Queen Victoria
If you are in Canada in the month of May........you will notice a holiday on the Calendar....that may strike you as being slightly strange. The Monday on or before May 24th is Victoria day and depending on which part of Canada you are in........along with Saturday and Sunday, you have a long weekend off! This means the start of summer to many, garage sales, and of course gardening and doing your lawn. The Victoria day weekend is also when many Canadians take off for camping grounds, visiting family or just chilling out at home.
According to Wikipedia:
Victoria day celebrates the birthday of the current Canadian Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. However, the date does not change with the change of monarch, instead it is set on the birthday of Queen Victoria, the Canadian Monarch at the time of Canadian Confederation and establishment of dominion status in 1867. Her birthday being May 24th, 1819.
Alexandrina Victoria, was the only child of Edward, Duke of Kent and Victoria Maria Louisa of Saxe-Coburg. The Duke and Duchess of Kent wanted the name Victoria but her uncle, George IV, insisted that she be named Alexandrina after her godfather, Tsar Alexander I of Russia. ( I guess Victoria day sounds better than Alexandrina day!!)
Victoria day is a statutory holiday in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Ontario, Quebec (coincides with National Patriotes Day), Saskatchewan, and Yukon.
It is not a statutory holiday in the eastern maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.
This year, 2009, Victoria day fell on May 18th. Wow, what a weekend..........we saw bikers out....kids playing in shorts outside and lots of people out enjoying the nice warm weather! We also saw lines and lines of people shopping for lawn equipment, plants and fertilizers........yes, the annual, 'who has the best lawn on the street' competition has unofficially started. May the best green thumb win!
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