It’s almost Memorial Day and local residents are preparing to celebrate the long weekend leading into summer vacation.
Some folks will celebrate it at home, some will visit the Memorial Day parade, and others have plans to travel.
The Era asked on Facebook what some of the people of Bradford were doing for their Memorial Day weekend, receiving varied answers.
“Headed to Vegas,” commented Marty Nicastro of Bradford.
“My husband and I are staying home. We watch ‘Saving Private Ryan’ every year,” commented Ida Schule, also of Bradford.
Many wouldn’t think that Bradford would be a travel location for the holiday, but The Era hit the streets to ask locals about their travel plans. Surprisingly, the first people to stop and talk to the Era were Australian natives traveling through Bradford. Peter Hill gave an interesting story about his and his wife’s travels through McKean County.
“We have some family in Lancaster, and we decided to take a more scenic route and stop in any quaint town we could see. This happened to be one of the towns.” he said. When asked about whether they were going to visit the Memorial Day parade, Hill said, “I’ll have to now that I know about it. It sounds like fun.”
Sgt. Todd Erickson of the Bradford City Police took some time out of protecting and serving the people of Bradford to speak with the Era about Memorial Day weekend.
“I’ll be working for the weekend. I’ll be a part of about eight officers that will be working the Memorial Day parade,” Erickson explained.
When asked about any expectations for the holiday in terms of traffic or crime, Erickson said, “People are going to be drinking and enjoying themselves, so we’ll see some more D.U.Is and public drunkenness.”
He added, “We want to make sure everyone enjoys themselves safely, so we’ll be increasing patrol, making sure people are keeping an eye out for extra pedestrian traffic as well as heavier motorcycle and bicycle traffic.”
As for the weather for holiday weekend, it is expected to be in the low to mid 70 degrees, with chances of rain. Erickson reminded the people of Bradford to take the weather conditions into consideration as well when out on walking or driving this weekend.
“We just want everyone to be safe while enjoying the holiday weekend,” he said.
