Most San Diego County offices will be closed on Thursday, March 31 in observance of Cesar Chavez day.
President Cesar Chavez declared Cesar Chavez Day a national holiday in 2014. Although it is not a federal holiday, it is a state holiday in California, leading San Diego county to close its offices, family resource centers, libraries, and animal shelters.
About half of the County-operated COVID-19 vaccination and testing sites will be closed Thursday and will resume normal hours Friday. State-operated vaccination and testing sites will be open. To check to see which vaccination sites and testing sites are open, visit here.
Essential services such as law enforcement and emergency animal control response will continue through the holiday. The Department of Parks and Recreation’s reservation phone line will not be staffed during the holiday.
Most county parks, campgrounds, and neighborhood day-use parks will remain open, except for the following locations:
- Fallbrook Community Center
- Lakeside Community Center
- Spring Valley Community Center
- Spring Valley Gymnasium
- 4S Ranch Recreation Office
- Community Teen Center
All County offices will resume normal business hours Friday, April 1.
Chavez was born on March 31, 1927, in Yuma, Arizona. In 1938 he and his family moved to California, where his family settled in June 1939 in San Jose.
At the age of 19, Chavez joined the U.S. Navy in 1946 and served for two years. In 1953, he became involved with the Community Service Organization, a Latino civil rights group, rising to become its national director by 1958.
He later co-founded the National Farm Workers' Association in 1962, which is now known as the United Farm Workers. Chavez became the best-known Latino American civil rights activist who lead the struggle for farm workers.
Chavez employed aggressive but non-violent tactics, which garnered widespread support in his advocacy for farm workers' rights. He also gained national awareness as he went on several hunger strikes to highlight his campaigns.
Cesar Chavez died on April 23rd, 1993 near Yuma, Arizona.
