On Monday, we will celebrate Memorial Day. It is a day to commemorate and honor those who have died in service to our country, and a time to reflect on the ultimate sacrifice that they made. Traditionally, this holiday weekend also marks the unofficial start of summer. This year, Memorial Day Weekend will have a special meaning as our nation continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and New Jersey takes large steps to reopening. Today, both the statewide indoor mask mandate and the requirement for maintaining six feet of social distancing were lifted. Even with these actions, businesses may continue to require individuals to wear face masks. On Monday, during his briefing, Governor Murphy stressed that if you are not fully vaccinated, the state strongly encourages you to continue to practice social distancing in addition to masking. In Mendham Township, fully vaccinated individuals are no longer required to wear masks in municipal buildings; however, if you prefer to keep wearing a mask, we encourage you to do so. Additionally, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NJ is still requiring masking in healthcare settings, long-term care facilities, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, and public forms of transportation. On Friday, June 4th, all indoor gathering limits will be lifted in NJ. As more and more New Jerseyans get vaccinated against COVID-19 and our economy continues to recover, the future's looking brighter. As of yesterday, 8,526,571 total doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in NJ and 4,157,475 New Jerseyans are now fully vaccinated. However, you spend this Memorial Day weekend, please take a moment to reflect on the ultimate sacrifice that over one million Americans have made for our freedom. Have a good weekend and be safe. Sarah Neibart Mayor, Mendham Township