Photo: Gov. Ron DeSantis/Facebook
George Washington's birthday is now a state holiday in Florida.
Governor Ron DeSantis making that announcement in Vero Beach Friday.
"So our state offices will be closed. Our state employees will be able to have the day off, which I know they're not going to complain about. And we're going to have a series of events that weekend."
The whole thing kicks off on Thursday, February 12th with the America 250 Florida Duel at the Daytona Speedway.
From that Friday (Feb. 12) through Monday (Feb. 16), state parks will offer free admission.
Also, the governor says the state is launching the America 250 Florida essay contest, which students can enter to win a scholarship to any state college or university.
"We are going to be, the state of Florida through some of the foundations that are associated with the state, are going to be sponsoring an essay contest on America 250 for Florida students."
While the first president's birthday is commonly referred to as "Presidents' Day," to include Lincoln's birthday, the official federal holiday remains "Washington's Birthday."
However, Florida hasn't recognized it that way, until now.
During his appearance in Vero Beach on Friday, Gov. DeSantis joked that even though we call it "Presidents' Day," it's not meant to honor all of them.
"In the U.S. code is Washington's Birthday. It's not for every president. We don't need a day off to honor Millard Filmore or James Buchanan. You just don't. It is what it is. Sometimes you get good and sometimes you get stinkers and that's happened throughout American history."
Visit America250FL.com for more information on all of the events centered around Florida's celebration of the United States of America's 250th Birthday and George Washington's birthday.