Closures and ‘day of service’ on Martin Luther King Jr. Day

The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Many government offices, post offices, school districts, and banks across the Highland Lakes will be closed in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, Jan. 16. The city offices for Meadowlakes and Horseshoe Bay will be open as will campuses in the Burnet Consolidated Independent School District, which plans to celebrate the holiday as a “day of service.”

“Several of our (student) organizations are going to local businesses to do volunteer work and service projects,” Burnet High School Administrative Assistant Erin Stevenson told DailyTrib.com. “Students who remain in school will be doing Martin Luther King-related projects and acts of service throughout the day.”

Congress designated MLK Jr. Day as a “national day of service” in 1994, acknowledging Dr. King’s work to fulfill his dream of racial equality in the country.

MLK Jr. Day became a federal holiday in 1983 under President Ronald Reagan but was not observed in all 50 states until 2000. It always falls on the third Monday of January, near King’s birthday, which is Jan. 15.

CLOSED ON MLK JR. DAY

Cities of Marble Falls, Burnet, Granite Shoals, Llano, Bertram, Sunrise Beach Village, Highland Haven; offices for Burnet and Llano counties; Marble Falls and Llano school districts; all banks and U.S. post offices