Honest Abe! It's Your Birthday!

      FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12TH.
HONEST ABE! IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY!

   It's true. February 12th., is the Birthday
of one of our most beloved Presidents,
Abraham Lincoln! Most of us will wait
until Monday to celebrate because most
of us believe that is "President's Day."
   But guess what? There is no such
thing as "President's Day!" At least not
officially! The day most have off this
coming Monday is "Washington's
Birthday" even though it's not actually
Washington's Birthday.
     Confused? I don't blame you. But
it's a "Government thing" (which explains
why it's so goofy)!
    Back in 1968 Congress adopted the "Uniform
Monday Holiday Act." The law moved four
holidays, Memorial Day, Veteran's Day,
Columbus Day, and Washington's Birthday
from fixed dates to designated Mondays to
increase the number of three day weekends
for Federal workers.
  Eventually Veteran's Day was moved back
to its traditional date of November 11th.
  This whole "President's Day" thing is the
work of  Madison Avenue. The people there
figured you can promote a lot more sales
if you can tie merchandise to all the dates
between Lincoln and Washington's
Birthdays!
   I like both Lincoln and Washington! Of
course I'd rather have Lincoln's picture
than Washington's because it's worth four
dollars more!  As far as their Birthdays are
concerned I would have been very happy to
have both Lincoln and Washington's Birthdays
off when I was in school or at work!
    In fact I'd gladly celebrate every President's
Birthday with a day off! Including Jefferson Davis!
    Anyhow, Happy Birthday Abe! Thanks for
the five spot!
    Hope we get more holidays off and that all
your NEWS is good!