Greetings to all, I hope this message finds you in good spirits.
Your Valley held a Maundy Thursday program on April 5th. We were most fortunate and blessed to have the Deputy Grand Master of Masons in California, Right Worshipful John Lowe, as our speaker for the evening. We are indebted to him for his inspirational presentation. This year we were able to have a formal Relighting of the Lights Ceremony on Easter morning. My compliments to our Venerable Master, Director of the Work and Chapter Rose Croix cast for the efforts put into the program.
The month of May brings our annual observance of Memorial Day. Here is a little background I found interesting on the Wikipedia.
―Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed annually on the last Monday of May (May 28 in 2012). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War. (Southern ladies organizations and southern schoolchildren had decorated Confederate graves in Richmond and other cities during the Civil War, but each region had its own date. Most dates were in May.) By the 20th century Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died in all wars. Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. As a marker it typically marks the start of the summer vacation season, while Labor Day marks its end.
By the early 20th century, Memorial Day was an occasion for more general expressions of memory, as people visited the graves of their deceased relatives, whether they had served in the military or not. It also became a long weekend increasingly devoted to shopping, family gatherings, fireworks, trips to the beach, and national media events such as the Indianapolis 500 auto race, held since 1911 on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend
The preferred name for the holiday gradually changed from “Decoration Day” to “Memorial Day”, which was first used in 1882. It did not become more common until after World War II, and was not declared the official name by Federal law until 1967. On June 28, 1968, the Congress passed the Uniform Holidays Bill, which moved four holidays, including Memorial Day, from their traditional dates to a specified Monday in order to create a convenient three-day weekend. The change moved Memorial Day from its traditional May 30 date to the last Monday in May.
The law took effect at the federal level in 1971. The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) advocate returning to the original date, although the significance of the date is tenuous. The VFW stated in a 2002 Memorial Day Address:
Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has con-tributed a lot to the general public’s nonchalant observance of Memorial Day.
Since 1987, Hawaii’s Senator Daniel Inouye, a World War II veteran, has introduced a measure to return Memorial Day to its traditional date.
After some initial confusion and unwillingness to comply, all 50 states adopted Congress’s change of date within a few years. Memorial Day endures as a holiday which most businesses observe because it marks the unofficial beginning of summer.
Get involved, my Brother; you can make a difference!
Thought to live by…. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
Fraternally,
Ray
