Presidents Day Closures; Free Admission at Presidential Libraries

Federal, state, county and city government offices will be closed today in observance of Presidents Day.

U.S. Postal Service offices are also closed for the day, along with banks and the stock market. Schools and libraries also are closed.

If you'll be getting out and about today, admission is free at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library & Museum in Yorba Linda, while the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley will mark the holiday with a free set of family-oriented activities.

The Nixon Library will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the first 100 guests receiving a free slice of cherry pie.

Actors portraying the presidents depicted on Mount Rushmore -- Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and George Washington -- will be available for pictures throughout the day.

A special presentation on the nation's presidents will be made at 1:30 p.m. in the East Room.

More information on the Nixon Library is available by calling (714) 993- 5075.

The Reagan Library will conduct its 20th annual Presidents Day Celebration from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with presidential and first lady lookalikes, music and storytelling. Admission is free, with food available for purchase.

"Discover the Real George Washington: New Views from Mount Vernon" will be on display at the Reagan Library from Wednesday through May 18, featuring approximately 100 original objects associated with Washington, including the only surviving complete set of his dentures.

The exhibit also includes life-size figures of Washington developed through cutting-edge forensic investigation, three-dimensional architectural models, videos and interactive displays.

The exhibit deals with Washington's life as a general, president, young land surveyor, experimental farmer and entrepreneur. It also explores Washington's views on religion and slavery and the influence of his wife Martha.

The library will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with its regular admission rates -- $15 for adults, $9 for children ages 11 to 17 years old and $12 for ages 62 and older. Children under 10 years old are admitted free.

More information on the Reagan Library is available by calling (800) 410- 8354.

Although commonly known as Presidents Day, the holiday is still legally Washington's Birthday.

The holiday was shifted from Feb. 22 to the third Monday in February 1971 under the terms of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968. Because the holiday falls between Feb. 15 and 21 it can never fall on the actual anniversary of Washington's birth in 1732.

The term Presidents Day began being popularized in the 1980s, when retailers combined sales formerly held in conjunction with Washington and Abraham Lincoln's birthdays.