Our holiday schedule is changing

Change.

Folks tend to be averse to change. Even when change is positive, there are often unforeseen consequences.

We’ve been through a lot of changes this year. One was altering our printing schedule to allow for same-day delivery to in-county and other nearby customers who receive the newspaper by mail.

All in all, it’s been a positive change. Many customers who had dropped the paper decided to come back once same-day delivery was restored.

One of the unintended consequences was the impact on holidays for our employees. In order to achieve same-day mail delivery, we have to print earlier in order to get the newspaper to the post office in time to be sorted and end up in your mailbox.

On most days, that’s not a problem. On weeks when there is a Monday holiday, it’s different.

In order to get Tuesday’s paper out, employees have had to work on Monday holidays — so far, Memorial Day and Labor Day — giving up their time off. While employees have been gracious in doing so, it’s a tough ask given that we take so few holidays — only six — each year.

The issue rears its head again this month, as both Christmas and New Year’s Day fall on Mondays.

We had already been considering making a future adjustment. The back-to-back holidays this month have pushed our timeline.

Rather than asking employees to give up their holidays again, The Commercial Review is implementing the following policy: We will no longer publish on the Tuesday following one of the Monday holidays we observe.

In the next month, that will mean no newspaper on Tuesday, Dec. 26, and Tuesday, Jan. 2.

For the long term, it will mean:

•No newspaper on the Tuesdays after Memorial Day and Labor Day every year

•No newspaper on the Tuesdays after New Year’s Day, Independence Day or Christmas when those holidays fall on Monday. 

Christmas and New Year’s being celebrated on Monday happens every five to 11 years — the next occurrence will be 2028 — depending on how the calendar falls. Independence Day will not be on a Monday again until 2033.

We are hopeful that our subscribers and readers will understand this change and appreciate the importance of allowing our employees to spend these holidays with their families.

We want them to be able to relax and have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

We wish the same to you as well. — R.C.