It’s nearly Labor Day weekend, and we imagine quite a few of our readers are getting ready to pack up the car and hit the road for one last mini-vacation before bidding farewell to the summer.

Whether you’re heading up the mountain to Prescott or Flagstaff, shooting down the Beeline for Payson or Lake Roosevelt, or maybe even gunning for a further destination, please remember to be careful on those roads and return to Fountain Hills safely.

Since Monday is a holiday, you’ll find coverage on 1A concerning all of the local closures, from banks to the post office and beyond. As an extra reminder, all of our deadlines here have shifted by a day, so be sure to get any editorial content our way by Thursday and submit letters to the editor as early as possible Friday morning.

The United States has been celebrating Labor Day since the late 1800s, with New York City cited as the location of its first observance in 1882; though nobody can seem to agree on whom, exactly, first suggested the idea. The state of Oregon was the first to pass legislation regarding the holiday and it continued to find traction until the Labor Day was recognized nationally in 1894.

According to the Department of Labor, the holiday is “dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers.” In other words, it’s a way of saying, as a nation, “take a load off for a few days, you’ve earned it.”