Monday Holiday

McKinley Memorial Canton,Ohio

President's Day is an odd sort of holiday. Really no one gets it off except Government workers and schoolkids. We don't get mail either, but the email box is stuffed
full of Presidents' Day sales ads. Other than a marathon of documentaries about Presidents on the history channel, just how does one celebrate Presidents' Day?

Well our Girl Scout troop decided to spend the day calling on a president.

As it happens Ohio, where I live, competes with Virginia for the title "Mother of Presidents"
(The Fairness Doctrine requires me to note that Virginia produced better ones) and one of them, William McKinley was from Canton, about half an hour from our home.

McKinley is a largely overlooked president today, largely because after he was assassinated at the beginning of his second term, he was succeeded by a guy named Teddy Roosevelt who totally changed the way the presidency is conducted.

Still they built him an amazing memorial tomb, with a nearby museum that includes exhibits on the McKinley's and local history. There is also a planetarium and a small natural history museum.

All told, the girls had a good time. It was kind of nice, on Presidents' Day, to think about one of the people who held the job, and about the times he lived in. Because when you think about it that's what holidays are supposed to be about.