Presidents Day Event 2020 Photos

As spoken by Fred Orsby, Commander of the Post 31 American Legion:

"Happy Presidents' Day! First, I would like to thank Mayor Lofton, the City Council, City Manager Davis, and the City of Marlin for this opportunity to speak at this great occasion. I proudly serve as the Commander of Falls County Post 31 American Legion here in Marlin, Texas. My wife and I have been residents here since 2005 and we enjoy the community and people here in this wonderful city.

Today is a time to honor all those who have held the highest political office in the United States, past and present. Presidnet's Day was established in 1885 in honor of George Washinton, whose birthday fell on February 22nd. George Washinton's Birthday was the first Federal Holiday to honor an inidividual's birth date. The position of the holiday between the birthdays of Washinton and Abraham Lincoln gave rise to the popular name of President's Day. Nearly a century later, it was moved to the 3rd Monday in February as a  part of the 1971 Uniform Monday holiday Act, which was established to create more three-day weekends for workers.

I must confess that today is not normally a holiday that I gave much thoguht too. Over the years, I appreciated the time off work or school and the long weekends. I've celebrated holidays such as Independence Day, Veteran's Day, and Memorial Day many times over. However, President's Day has been around a lot longer than most American holidays. So, how does Presidnet's Day hold up those time-honored holidays?

I must also confess that this was a very difficult speech to write. Why is this holiday so important, besides the time off we get? What are we actually celebrating, birthdays, people, or the office? And are we honoring only the presidents that were deemed good presidentsor all presidents good or bad?

The roles of the president are 10-fold, as he is the Chief of State, Chief Executive Officer, Commander-in-chief, Chief Diploma, Chief Legistalor, Chief of the Party, Voice of the People, Spokesman for the Free World, Protector of the Peace, and Manager of the Prosperity. But most importantly, he is the person elected by the people for the peopel to lead this great country.

When we clebrate this day, we are not celebrating the great accomplishments of these men. Because not all had such great accomplishments. Truthfully, realistically, not all were wonderful presidents. I'm reminded of President William Henry Harrison who died after serving only 32 days in office in 1841. He wasn't even around long enough, as president, to be considered good or bad. Harrison's only accomplishment in office was that he holds the unfortunate presidentil record for shortest term in office and ironically, delivered the longest inaguaral address in histroy, two and a half hours, which may have been his undoing. Presidents wre not favored by all the people. They were not the overwhelming choice of all the people or members of congress. Actually, the only president that enjoyed the full and total acceptance of all the people was George Washinton, the first president.

Presidents come and go; policies come and go and societal norms change all the time. Presidnet Elect John F. Kennedy quoted a phrase during an address delivered to the General Court of Massachusetts. He said:

"We must alway consider","that we shall be as a city upon a hill- the eyes of all the people are on us."

This really brings home the point of having a President's Day. It's the office that we should be turning out focus toward. And how important it is for our nation. Never taken lightly, but taken with all seriousness and careful consideration.

In conclusion, celbrating birthdays is nice. sharing cake an ice cream is wonderful. but on this day, we celebrate the Office of the Presidency,The highest office of this great country, along with the constitution, one of the cornerstones of our Democracy. That is why we celebrate Presidents' Day. So, i say to you, let us pupt aside out politics and differing views to celebrate this day, President's day!

Thank you. God Bless America and God Bless our community.'