Entities closing for Labor Day

Numerous federal, state and local offices will be closed Monday, Sept. 3 to observe the national Labor Day holiday.

The U.S Postal Service will be closed to observe the holiday. Mail delivery will resume Tuesday. Most local bank branches will also be closed for the holiday.

Alto, Wells, New Summerfield, Rusk and Jacksonville independent school districts will all be closed for Labor Day. Classes resume at their regular times Tuesday, Sept. 4.

State offices, including the Department of Public Safety (DPS), will also be closed for the holiday, however DPS and other law enforcement agencies will increase DWI patrols through the holiday.

“DPS is committed to helping keep Texas roadways safe for all travelers, and these enhanced patrols are aimed at saving lives by getting impaired drivers off the road,” DPS Director Steven McCraw said. “The department urges all drivers to do their part this Labor Day holiday – and every day – by obeying traffic laws and not drinking and driving.”

The Cherokee County Courthouse, as well as the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, will also be closed on Labor Day. Anyone needing emergency services during this holiday should call 911.

Alto, New Summerfield, Wells, Rusk and Jacksonville municipal offices, including city hall, municipal court and law enforcement offices will be closed for Labor Day. Garbage pick-up in all five cities will continue as regularly scheduled.

The offices of the Cherokeean Herald will also be closed on Monday, and will reopen on Tuesday, Sept. 4. Publication of the week’s paper will not change.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor (USDL)’s website, Labor Day is always the first Monday in September and is celebrated across the nation, to observe “the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.”

The first Labor Day holiday was organized by the Central Labor Union of New York City, and celebrated on a Tuesday in September 1882.

“In 1884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally proposed, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a ‘workingmen’s holiday’ on that date,” the USDL’s website explains. “The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country.

“The vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known and has brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pays tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation's strength, freedom, and leadership — the American worker.”