Parking Pass Required For All to Lay Wreaths at Sarasota National Cemetery
PLEASE REVIEW THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION PRIOR TO REGISTERING FOR A PARKING PASS
This registration is for Parking Pass enabling ONE passenger vehicle for you and your family/group direct access and parking on Sarasota National Cemetery’s grounds. Parking Passes are issued one parking pass per family/group. No Exceptions.
Parking Passes are mandatory for entry into Sarasota National Cemetery. Parking passes cannot be duplicated.
Parking Pass must be exhibited on driver’s dash and will be scanned.
Since 2019, our parking capacity at the cemetery has been reduced from 2,500 spaces to only 700 available parking spaces. We ask everyone to be considerate of other families of the 29,500 Veterans, spouses and dependents interred at Sarasota who wish to participate in laying their loved one’s wreath. Please do not register multiple members of your family for a Parking Pass as you will be denying other families this honor. Duplicate registrations will be rejected.
Off-Site Parking and Ride Share Location - Offsite Parking is located two miles west of Sarasota National Cemetery at Suncoast Community Church and Charter School. 8000 Hawkins Road, Sarasota FL 34241. We thank Suncoast for their gracious generosity in accommodating parking for our families and attendees. We are encouraging all families to meet at this location, then carpool /ride-share. Designated Drivers for attendee drop off is also encouraged. Attendee drop off point will be via Main Entrance only (Administration/Information Building) of Cemetery. Designated Drivers/Uber/Lyft will be permitted to enter, drop off attendees, then depart and return to Suncoast Community lot and await pickup notification by attendees.
Family First Time Frames – Admission is through East Gate only. These time slots are for FAMILIES ONLY who have a loved one interred at Sarasota National Cemetery. One Parking Pass and one time frame per family. To assure a timely entry into the cemetery, please have your Parking Pass readily available on driver’s dashboard. Then follow parking attendants’ instructions and park where directed. Once parked, Families go directly to the loved one’s section, will then receive one wreath and go to the loved one’s site and have quiet time. All families must depart the cemetery after laying their wreath, to allow the next rotation of families entrance to the cemetery.
General Volunteers must register for the 11:30am time frame. Please do not register for Family First as you will be denying a Family the opportunity to lay their loved one's wreath.
Handicapped Accessibility with Placards/Plates – there are limited spots for Handicapped Parking. Anyone wishing to park in the Handicapped Area must have a Valid Placard or License Plate. Handicapped Accessible will be granted on First Come Basis. Enter at Main (West) Entrance
Motorcycle Parking – Motorcycles will be permitted to park ONLY at Committal Shelter B. No parking pass required.
Exclusions of Buses/Oversized Vans/Mini Buses – Buses and all oversized vehicles will be permitted to drop off attendees at Main Entrance where directed by Traffic Attendants, then immediately return to Suncoast for parking.
Event Note:
Thank you for your support of the Wreaths Across America Mission. “Family First” Time has become Priority One at Sarasota National Cemetery as well as throughout the country. Last year alone, we had over 3,500 Family First Members attend and lay their loved one’s wreath. This tradition will remain at Sarasota National Cemetery for years to come, as will the now required Parking Pass. We thank you for your patience and understanding as our cemetery grows and we evolve, develop and fine-tune this Annual Mission to Remember…Honor…Teach.
We wish to thank the National Cemetery Administration and Sarasota National Cemetery for once again allowing Wreaths Across America to host our mission. Please remember that we are guests at Sarasota National Cemetery and that all attendees must comply with, and conform to, the Cemetery Grounds Policies, Regulations and Restrictions. These Policies can be reviewed at https://www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/sarasota.asp
National Event Note: This year, over 3,600 Cemeteries Nationwide, at sea and abroad will participate in 2022 National Wreaths Across America Day, laying over 2.1 million Veterans Remembrance Wreaths. This Mission has become a Family tradition for so many families. We thank you for making it a part of yours.
Register for a FREE Parking Pass, here.... Please keep in mind Parking is limited and there only a certain number of parking passes and when they are gone, they are gone... Using other transportation and carpooling will be important.
https://sarasotawreaths.com/
You can also listen to our Full Interview -with our Local Location Coordinator for Wreaths Across America for our Sarasota National Cemetery: Meshia Richardson, as she explains the entire process and the new system... listen here:
Photo: Meshia Richardson