Happy Presidents Day!

Astute readers will, no doubt, note the lack of possessive apostrophe in that salutation.

There is good reason for that! Though originally celebrated to honor the birthday of our first president, George Washington, the holiday today is no longer so narrow. In the 1890’s Congress enacted legislation making the third Monday in February a holiday to celebrate Mr. Washington’s birthday which actually falls on February 22, according to the Gregorian Calendar (back in the actual year of his birth, we still used the old Julian Calendar and his birthday was on February 11... or so I am told. It all gets very confusing). Still, to avoid a holiday falling on a weekend, the day was standardized as the third Monday in February.

Trouble was that many states were also celebrating the birthday of Abraham Lincoln which also falls in February on the 11th (Gregorian .. he was born after the change, so I have no idea what the date would have been on the other calendar! ... don’t go there!).So it became standard practice in many places to use the same day for both men, common sense dictating that two holidays the same month might promote shiftlessness.

Today, the holiday has grown to be a day of national remembrance honoring all of our presidents, hence the aforementioned lack of apostrophe. :-)

Regardless, it seems to us that February is as good a month as any to remember and learn about the great men who have led our nation. Sadly, many of our citizens remain ignorant of even the basic facts around the lives of these important individuals. And, as has been quoted many times, “Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.”

So it is, that we here at Mobile Ed do our part by bringing to life different individuals from history through school assemblies, believing, as we do, that a living actor portraying an individual from the past can illuminate for children the life and meaning of the person in ways simply impossible to accomplish through books. Though books are wonderful! - please, no nasty letters from librarians! .... oops, I mean Media Center Directors. :-)

Our school assembly program, The Living Lincoln, featuring one of our many awesomely talented Abraham Lincoln presenters (cough, cough, wink, wink) has been touring annually since 1989 and, in that time, has been bringing our sixteenth president to life for mesmerized students all over the country. All told, over a million students have now enjoyed this powerful show, and we are now seeing audiences that include a second generation marveling at the life of this great man.

If you have never experienced this wonderful program, call today. It may not be too late to still bring this great school assembly before your kids yet this school year! Oh, and enjoy your day off! But remember, as you go about your business today, to say a word of thanks for these men who paid such a high price for the freedom we enjoy today.

Happy Birthday Mr. Washington!

Happy Birthday, Mr. Lincoln!

Thanks for everything! Really! From the bottom of our hearts... thanks a lot!