A lucky break for city, state employees
Evacuation Day, noting a victory, falls on saint's day
Light traffic made for a dream commute, parking was plentiful downtown, and trendy lunch spots had ample seating as an estimated 35,000 city and state employees stayed home yesterday for an only-in-Suffolk-County holiday.
It was Evacuation Day, an obscure paid day off to commemorate when the Continental Army hauled 50 cannons up Dorchester Heights on March 17, 1776, and forced the redcoats out of Boston. It has been celebrated for more than 100 years and suspiciously coincides with a day named for a certain Irish saint.
Long ago, the holiday was a way to tweak the British and "celebrate St. Patrick's Day in a cloak of historical significance," said historian Charles Swift.
The estimate of 35,000 public employees who stayed home is based on calculations from the Boston Municipal Research Bureau and the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. The government workers with access to the actual figures took yesterday off.
Not every public employee was so lucky. Secretary of State William F. Galvin, whose mother was born in Galway, kept his office open with a skeleton staff.
"Try explaining to businesses from out of state that we are closed because the British evacuated Boston 300 years ago," Galvin said.
Also working yesterday were 60 junior prosecutors in the Suffolk district attorney's office who had to attend a half-day of training. Bagels and muffins were provided to ease the pain.
"It's actually a good day to get caught up on things," said Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.
ANDREW RYAN 