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English as a Foreign Language -Publication Catalog <br />Religious Celebrations: Independence Day (July 4) <br />unit 16; Passover Labor Day (first Monday in September) <br /> <br />Unit 17: Faster Columbus Day (traditional -October 12) <br />(,~ Sunday in March or (official -second Monday in October) <br />:~}~rll} <br />Unit 18: I~lanukkah Veterans' Day (traditional -November 11) <br />{NvvetnbeYlC?eCember) (official -second Monday in November) <br />Page 2 of 3 <br /> Thanksgiving (fourth Thursday in November) <br />Fun Days: <br />Unit 19: St. Valentine's Day Christmas (December 25) <br />February 14} <br />Unit 20: April Fc~ai's Day In 1971, the dates of many federal holidays were <br />{April ~} officially moved to the nearest Monday by then- <br />Unit 21: Halloween President Richard Nixon. There are four holidays which <br />(C?cfober 31} are not necessarily celebrated on Mondays: <br /> Thanksgiving, New Year's Day, Independence Day and <br />Ethnic and Regional Christmas. When New Year's Day, Independence Day, <br />Celebrations: or Christmas falls on a Sunday, the next day is also a <br /> holiday. When one of these holidays falls on a Saturday, <br />Unit 22: Cl~rinese New Year the previous day is also a holiday. <br />(February} <br />Un°t 23: Mard~gras Federal government offices, including the post office, <br />(FabruaryfNlarch} are always closed on all federal legal holidays. Schools <br />unit 24. t. Patrick's Day and businesses close on major holidays like <br />{March f 7) independence Day and Christmas bui may not always <br />Unit 2: ~incn De Maya be closed, for example, on George Washington's <br />~~iay .5? birthday or Veterans' Day. <br />Unit 28: Nat;v~ American Pow- <br />~`dows Federal legal holidays are observed according to the <br />{March-August} legislation of individual states. The dates of these <br />Unit 27; Cther American holidays, and others, are decided upon by each state <br />~eiebrations government, not by the federal (national) government. <br /> Each state can agree on the same date that the <br /> President has proclaimed, such as Thanksgiving. State <br /> legislation can also change the date of a holiday for its <br /> own special commemoration. <br />Waterloo, New York, for instance, always observes <br />Memorial Day on May 30 rather than on the fourth <br />Monday in May, as this was the original date on which <br />Waterloo founded the commemoration. Cities and towns <br />can decide not to celebrate a federal legal holiday at ail. <br />However, the majority of the states (and the cities and <br />towns within them) usually choose the date or day <br />celebrated by the rest of the nation. <br />There are other "legal" or "public" holidays which are <br />observed at the state or local level. The closing of local <br />government offices and businesses will vary. Whether <br />citizens have the day off from work or not depends on <br />local decisions. Some "legal" or "public" holidays are <br />specific only to an individual state. For example, <br />Nebraska always celebrates Arbor Day on April 22, the <br />birthday of the originator of the holiday. Since Arbor Day <br />originated as a treeplanting day, different states change <br />the date depending on the best season for planting <br />trees in their region: Hawaiians plant trees on the first <br />http://exchanges.state.gov/education/engteaching/pubs/AmLnC/0120TOC nofhtm 9/3/02 <br />