For many people Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer and after this past winter, it can’t get here soon enough! Memorial Day weekend gives us a wonderful opportunity to go the lake with family and friends, enjoy a relaxing evening barbequing at one of our great St. Louis parks or heading out for an afternoon of golf, tennis or to take advantage of all those great holiday sales.
But how many of us really take the time to commemorate the true meaning of the day? Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day since the tradition began by decorating soldier’s gravesites. First officially recognized on May 30, 1868 to honor deceased Civil War soldiers, after the end of the First World War in 1919, Decoration Day was then expanded to include all military personnel who had died while serving our nation.
After World War II Decoration Day became better known as Memorial Day and then in 1967, President Lyndon Johnson officially changed the name. In the past Memorial Day had always been celebrated on May 30th until 1971 when Congress declared it a national holiday under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. This act allowed four holidays to be moved from their traditional dates to a Monday in order to create three day weekends.
Now cities across America observe Memorial Day with parades honoring all branches of the military including our own parade right here in St. Louis sponsored by V.F.W Post #3055.
Ellis Dental would like to take this opportunity to thank all our military personnel and their families for their selfless service in defending our great nation. We will be closed out of respect on Monday, May 26th; resuming regular business hours on Tuesday.