Some businesses closed Monday

Labor Day is the first Monday in September, and is recognized as a National Holiday. In observance of this holiday some area businesses, as well as area schools will be closed for the holiday next week.

Labor Day’s creation was part of the labor movement in the 1880s and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

According to the Department of Labor, the first governmental recognition of Labor Day came through municipal ordinances passed during 1885 and 1886. From those, a movement developed to secure state legislation. The first state bill was introduced into the New York legislature, but the first to become law was passed by Oregon on February 21, 1887. During that year, Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York created the Labor Day holiday by legislative enactment. By the end of the decade Connecticut, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had followed suit. By 1894, 23 other states had adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28, 1894, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.

More than 100 years later, Americans are still observing the holiday by attending Labor Day speeches or parades while many celebrate the holiday as a last celebration of summer with camping, fishing and barbequing.

Area schools will be closed for the holiday along with area businesses, those businesses include:

The City of Sidney will be closed Monday, Sept. 5. All city departments will be closed, including the landfill. The Sidney Solid Waste Department will be collecting Monday’s trash on Tuesday and Tuesday’s trash on Wednesday.

The Cheyenne County Courthouse will be closed; Sidney Public Library will be closed; Dial-A-Ride Bus and Stage Line Bus will not be running.

American Bank, Sidney Federal Savings and Loans, Great Western, Security First, and Points West banks will be closed on September 5.

The Sun-Telegraph will also be closed. There will be no Tuesday paper due to the holiday. The first edition next week will be published Wednesday, Sept. 7.

Sidney, Leyton, Peetz, Potter and Creek Valley will have no school K-12 on Sept. 5.

In celebration of the holiday, Potter will host its annual Potter Days celebration beginning Friday September 2-4. Lodgepole will join in the festivities with it’s 92nd annual Old Settlers’ Days September 2-5. Hickory Square will also be having it’s farmers market in downtown Sidney on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.