Today, Thursday, Feb. 22, is President George Washington’s Birthday. It was observed on Monday, a federal holiday. Most people observed this as Presidents’ Day.

The official holiday, however is George Washington’s Birthday and was intended to honor one of our founding fathers, a decorated general and our nation’s first president.

I began this research into his birthday and the February federal holiday after a discussion in the office about what is this holiday really? Because, let’s be honest, there have been some presidents that we would really rather not celebrate.

As a federal holiday I completely understand honoring our first president, who, in the words of the website mountvernon.org, “helped shape the office’s future role and powers, as well as set both formal and informal precedents for future presidents. Washington believed that it was necessary to strike a delicate balance between making the presidency powerful enough to function effectively in a national government, while also avoiding any image of establishing a monarchy or dictatorship. In the process, President Washington significantly influenced the path for the presidency moving forward, setting standards in all aspects, including political power, military practice, and economic policy.”

The federal holiday was originally on his birthday, Feb. 22 but was moved in 1968, along with several others to Monday holidays to provide three-day weekends and to provide uniformity in the holidays by knowing exactly when they would occur.

The Wyoming Legislature comes under fire every year when they do not take George Washington’s Birthday off. Here’s the thing, states do not have to adhere to the federal holiday schedule. States and counties can add their own holidays.

Of the 11 federal holidays, Wyoming observes nine as state holiday closures, according to the Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office — New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, President’s Day (George Washington’s Birthday), Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. The two not observed in Wyoming are Juneteenth and Columbus Day.

Washakie County does observe Columbus Day, according to their list of holiday closures for 2024, but not Juneteenth and not Martin Luther King Jr. Day. They are taking a holiday for Good Friday (March 29 this year), and for Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, giving county employees 11 paid holidays.

Businesses do not have to adhere to any of the federal, state or county holidays. Case in point we were open Monday, we are open on Veterans Day, we are open on Martin Luther King’s Birthday, we are open on Juneteenth National Independence Day, we are open on Columbus Day (still the federal holiday name and probably the least recognized and observed, except for Juneteenth, the newest federal holiday).

Back to Monday’s holiday. I think we should stick with George Washington’s Birthday and go back to observing the intent of the holiday. Our first president, one of the founding fathers who helped shape the country in its infancy.

President’s Day is ambiguous. What does it mean. Do we honor all presidents? Do we honor the presidency. We know some in the office have not treated it with respect, but honoring the first is significant.

I think Congress may want to look at some others and eliminate perhaps Columbus Day. According to Pew Research Center, Columbus Days is “one of the most inconsistently celebrated U.S. holidays.”

According to the Center and their research, only 16 of 50 states and the territory of American Samoa still observe Columbus Day.

Columbus has come under scrutiny of late and many people have chosen to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day instead of Columbus, including here in Worland, through events at the Washakie Museum & Cultural Center.

We are not in the 21st century and we know a lot more about the discovery of the Americas and about Columbus and his journey so perhaps it is time to end the celebration of Columbus’s alleged discovery of America (can you discover something when there are literally people already living here when he arrived?).

Whether you celebrate or observe the federal holidays take some time to find out why you got that paid holiday off.

And, if you are looking at your calendar, the next federal holiday is not until May 27, Memorial Day.