Holidays

America celebrates Independence Day today, commemorating the approval of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 by the 13 British colonies. Here's what's open and what's closed today.

Today is a state and federal holiday commemorating the birth of the great American civil rights leader, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Here's a list of what's closed, schedule changes and a brief history of the man and the holiday.

Column: All that’s done is done and what is undone can wait for another day and season. This season is the time to let go so I can hold on to the gifts of those present around me who mean the most. 

Peace, good will, tranquility, serenity, reconciliation,  calm and quiet are not just words, they are ways of being.  We can give this to the world if we could just stop belly-aching. 

Today America celebrates its workers, with a holiday that grew out of the early days of the American labor movement at the height of the Industrial Revolution in the the late 19th century.

Today marks the official observance of Juneteenth, the anniversary of the day in 1865 when Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas to to read aloud the Emancipation Proclamation — two months after the Confederacy had surrendered and two-and-a-half years after the Emancipation Proclamation took effect on Jan. 1, 1863, freeing slaves throughout the United States.

The Riverhead-based African American Educational & Cultural Festival will host its Second Annual Virtual Spirit of Kwanzaa Celebration: Seven days and Seven Principles Dec. 26-Jan. 1.

The grief and the joy of Christmas coincide in the same way life and death are with us every day.

Early in 2021, we put the last of the Christmas decorations away. I remember holding our Christmas-themed face masks and thinking, “Well, we won’t need these next Christmas. But they sure are cute.”

Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year in the Jewish religion, begins at sunset tonight and continues until after nightfall tomorrow. The "Day of Atonement" is observed by a nearly 26-hour fast to repent for one's sins.