Patriots' Day Weekend

Happy Patriots' Day Weekend! Many people from outside of New England do not know what this civic Monday holiday is all about. Its a holiday that is celebrated in Maine and Massachusetts.

My earliest memory of Patriots Day was being at my Grandfather's house and watching  the re-enactment of Paul Revere's ride down Massachusetts Avenue in Arlington, MA

Patriots' commemorates the battle of Lexington and Concord, and the "Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (born in Portland Maine, when it was part of Mass):

Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.

He said to his friend, "If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal light,--
One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm."

For the rest of this epic poem click here...
Midnight Ride of Paul Revere

Patriots' Day signifies the start of the season here in Ogunquit Maine. It’s a traditional time when restaurants and business' re-open. MaineStreet Video and Dance traditionally opens the dance floor for the season. Patriots Day is also the running of the Boston Marathon. Ogunquit also has its own Paul Revere's ride, a Fife and Drum concert, and various Chamber of Commerce activities.

One if by land, two if by sea...........