The local nonprofit organization, Paddle for Heroes, has been granted permission to camp at Memorial Park for one night in May. This approval is part of the organization's 2024 Mount Vernon to Marietta Veterans and First Responders Awareness Kayak Trip, during which participants are allowed to set up tents in the park.
According to the minutes of the Mount Vernon City Council's meeting on January 22, the council voted in favor of permitting the local nonprofit to use the park. Councilman Mike Miller proposed a motion to suspend the requirement of three separate readings of the resolution and then moved for its passage. Both motions were approved.
The city will adjust the opening and closing hours of Memorial Park during the approved camping hours, as per the minutes from the same council meeting. The new schedule applies from Saturday evening, May 19, through Sunday morning, May 20. However, this permission and change in hours only apply to participants in Paddle for Heroes' kayak trip.
Despite these changes, all other restrictions at Memorial Park will remain in effect for Paddle for Heroes participants, according to information from that same meeting.
The 2023 edition of Paddle for Heroes Veterans and First Responders Awareness kayak trip was dedicated to a fallen police officer, as reported by Mount Vernon News.
