In the face of controversy during recent years of what many people consider to be major atrocities against Native Americans surrounding Columbus Day, a state and national holiday that reveres Christopher Columbus as a national hero who discovered America, the Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders has declared its support for a state Senate resolution that would safeguard Columbus Day as a holiday in the Garden State. The pledge, sponsored by Sen. Joe Pennacchio of Montville, asks the state to make sure the second Monday in October remains “a day to honor and celebrate the explorer’s historic achievement.”

“Columbus Day honors not only an explorer, but it honors the millions of Italian-Americans who helped build this great nation,” said Freeholder Director Joseph H. Vicari. “Columbus was the first of many trailblazers that helped discover the New World. Our nation might not even exist if not for Christopher Columbus.” New Jersey is home to an estimated 1.4 million people of Italian descent, according to the board of freeholders. More than 140,000 Italian-American residents live in Ocean County alone. The county’s Columbus Day Parade, which draws people from as far as Italy, has been a custom for decades.