Thanksgiving Weekend 2014
This time of year the biggest event in and around the St. Louis area is the Ameren Missouri Thanksgiving Day Parade. Now in its 30th year, this iconic St. Louis event will start promptly at 8:45AM, Thursday, November 27th. Beginning at the intersection of 7th and Market Street, the parade will head west on Market to Union Station where it will culminate at Aloe Plaza and 20th Street.
The 2014 parade will feature over 130 floats, some providing live entertainment, oversized helium balloon characters, live animals, marching bands, clowns, beauty queens and so much more! Rounding out the end of the parade is good ole St. Nick himself, riding in to officially begin the holiday season and wish everyone a Merry Christmas. As always, you are encouraged to come downtown early to pick out the best seats for viewing. Or if you’d rather enjoy the parade from the comfort of your own living room, it will be broadcast on KMOV Channel 4’s “Great Day St. Louis.”
Friday November 28th kicks off the seasonal Wild Lights at the St. Louis Zoo. This annual event runs evenings through January 3rd. As always there will be hundreds of thousands of holiday lights both in displays as well as strung throughout the entire Zoo for you and your family to ooh and ahh over.
Some of the most popular displays for 2014 will include:
- Arctic Wonderland
- Snowfall Flurry Walk
- Gingerbread Village
- Swan Lake
Wild Lights tickets also include admission to the Charles H. Hoessle Herpetarium and the Monsanto Insectarium. After enjoying all the gorgeous lights take a spin on the Conservation Carousel then stop by Lakeside Café for hot chocolate and a snack.
Ellis Dental would like to wish all our clients a very Happy Thanksgiving. We will be closing at 2PM on Wednesday and closed all day on Thursday so our staff can enjoy the long holiday weekend with family and friends.
Happy Labor Day from Ellis Dental
Most people recognize Labor Day simply as the informal beginning of fall or as just an extra day off to spend at the lake or barbequing with family and friends. But do you really know why the first Monday in September is a national holiday?
During the late 19th century as America continued to grow and prosper, manufacturing took the place of agriculture as the number one employment option. But there were no rules or guidelines to protect the workers. Most people worked seven days a week, 12 to 16 hours a day often in unsafe and dirty conditions.
As dissatisfaction grew informal Labor Unions began to organize demanding better working conditions and wages. As with anything worth fighting for there were struggles and often these strikes turned violent but the Unions persevered.
The original Labor Day holiday was celebrated on September 5th, 1882 when over 10,000 workers left their jobs and marched from City Hall to Union Square in New York demanding the same changes the Union leaders were fighting for. Finally in 1885 the first Monday in September was formally decreed the “workingman’s holiday” and began to receive state and then federal recognition.
In honor of Labor Day, there are two great parades scheduled for Monday. The St. Louis parade begins at 9AM at the corner of 13th and Olive and the Belleville Parade and Picnic starts on First Street at 10AM with the picnic to follow at Hough Park at 11:30AM.
Ellis Dental will be closed on Labor Day so our staff can enjoy the day with family and friends. The office will reopen at 8AM on Tuesday. Please call us then to schedule an appointment or go online for additional information.