Federal Holiday Next Monday…14 Different Names Used to Honor George…

The name of next Monday's federal holiday is confusing as watching our political system at work today. There are 14 different variations on the name states used to honor the holiday. Washington's Birthday...Presidents Day... Lincoln/Washington/Presidents Day to name a few.

In Massachusetts, we celebrate 'Washington's Birthday" in honor of the 1st President of the United States. There are many other presidents from the Bay State including; John Adams, John Quincy Adams, John F. Kennedy, and Calvin Coolidge.  The state law also directs Governor Baker to issue a "Presidents Day" proclamation on May 29th, JFK's birth date.

Monday is the federal holiday...Presidents Day. It falls on the third Monday in February and commemorates the birthday of George Washington. George Washington was born on February 22 in 1832 but began being celebrated on the third Monday of February and named “Presidents Day” as part of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act in 1971 in an attempt to create more three-day weekends for the country’s workforce.

Abe Lincoln’s birth date also falls in February and is often included under the “Presidents Day” umbrella. Honest Abe was born on February 12th, 1809. “Presidents Day” is a popular day for car dealers and mattress stores to use the holiday to sell cars and mattresses, often using the likenesses of George and Abe in their advertising campaigns.

The holiday means a lot of closings. Below is a list of businesses closed in celebration of Presidents Day…

Closed
Federal offices…Schools…Post Offices…Banks…State Offices…City and Town Offices…Registry of Motor Vehicles…Stock Market…Courts…
Open
Retail Stores…Liquor Stores…Dispensaries…Supermarkets…
Area airports often report heavy traffic due to increased traffic caused by school vacation schedules. Locally the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority will run on a normal weekday schedule according to the BRTA website.