Community Corner

Celebrate Columbus Day in Elkridge

Columbus Day is on Monday, Oct. 8, 2012.

Columbus Day, a federal holiday, falls this year on Monday, Oct. 8.

The Columbus Day Parade in downtown Baltimore starts at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 7. Watch as floats, marching bands, dancers and civic organizations make their way from Key Highway at Light Street down Pratt Street to Little Italy's Columbus Piazza.

Columbus Day pays tribute to Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, whose long journey across the Atlantic Ocean was victorious when he spotted land, dubbed the “New World," on Oct. 12, 1492.

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In addition to being considered a celebration of Italian heritage, Columbus Day is a huge shopping day in the U.S. 

Several stores at Arundel Mills are holding Columbus Day sales for the occasion, in addition to those at the Mall in Columbia.

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President Franklin Delano Roosevelt is responsible for making the holiday a federal one in 1937. Most banks, government offices and the U.S. Postal Service will be closed to observe the holiday.

CLOSED for Columbus Day in Howard County

  • All Howard County Libraries, including the Elkridge branch
  • Courts
  • Howard County Health Department

OPEN in Howard County on Columbus Day

  • County government offices
  • Trash and recycling services
  • Landfill (open 8 a.m.–4 p.m.)

What are your plans for Columbus Day? Tell us in the comments.


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