The History of Memorial Day

The observance of Memorial Day has a long history which dates back to 1868, three years after the Civil War ended. The Grand Army of the Republic established Decoration Day to honor those who fought and died in the Civil War by decorating their graves with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30.

After World War l, the day of remembrance was expanded to honor those who died in all American wars. Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday in 1971 and it was then placed as a federal holiday on the last Monday in May. It is still sometimes called Decoration Day. The Department of Veterans Affairs has a helpful link to informational resources about Memorial Day.

http://www.va.gov/opa/speceven/memday/

The well-known poem In Flanders Fields, written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, is a poignant expression of his grief over the loss of his close friend Alexis Helmer on May 2, 1915 during the second battle of Ypres, Belgium. McCrea was a surgeon with Canada's First Brigade Artillery, and his poem became a rallying cry to all who fought in World War l. The poppy has become a symbol of perpetual tribute to those who have given their lives for the nation’s freedom. I liked this website about Flanders Fields http://www.flandersfieldsmusic.com/thepoem.html because it provides a bio of McCrae, some basic history about Word War l, and because it provides some educational lesson plans.

There is an actual In Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres, Belgium. On  Monday May 25th take a moment to reflect and remember all those who have given their lives for our Country.

Best Free Reference Tips

I always enjoy exploring recommended “best” or “best of” lists. The March issue of Library Journal contained their “Best Free Reference of 2014". Free always catches my eye.

Here are three great sites to visit:

The Great 1906 Earthquake

Recently, earthquakes have been in the news and one of them occurred very close in Southwest Michigan. The U.S. Geological Survey site is a great place to explore. Go to http://earthquake.usgs.gov/ to find more information concerning hazard areas, data, maps, monitoring and research.


https://weatherspark.com/  WeatherSpark is a new type of weather website. It offers interactive weather graphs of historical data from approximately 4,000 weather stations which the user can pan and zoom through. Along with forecasts and historical information, this site has a dashboard that is pretty cool. You can set graph options for the sun and moon, cloud ceiling, visibility, wind speed and direction, precipitation, dew point, humidity, pressure and more. If you are a weather buff, check this site out.

http://www.taxifarefinder.com/rideguru If you have been keeping up on the latest State news, you know that Gov. Mike Pence recently signed into law House Bill No. 1278 opening the door for Uber, the popular app-driven ridesharing transportation service, to offer its services locally. Rideguru’s site offers a ground-breaking fare calculator that brings transparency to the taxi and the on-demand rideshare industry. It is capable of calculating potential fares for various rideshare services including local taxis, Uber, Lyft, Sidecar, Hailo, Flywheel, and Curb in the area. Rideguru/TaxiFareFinder also offers rideshare guides, news, links to popular taxi blogs, and even pinterest pics from TaxiFareFinder.

Check these sites out and do some exploring. The possibilities are unlimited. See you soon at the Library!