Closed - Victoria Day - May 19th

The Branch will be closed on Victoria Day. Please spend time with family and friends, enjoy the weather, and hope to find a fireworks display. It is supposed to be a beautiful day!

Victoria Day is a statutory holiday remembered informally as "the twenty-fourth of May,” or “May Two-Four.” Originally a celebration of Queen Victoria's birthday, the holiday now marks Queen Elizabeth II's birthday as well. Victoria Day was established as a holiday in the Province of Canada in 1845 and as a national holiday in 1901. It is observed on the first Monday before 25 May. While the king or queen’s birthday has been celebrated in Canada for centuries, before Queen Victoria ascended to the throne in 1837, it was more of a military occasion than a civilian holiday. In 18th-century British North America, the monarch’s birthday was the day on which local militias engaged in compulsory annual training. The able-bodied men of each community would march with their weapons in the town square then toast the King at local taverns and alehouses. When members of the royal family visited, they would attend these reviews and celebrations. During the 1790s, Queen Victoria’s father, Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, resided in British North America, attending military reviews each spring.

Victoria Day | The Canadian Encyclopedia