Every man a hack!

Howie Carr thinks those little-known state and county holidays were created by hacks for their own enrichment. Apparently Howie thinks these holidays are on the books purely to enable all those Boston teachers, court clerks and sanitation workers to sail their 35-foot boats on the taxpayers' dime. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

In fact, holidays like Patriots' Day, Evacuation Day and Bunker Hill day commemorate important events in our state's and nation's history. Every American ought to take the opportunity to stay home on these days and reflect on the greatness that is America.

Holidays are political events. The tradition may have been started in 1774, when as a protest against the Crown's repeal of rights in the Massachusetts colonial charter, colonists meeting at Dedham and Milton adopted the Suffolk Resolves, which urged all Massachusetts counties to close their courts in protest. Seven counties did so. I'm sure Howie would have complained about hack judges collecting their pay while doing nothing.

Actually, it is a shame that March 17 and June 17 are observed only in Suffolk County. It seems a sacrilege to visit the Registry of Deeds in Cambridge on these days and find it operating as usual with nary a thought for the hardy patriots that made our nation possible. And all those private companies that stay open, thumbing their nose at American history -- what's up with that?

I think the Legislature ought to make these days statewide holidays and require all businesses to close in observance. Not only that, there are so many more important events that have occurred in the Commonwealth that deserve to be remembered. Here are just a few:

January 17 -- Birthday of Benjamin Franklin (1706)
January 18 -- Birthday of Daniel Webster (1782)
January 19 -- Birthday of Edgar Allan Poe (1809)
January 25 -- Anniversary of Shays' Rebellion (1787)
February 27 -- Birthday of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807)
March 5 -- Anniversary of the Boston Massacre (1770)
March 8 -- Birthday of Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr (1841)
March 20 -- Opening of Boston Public Library (1854)
March 22 -- Birthday of Jack Kerouac (1922)
April 23 -- Opening of Boston Latin School (1635)
June 1 -- Anniversary of Hanging of Mary Dyer, Quaker (1660)
June 17 -- Anniversary of Hotel Vendome Fire (1972)
July 4 -- Birthday of Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804)
July 12 -- Birthday of Henry David Thoreau (1817)
August 23 -- Anniversary of Sacco & Vanzetti Execution (1927)
September 1 -- Opening of Park St. Station, first US subway (1897)
September 9 -- Anniversary of the Suffolk Resolves (1774)
September 17 -- Signing of US Constitution (1787)
September 18 -- Opening of Harvard College (1636)
October 7 -- Opening of Granite Railway, Quincy (1826)
October 25 -- Signing of Mass. Constitution (1780)
November 9 -- Anniversary of Great Boston Fire (1872)
November 20 -- Birthday of James Michael Curley (1874)
November 28 -- Anniversary of Cocoanut Grove Fire (1942)
December 9 -- Birthday of Thomas P. O'Neill (1912)
December 16 -- Anniversary of Boston Tea Party (1773)
December 21 -- Anniversary of Mayflower Landing (1620)

These days should be contemplated and honored by all citizens of the Commonwealth over a barbecue, or out on our sailboats. And if you don't own a sailboat, the Commonwealth should buy you one, or at least subsidize your purchase. After all, Sail'em is the name of one of our most historic places.