Dona Ana County observes ‘Spring Holiday’ on Good Friday

Easter weekend is fast approaching and a lot of people are looking forward to a vacation day at the end of the week for Good Friday, but for the Dona Ana County employees who don’t work Friday, it’s called their “Spring Holiday.”

“Spring Holiday” isn’t a traditional name, but Dona Ana County Spokesman Jess Williams said the it’s not the first year the county has used it. Even though the March 29 vacation day falls right before Easter weekend, Williams said there’s no connection to the holiday. According to Williams, it’s simply an opportunity for county employees to spend time with their families.

Intentional or not, Stephanie Wright said the name change is a good choice. “I’m an educator so I have a lot of different students from a lot of different faiths, and I think that it should be spring holiday so that its not exclusive,” said Wright.

Historically Easter is a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Traditionalists like Randy Slaughter say it’s important to maintain those ties. “If it was Spring Holiday it’d be the spring bunny,” laughed Slaughter. “It wouldn’t be the same. It should stay Easter.”

People such as Sandra Wonder are just happy to get vacation time with family and friends, “It doesn’t matter,” said Wonder. “People are going to celebrate what they’re going to celebrate.”

The El Paso Independent School district also refers to the March 29 vacation day as Spring Holiday. According to the El Paso County website, county employees will observe Good Friday on March 29.