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Haddon Heights Library
Memorial Day is an American holiday, observed on the last Monday of May, honoring the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Memorial Day 2018 occurs on Monday, May 28. Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971. Many Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries or memorials, holding family gatherings and participating in parades. Unofficially, it marks the beginning of the summer season.
The Civil War, which ended in the spring of 1865, claimed more lives than any conflict in U.S. history and required the establishment of the country’s first national cemeteries.
By the late 1860s, Americans in various towns and cities had begun holding springtime tributes to these countless fallen soldiers, decorating their graves with flowers and reciting prayers.
It is unclear where exactly this tradition originated; numerous different communities may have independently initiated the memorial gatherings. Nevertheless, in 1966 the federal government declared Waterloo, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day.
Waterloo—which first celebrated the day on May 5, 1866—was chosen because it hosted an annual, community-wide event, during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags.
On May 5, 1868, General John A. Logan, leader of an organization for Northern Civil War veterans, called for a nationwide day of remembrance later that month. “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land,” he proclaimed.
The date of Decoration Day, as he called it, was chosen because it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle.
On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, and 5,000 participants decorated the graves of the 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried there.
Many Northern states held similar commemorative events and reprised the tradition in subsequent years; by 1890 each one had made Decoration Day an official state holiday. Southern states, on the other hand, continued to honor their dead on separate days until after World War I.
Memorial Day, as Decoration Day gradually came to be known, originally honored only those lost while fighting in the Civil War. But during World War I the United States found itself embroiled in another major conflict, and the holiday evolved to commemorate American military personnel who died in all wars.
For decades, Memorial Day continued to be observed on May 30, the date Logan had selected for the first Decoration Day. But in 1968 Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May in order to create a three-day weekend for federal employees; the change went into effect in 1971. The same law also declared Memorial Day a federal holiday.
Cities and towns across the United States host Memorial Day parades each year, often incorporating military personnel and members of veterans’ organizations. Some of the largest parades take place in Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C.
Americans also observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries and memorials. On a less somber note, many people take weekend trips or throw parties and barbecues on the holiday, perhaps because it unofficially marks the beginning of summer.
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Featured
What College Girls Remember from their Summers as a Kid
Summer is almost here!
25 May
14237
Yes, summer is almost here.. so what should we remember
1. The beach with your family
2. The pool (either in your yard or a friend's)
3. Wearing bug spray
4. No school
5. No responsibilities
6. BBQs
7. Swimming lessons - harder than they looked
8. Playing at the playground
9. Sleepovers after a day of swimming
10. Vacations (usually to a beach town)
11. Going to the lake (if you weren't near the ocean)
12. The sun was so bright - and squinting if you didn't want to wear your sunglasses
13. Sprinklers - and running through them
14. Being forced to wear sunscreen (and somehow still getting burnt)
15. Taking the best nap after a hot day at the pool and a cool shower
16. Running around with friends until it was dinner time
17. Getting stung by bees (this one sucked)
18. And getting bitten by mosquitoes (you hated them)
19. Mini golf
20. Summer camp!
21. Ice cream truck (and mom saying that we had ice cream at home)
22. Ice cream shops and creameries
23. Seeing that it was still light out through your window when you went to bed at 8
24. That feeling that summer would last forever
25. Days spent hiding from the heat watching Disney Channel and Nickelodeon
26. Wearing your hair in a pony because it was too hot to wear down
27. Riding the waves at the beach
28. Sand castles
29. Summer reading lists
30. Hiking with your family
31. Camping
32. Family reunions
33. Sitting on the porch or deck to esacpe the heat
34. Not having to work
35. Day trips
36.
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Featured
The 100 Things Millennials have ruined: A Comprehensive List
Hint: It's just about everything!
24 May
17723
http://www.factandmyth.com/the-middle-class/are-mi...
Millennials: the generation everyone loves to hate. The babies of 1980 to 1995 take a lot of heat. I mean, we inherited a crashed economy, earn stagnant wages, live with crippling student loan debt, and try to enact change in a rigged system but our affinity for avocado toast and use of technology has wrecked society as we know it! As a tail end millennial, I wanted to know what I was ruining and, like any other annoying millennial would, I did some research. I scoured the internet, read online newspapers and scrolled through every listicle I could find. So, in case you needed another reason to resent the millennial in your life, here are the 100 industries we've killed, things we've ruined or concepts we've destroyed.
Movies
We're killing movie theaters, too
Sitcoms
Cable
Sorry, but Netflix and Hulu beat cable every time.
DVR
Once again, Netflix and Hulu
Golf
Find me a more expensive and boring sport, I dare you.
Running
The Olympics
Gyms
Banks
Our trust issues with the banks go way back... like all the way back to 2008.
Hotels
Vacation
Because we don't take them? or because we take too many? or is just our presence on vacation a problem?
Cruises
Post cards
But is anyone sad to see them go?
Canadian tourism
Mexican internet
Still not sure how, why or when this happened but apparently it's our fault.
Suits
Designer handbags
My $10 bag from Forever 21 will work just fine, thank you.
J. Crew
Department Stores
Macy's, Sears, Bon-Ton, JC Penney's... we've killed them all
Diamonds
Diamonds are little out of our price range but we can afford to propose with a ring pop!
The Anti-Aging industry
Motorcycles
Cars
Sorry for trying to save the planet
The Toyota Scion
Home Depot
Retail
Online shopping is the only way to go.
