What’s Open, Closed On Presidents Day 2020 In Bel Air

BEL AIR, MD —Presidents Day will be Monday, and a variety of services will be closed in Bel Air for the day.

The holiday, which was originally established in 1885 to honor President George Washington, will provide a three-day weekend for many. But it also means that services such as the U.S. Post Office, banks and public schools will not open.

Here’s a breakdown of how the holiday could affect your routine.

• Bel Air Town Hall: Closed
• Bel Air Board of Town Commissioners Town Hall Meeting: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday (usually Monday)
• Harford County government offices:Closed
• Harford County Public Schools: Closed
• Harford County Public library: Closed
• Post offices: Closed
• Courts: Closed

Trash pickup:

• Bel Air residents whose trash pickup was Monday will instead have pickup Wednesday.
• Yard waste collection will not take place Monday.
• Tuesday pickup will continue as usual.
• Bulk collection is canceled Wednesday.

The transition in the holiday’s name from Washington’s Birthday to Presidents Day began in the late 1960s as part of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. The bill proposed that the country celebrate holidays on Monday rather than when birthdays fell on the calendar so workers could have a three-day weekend.

During the debate of that bill, it was proposed that Washington’s Birthday be renamed Presidents Day to celebrate the birthdays of both Washington on Feb. 22 and President Abraham Lincoln on Feb. 12.

Congress actually rejected the name change in the 1968 version of the bill. However, after the bill took effect in 1971, Presidents Day became the commonly accepted name.

— By Gus Saltonstall and Elizabeth Janney