Waterville Mayor to Proclaim October 14th ‘Columbus Day’
Despite the state of Maine having passed a law proclaiming the holiday 'Indigenous People's Day', Waterville Mayor, Nick Isgro, plans to proclaim it otherwise at tonight's (10-1-2019) city council meeting. The meeting will take place at 7p in the Chace Community Forum in the Bill & Joan Alfond Main Street Commons at 150 Main St.
“On Columbus Day,” the proclamation says, “we honor the skilled navigator and man of faith who President Benjamin Harrison described as a ‘pioneer of progress and enlightenment’ whose spirited voyage transformed the western hemisphere and inspired countless others to pursue their dreams and convictions in the face of seemingly insurmountable doubts and adversity.”
It goes on to say Italian-Americans constitute the fifth-largest ethnic group in the United States, and “their contributions to American culture, business and civic life have been of unquestionable value to our diverse shared history.”