery stones. Not specific to Memorial Day but seems like it should count as a hobby.

Where is the country's longest running Memorial Day parade?

Grafton, West Virginia and Ironton, Ohio have had an ongoing parade since 1868, but Brooklyn claims to have the oldest as their tradition started a year earlier.

These veterans in Ironton are either firing a salute or on drone defense duty.

Are you serving watermelon for your picnic?

Serve it as a pirate ship!

Or a shark!

Horde Hobbying update from the Hobby Thread's resident landscape painter. This work from polynikes is called "My Happy Place." Hard to argue with that.

Good stuff as always. Thank you!

What are you hobbying these days?

As per usual Hobby Thread etiquette, keep this thread limited to hobbying. Your participation does not need to limited to the theme. All hobbying is welcome. However, politics, current events and religious debates can live in threads elsewhere. Play nice. Do not be a troll and do not feed the trolls. Pants, as always, are optional.

Did you miss the Hobby Thread last week? We talked drones. The comments may be closed, but you can re-live the content.

Notable comments from last week:

Words of wisdom:

"Because despite all our troubles, when things are grim out in that wide round world of ours, that's when it's really important to have a good hobby." Posted by: tankascribe at June 22, 2024 07:41 PM (HWxAD).

If you have trouble finding something in the content or comments that resonates with you, hijack the thread for your hobbying as you see fit. We will feature a different theme next time. What are you hobbying? We love showing off Horde hobbying. Send thoughts, suggestions and photos of your hobbying to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Do mighty things.

posted by Open Blogger at 05:30 PM

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