Rachel Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 Is Columbus Day observed in your area? On the flights thread people mentioned plane tickets may be high because of Columbus Day weekend. It isn't observed where I live and I have never had it as a paid holiday. In South Dakota, where I grew up it's observed as Native American Day. This article says it's only observed in 23 states but the research is a couple years old. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/10/08/working-on-columbus-day-it-depends-on-where-you-live/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEmama Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 Where I live, it's seen as the official end of tourist season. :) State offices, schools and so on are closed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 Libraries and banks are closed. Hubby who works for a private company still have to go to work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loowit Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 It is not a day off for most things in our area. DH has never had it off from work. Schools don't have it as a holiday. But banks and the post office seem to take it off, or at least I think so. I don't really pay much attention. I am pretty sure that state and county offices remain open. When I was a kid it was usually a day to do a cute craft and talk about Columbus, but we had a normal day of school otherwise. Oh, and growing up my mom like to talk about the big Columbus day storm from when she was a kid. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnE-girl Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 Is it related to areas with large Italian populations? Like in Chicago Columbus Day is celebrated as a bit of an Italian heritage day and Pulaski Day is for the large Polish population. I think politicians made a bigger deal of them to pander to those constituents. I might be slightly jaded by Chicago politics... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zinnia Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 It was not a thing at all when I was a kid. However, now, almost every school has it off. Combination of lots of move-ins, as well as school starting earlier and earlier, whcih forces the need for a fall break. Columbus Day seems to fall in a perfect time for fall break. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 I think it is a school holiday here, but I'm not 100% sure. It is a holiday for federal employees. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 It is observed here, and as pointed out upthread it does seem to be connected to the Italian-American population. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jen3kids Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 In Canada, it is Thanksgiving :thumbup: So because we live in the US, I'll be making Thanksgiving Dinner while my kids are at school and dh is at work! And then we go to a friend's place for American Thanksgiving. But to answer your question, not a recognized holiday here in MD - meaning schools are open and most people go to work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted August 22, 2016 Author Share Posted August 22, 2016 (edited) Is it related to areas with large Italian populations? Like in Chicago Columbus Day is celebrated as a bit of an Italian heritage day and Pulaski Day is for the large Polish population. I think politicians made a bigger deal of them to pander to those constituents. I might be slightly jaded by Chicago politics...The Italian connection makes sense. I lived in IL for a couple years and remember getting out of school for Polanski Day, none of my friends knew what the day was for but no one minded getting a day out of school. Edited August 22, 2016 by Rach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 It's not a thing here, unless (maybe) you work for a bank or the post office? I don't know. It's so much not a thing I've never paid any attention to whether or not those folks work that day. Everybody else sure does. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEmama Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 I've never heard of an Italian connection. Might be regional in the way it's observed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 (edited) Not really, except the bank maybe? And post office? Alaska isn't exactly prime for settler celebration for native cultural reasons and the fact that we are SO far removed from the original affected areas, being so far north and 'discovered', let alone settled, so much later in history. Things like Seward's Day and Alaska Day are much bigger deals up here than Columbus Day. Edited August 23, 2016 by Arctic Mama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamee Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 Celebrated as a federal holiday. It also coincides with Japanese Sports Day which really catches the Americans off guard thinking they've chosen a good Monday to go do something fun. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnE-girl Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 I found this article about the Italian-American connection with Columbus Day http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/10/14/232120128/how-columbus-sailed-into-u-s-history-thanks-to-italians. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted August 23, 2016 Author Share Posted August 23, 2016 I found this article about the Italian-American connection with Columbus Day http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/10/14/232120128/how-columbus-sailed-into-u-s-history-thanks-to-italians. Very interesting. I knew Columbus had never actually set foot in North America, but I definitely believed he was proving the world was round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherry in OH Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 Banks and government offices are closed. Public schools and the public library are open. Dh gets the Friday after Thanksgiving off in lieu of Columbus Day. Since we only take off the holidays dh has off, it will be a normal school day for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luuknam Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 (edited) Schools and I think the library and the like are closed, but almost everyone else still has to work, including my wife. I'm thinking of 'observing' Columbus Day by putting my kids in day camp and taking the day off. Edited August 23, 2016 by luuknam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 Federal govt employees are off here. We have a lot of military, govt workers, etc, so many are off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 I think federal employees are off, but it's not a school holiday here. Stores might have Columbus Day sales! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyofsixreboot Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 Not even noticed here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 I work for the Navajo Nation. It's the only Federal holiday I don't get off. They have a few of their own holidays that make up for it, though. Like last week, the 14th was Navajo Code Talker Day, observed on Monday the 15th. So I can't complain. I think it should be turned into Indigenous Peoples Day or First Nations Day or Native American Day or just removed from the calendar. Columbus was not the sort of person we would honor with a holiday in modern society if we stopped to think about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 (edited) Not ready observed here. Technically schools are closed for it but only because it falls during our two week fall break. Edited August 23, 2016 by Joker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 Government offices and banks close. Some schools but not all may close as well. Everyone else reports to worm or whatever and ignores it. I know many that are reviled by it continuing as a federal holiday given what we know of Columbus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 No, not around here. Dh works for a civilian contractor on a military base so he has off because it's a federal holiday. Most everything is open though - banks, schools, libraries, city offices, etc. It was a school holiday when I was a kid in school in NJ, as well as in middle and high school in Florida. By the time I was teaching school, it was a student holiday-teacher workday/inservice day. I've been gone from the classroom since ds was born in 1997, so I didn't know if that was still the case. I just looked at the local school calendar and no one has off that day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SporkUK Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 (edited) nm wrong place Edited August 23, 2016 by SporkUK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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