Patriots Day

[CalMeacham]

Monday is Patriots Day in Boston, celebrating the battles of Concord and Lexington, and a holiday for many people in the state*, including MilliCal, who gets the whole week off. It's also a holiday in Maine, which was once part of Masachusetts, so that makes sense.


But i've just learned that Wisconsin celebrates Patriots Day, too !! and has ever since 2001:

http://www.wissar.org/patriotday.htm


Evidently the result of work by the Wisconsin Society Sons of the American Revolution (WISSAR).

I hadn't heard a word about this before. Why, at this late date, would Wisconsin adopt the same Holiday as Massachusetts? On the radio this morning the DJs at WROR were asking why the whole nation shouldn't celebrate Patriots Day, but I could see why nobody else cares as much about Concord and Lexington -- it's local. Wisconsin, on its own, taking up Patriots Day seems as odd as New Jersey suddenly adopting Utah's Pioneer Day.


Did Wisconsin need another holiday or something? Will other states start taking the Monday nearest April 19th off?














*Not me, though, in any of the jobs I've held here in Massachusetts. I gotta exercise more discretion in job selection.

[Really Not All That Bright]

18-1.

[Madd Maxx]

RNATB, that was pretty damn funny.

[FriarTed]

Did Wisconsin need another holiday or something?


Yeah, but Necrophilic Cannibal Serial Killers Day got voted down.

[tdn]

All I have to say is that not only is it a holiday, but on that day will be the marathon and a Red Sox game. My commute is going to suck ass.

[ChiefScott]

All I have to say is that not only is it a holiday, but on that day will be the marathon and a Red Sox game. My commute is going to suck ass.
On the bright side, the harbor should be tea free.

[tdn]

Mmmm, free tea.

[Hal Briston]

I know it's already been said, but damn it, it's what I came in here to say so I'm-a saying it:

18-1.

[Count Blucher]

I know it's already been said, but damn it, it's what I came in here to say so I'm-a saying it:

18-1.


Sometimes once is enough. :D *High Five*

[Really Not All That Bright]

Did I win?

[Sophistry and Illusion]

I still have to work on Monday. :mad:

And I have to grade papers all weekend. :mad:

And it's Spring Weekend, so all the students are outside drinking, playing frisbee, listening to music, and soaking up the sun. :mad: :mad:

[tdn]

In my neighborhood right now, the barriers are up, making it hard to walk through. There are porta potties all over the place. There is a large gathering of cops, oddly enough a good block away from Dunkin' Donuts. There is a guy setting up an easel so that he can paint the race. (He complained that the damned runners probably won't stand still and pose for him.)

I suspect that when I walk through there after work, it'll look like a war zone. A drunken and obnoxious war zone.

[NinetyWt]

I know it's already been said, but damn it, it's what I came in here to say so I'm-a saying it:

18-1. I don't get it. :(

[Really Not All That Bright]

(New England) Patriots won 18 games in a row, then failed to win the Superbowl, so their final record for the 2007/8 season was 18-1. Among those of us who dislike the Patriots it's considered the thing to remind people of that as often as possible, with t-shirts if necessary:

http://www.bustedtees.com/18-1

Anyway, it was funny this time because the thread had absolutely nothing to do with the Patriots football team.

[Mr. Rosewater]

I am rather disapointed that Patriots Day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriots_Day) has been co-opted by Patriot Day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Day), commemorating 9/11.

Couldn't they have found another name? One that wasn't already taken, perhaps?

[NinetyWt]

(New England) Patriots won 18 games in a row, then failed to win the Superbowl, so their final record for the 2007/8 season was 18-1. Ohhhhhhhhhhhh. Thanks.

[Zoe]

Does anyone here live in Concord or Lexington?

My husband and I stayed at the Concord Inn three or four years ago. We had spent the day sightseeing and I was really feeling like my feet were bloody nubs. So when our last stop was at the bridge at Concord-Lexington, I begged off and said that I would just sit in the car while my husband went to take a look.

In a few minutes, he came back and said, "You've really got to see this."

He was right. I don't know what it was about that field, stonewall and bridge, but I have never seen a place more endowed with atmosphere. As I walked, I passed the place where some Englishman was buried in the wall. It was natural for me to think about his mother.

There was the Minute Men statue and then the bridge. And all the time my mind was making up the sounds of battle. It was profoundly moving to walk where my own liberty had begun at the expense of others' lives.

It was a strange experience for a pacifist.