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I can't believe that Government wants to change May 24, Bermuda Day, into National Heroes Day! Don't get me wrong, I'm all for celebrating heroes and no rational person can honestly deny that Dame Lois and her contributions need to be celebrated.

Of course, exactly who else will qualify as a "Hero" will be an interesting discussion. After all, one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist. But while history is always written (and sometimes rewritten) by the winners it will be important to cast a very wide net if the community as a whole is expected to embrace the

concept.

So by all means have a holiday for local heroes. But come on! Why mess with May 24? Of course that used to be Queen Victoria's Birthday so it's not like we haven't done this before. But I remember when the UBP tried to change Bermuda Day from May 24 to the Monday NEAREST May 24. That was shot down REAL quick - and rightly so. You screw around with our holidays at your peril.

Bermuda Day marks the beginning of summer and the traditions of that day should remain inviolate. You can't really grasp the impact of key figures in our social development when you're busy grasping your tender parts as you try to get into the still-just-a-bit-too-cold water for your mandatory first swim of the year.

And can you properly contemplate the most significant contributions to Bermuda's history with a squad of majorettes "strutting their stuff" in front of you? I think not. They need to find another day for Heroes. But when?

After Bermuda Day there's the Queen's Birthday in June (whether Premier Brown chooses to acknowledge it or not) and with Cup Match in July and August and Labour Day in September the summer months are already busy. I remember when the PLP wanted to observe Labour Day on May 1 like most of the world, but the UBP wisely adopted the U.S. day to avoid bunching all the holidays at the start of summer.

November has Remembrance Day for the OTHER heroes and then there's December with Christmas and Boxing Day. And a mere five days later we have New Year's Eve so the end of the year gets quite hectic. This is why there are no holidays in January, so we can all go "on the tack" for a month to prepare for the Super Bowl.

Easter and Good Friday are in either March or April - although I can't figure out why they move it around. After all, the Romans had very good calendars so historians should be able to pinpoint the exact day in question. Celebrations based on the lunar cycles seem a bit like...I don't know... astrology. And how did the rabbit get involved?

But I digress. We are left with February and October free from public holidays so they should be used for the new one. Personally myself, I think February 23 would be an ideal date to have a holiday to celebrate our national Heroes. But we shouldn't stop there.

In Trinidad they have holidays to commemorate the arrival of the major ethnic groups - Chinese & Indian. We should do the same here. Somers Day is already on the books to celebrate the shipwreck of the Sea Venture and the arrival of the first people in Bermuda - the English.

First, we would need a day to celebrate the arrival of the Africans, then we'd need one for the Portuguese. Of course the Americans and the Canadians would need a day each. And since the Scottish and the Irish are not English (just ask them) they'd each need their own day. And we can't forget the Filipinos and the Sri Lankans.

If really put our minds to it I'm sure we can make every weekend of the year a long weekend.

We've got Mormons and Muslims here now so we should include them too, although there would have to be a lot less drinking on those holidays.

And don't forget our Jewish community - Yom Kippur is the Day of atonement and there are a few people here who have a lot to atone for.[[In-content Ad]]

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