Grocery Stores
GrubHub and Postmates... all day, everyday
Costco
Cereal
Light Yogurt
Regular Yogurt is next on our list of "Things no one liked but will complain about us ruining"
McWrap
Sorry, McDonald's
Marmalade
Honestly, I don't think millennials know what this is.
Beer
Wine
I find this one very hard to believe
Wine Corks
Drugs
Boobs
But... how do you kill a specific body part??
Sex
Exorcisms
Does this mean millennials are less possessed? have less demons? someone please elaborate
Brunch
Wait, I thought millennials spent all of their money on avocados and Sunday brunch?!
Casual Dining
Dinner Dates
I can't pay for a fancy dinner but we can split my ramen noodles!
Applebee's
Hooter's
Lunch
We killed brunch and lunch?! two meals?! say it ain't so!
Napkins
Did we kill just the paper ones? or the cloth ones too? Are we wiping our mouths on our sleeves? on our arms? the tablecloth? Who knew killing napkins would cause so many questions
Print News
R.I.P every local newspaper ever
The 2016 Election
*insert deep breathing here*
Democracy
Corporate spending in elections? Russian interference? Corrupt politicians? Wrong! The correct answer was: Millennials
America
Last I checked, we we're still here... but what do I know?
Patriotism
The American Dream
The European Union
So is Brexit our fault, too?
Working
Bosses
I'm hoping this meant the concept of a "boss"... because actually killing your boss is taking the "Millennials kill everything" way too far.
9 to 5
Probably because most of us have to work 9 to 9 to make ends meet
Salary secrecy
This one should have been dead a long time ago
Serendipity
The restaurant in NYC? the concept? Both?!
Loyalty programs
Loyalty in general
Relationships
Fear of commitment: Part 1
Marriage
Fear of commitment: Part 2
Starter Homes
Homeownership
On the count of 3! 1...2...3.... Renters forever!
Credit
Personal Debt Industry
Good Riddance...
Porn
Trees
The tree hugging, go green, recycle everything millennials are also the ones killing the trees: a conspiracy theory
Threesomes
The Oil Industry
We like our glaciers frozen, our cities above sea level, and our polar bears alive and well
Call Centers
The Focus Group
These shouldn't have been around in the first place
Crowdfunding
Education
The crippling student loan debt? The stagnant wages for teachers? The underfunding of public schools? the school to prison pipeline? All of those are our fault? yes? oh, okay great
Gen X's Retirement
Sorry, mom and dad!
Manners
Because "It's all good" is obviously not an acceptable replacement for "you're welcome"
Face to Face Interaction
Eye contact isn't our best skill
The Value of Friendship
Taking Risks
We're all scaredy cats
Self-Pity
Everything
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Featured
Anxiety Doesn't Discriminate
This month, Odyssey brings about awareness & normality to conversations around mental health from our community.
24 May
10928
It's no secret that even in 2018 our country still struggles with discrimination of all kinds. Society labels individuals by the color of their skin, heritage, religion, sexuality, gender, size, and political beliefs. You are either privileged or you're not. However, here's the thing, anxiety doesn't care about your privilege. Anxiety doesn't discriminate.
If you don't believe me, check out these statistics from the US National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health on the prevelance of anxiety in white, African American, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans. Below you can see that the percentage of individuals struggling with anxiety disorders in each race is pretty close from race to race. Of course, these are only diagnosed cases of anxiety disorders, so it is possible that the data is skewed if people are unable to see a psychologist.
I'm not saying that everyone with anxiety struggles with the same kind or has the same fears. No one's story is the same. The anxiety that someone like me struggles with is probably a lot different than someone who is conflicted about their sexuality or someone who is the subject of racial profiling. However, that doesn't mean that people who don't have to deal with those struggles don't battle anxiety too.
My friend recently wrote an article about anxiety and a lot of people didn't take her seriously because of her privilege. But let me tell you, the chemicals in your brain could go haywire on you regardless of the amount of money in your bank account, the size of your jeans, or the color of your skin. Anxiety isn't rational. It doesn't care if everything is fine and dandy in your life— it will send off fight or flight signals to your brain regardless.
Anxiety doesn't care about your place in society because it's not logical. It doesn't make sense.
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Disney
After surviving a year of college and watching "Clueless" countless times, I've come to the conclusion that college boy charm is very much a real thing and it's very very attractive. It's easiest explained through Paul Rudd's character, Josh, in "Clueless". The boy who has a grip on his life and is totally charming. In this article, I will list the qualities of a specimen with College Boy Charm, to help you identify him at your next party or other social events.
He's wearing a dopey smile
Why is he smiling like that? We don't know, but it is very cute. He smiles like the guy who led the orientation group that you all definitely were crushing on.
You are very nervous to talk to him
The joke of the matter is he looks so friendly and charming, it's scary.
He's barely drunk
giphy.com
When you ask him how many he had to drink and he says "Only one beer".
(●♡∀♡) He's so nonchalant about his self-control (´∀`)♡
He's what high school you envisioned all college boys would look like
High school you were so ready to go to college and finally date REAL MEN. You imagined these good, tidy, studious, boys. Upon arrival at your campus, you realized how rare these mythical creatures are. They are very hard to track down as vaping has become common practice among many college brothers, but when they are found it suddenly becomes very clear that he is the one you imagined all throughout high school.
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