Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Havre de Grace

Jan. 21 is Martin Luther King Jr. Day and that means closings and schedule changes to allow for remembrance of the civil rights activist.

In observance of Monday's holiday, municipal offices in Havre de Grace are closed, as is Harford County government.

The Havre de Grace City Council meeting has been rescheduled from its usual date on Monday; it will be held instead at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 22.

Trash will not be collected Monday, Jan. 21, for residents in Havre de Grace who rely on city services.

Curbside trash collection will resume on Tuesday, and the schedule will be pushed back by one day for the rest of the week. 

How will you spend MLK Day in Havre de Grace? Tell us in the comments.

For some, the national holiday honoring the prominent civil rights activist is a time to give back and learn about King and his life's work.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day, now a U.S. holiday, took 15 years to create.

Legislation was first proposed by Congressman John Conyers (D-Michigan) four days after King was assassinated in 1968. It was finally passed in 1983, following civil rights marches in Washington. Then-president Ronald Reagan signed it into law.

It was not until 2000 that every U.S. state celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day by its name. Before then, states like Utah referred to the holiday more broadly as Human Rights Day. Now, the Corporation for National and Community Service has declared it an official U.S. Day of Service.