By TR Robertson
After the opening weekend of September and the Labor Day Weekend holiday there are several other holidays celebrated or memorialized in the month, one very well known and remembered and two not as well-known and it is the beginning of a number of days for a religious holiday period.
Grandparents Day – Sunday, September 10
In the United States, in 1969, Russell Caper (age 9) sent a letter to then U.S. President Richard Nixon, suggesting he set aside a special day to honor grandparents. Russell received a letter back from President Nixon’s Press Secretary telling Russell that the President liked the idea, but it would take a Congressional resolution to set-up such a day. In 1973, Senator Jennings Randolph introduced, in the Senate, a resolution to make Grandparents Day a national holiday. The resolution died in committee. Marian McQuade, considered the founder of Grandparents Day, began the process of urging each U.S. state to individually proclaim a day in their state as Grandparents Day. By 1976, she had successfully gotten 43 states to issue proclamations naming a day as Grandparents Day. In February 1977, Senator Randolph would introduce a joint resolution, which this time passed, declaring the second Sunday in September as Grandparents Day. In the declaration it would say, “Grandparents Day is to honor grandparents and give grandparents an opportunity to show love for their children’s children.” The traditional flower for Grandparents Day is the “forget-me-not”. In Mexico, Grandparents Day is August 28th.
Patriot Day – Monday, September 11
Patriot Day is the day set aside from a bill passed by Congress, introduced by Congressman Vito Fossella (New York), in memory of those killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City and the Pentagon. U.S. Flags are flown at half staff on all U.S. government buildings. Americans are encouraged to display flags at their homes and businesses. A moment of silence at 8:46 am, East Coast time, is encouraged. This is the time when the first plane struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Patriot Day is not a federal holiday. Schools and businesses remain open. There are memorial ceremonies held around the country for the 2,977 victims.
U.S. Constitution and Citizenship Day – Sunday, September 17
The United States Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, by 39 delegates attending the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Each year on September 17th Constitution and Citizenship Day is celebrated. This day is not a federal public holiday. This day also celebrates those who have become U.S. citizens. The day became a holiday to recognize the signing of the Constitution and citizens when Senator Robert Byrd, in 2004, sponsored a resolution for the day. U.S. Constitution and Citizenship Day encourages Americans to reflect on the rights and responsibilities of citizenship and what it means to become a U.S. citizen.
Rosh Hashanah Begins September 16
For millions of people around the world, this day marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year. The biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah. This is the first of the Jewish High Holy Days that occurs in the late summer/early autumn of the Northern Hemisphere. Rosh Hashanah begins a ten-day period of penitence culminating in Yom Kippur (September 25), as well as beginning the cycle of autumnal religious festivals running through Sukkot (Sept.29-October 6) and ending in Shemini Atzeret (Oct. 6-8).
