4th of July Happenings In and Around Crestwood
Can you believe it is already the middle of summer? Seems like we were just shoveling snow and complaining about the cold weather and now here we are planning backyard barbeques and scoping out the best spots to view 4th of July fireworks. This year since the 4th falls on a Friday, you have a nice long weekend to get out and enjoy all the great family friendly events in and around the Crestwood area.
- Come participate in America’s Biggest Birthday Party: the Fair Saint Louis. This year’s event is being held in Forest Park because of the City/ArchRiver construction. Festival dates are July 3rd, 4th and 5th and as always admission to the event along with the concerts and nightly fireworks are all free. This year’s musical guests include Bonnie Raitt, The Fray and The Band Perry.
- Head down to the St. Charles riverfront and enjoy Riverfest 2014. This three day celebration at Frontier Park includes a parade, great fireworks, carnival rides, fantastic summertime food and a wide selection of live musical acts including the renowned Air Force Band of Mid America Concert Band.
- Community Days at Webster Groves is such a huge event it takes four days to get all the fun in! The event gets underway on Wednesday, July 2nd and includes a great fireworks display on both Friday and Saturday nights. Their traditional 4th of July Parade kicks off at 10AM Friday and will feature classic cars, marching bands, floats, clowns and more.
- For those of you just wanting to enjoy fireworks the cities of Bridgeton, Ferguson and Florissant will all be hosting displays on the evening of the 4th.
Ellis Dental would like to remind everyone to please be safe over this upcoming long 4th of July weekend. Remember, don’t leave backyard grills unattended, fireworks are illegal and always use a designated driver if you plan on drinking.
Happy Father’s Day!
Almost 4,000 years ago a young lad from Babylon named Elmesu spent many days carving a message of love and devotion to his father. He either really loved his Papa or maybe he was angling for a new chariot…who knows? Scholars now believe this was the precursor to our modern day Father’s Day tradition which began here in the United States in 1910.
Ms. Sonora Louise Smart Dodd from Spokane, Washington was listening to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909 when she realized fathers frequently took a back seat to the public love and respect shown to mothers. Ms. Dodd was very close to her father, a Civil War veteran, since her mother died during childbirth when Ms. Dodd was a teenager. Instead of placing the newborn and his other five children with relatives, Ms. Dodd’s father chose to keep all the children at home and raise them himself, something not normally done during that era.
Supported by the Spokane Ministerial Association and the local YMCA, the first Spokane Father’s Day was celebrated on June 19, 1910. In 1924 President Coolidge recommended Father’s Day become a national holiday though it took until the 1960’s before President Lyndon Johnson once again came through as he did with Mother’s Day and designated the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day. Finally in 1972 Father’s Day was signed into law by President Nixon.
Father’s Day has always been very special to the entire staff at Ellis Dental but then when Reid was born it became even more so. And now that Reid will soon be a big brother, Father’s Day is a huge event at the Ellis household. So we’d like to wish all Dads, Granddads and Stepdads a very Happy Father’s Day! May your day be filled with good food, good quality time with your family and no ties!
Remembering the True Meaning of Memorial Day
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.