Mokena Village Services Will Continue As Normal For Juneteenth Holiday

MOKENA, IL — Although June 19 has been designated as a national holiday that commemorates the day in 1865, more than two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, village services will continue to be offered as normal, village officials said.

Also known as Emancipation Day, Freedom Day and Jubilee Day, Juneteenth is the oldest-known celebration of the end of slavery in the United States. In 2021, President Joe Biden signed legislation making it a federal holiday, the first since the addition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983.

Chicago is one of the top destinations to celebrate Juneteenth, U.S. News & World Report said in a story earlier this month, and several events to commemorate the day will be hosted over the three-day weekend.

• Related: What Is Juneteenth? Celebrating The End Of Slavery

Because Juneteenth is an official U.S. holiday, banks, federal offices and post offices in Mokena will be closed Monday, June 19. However, when the Illinois General Assembly passed legislation designating an additional state holiday, certain units of local government, including municipalities, were not included in that legislation.

Village officials said that because of the designation allowing municipalities to be excluded from the state holiday, normal services such as trash-pick up and access to government offices will continue on the holiday.