Former district attorney and county commissioner Michael Marino made a return visit to the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners Thursday with a request: Restore the Columbus Day holiday in Montgomery County. The well-known county lawyer was joined by more than 25 other area residents donning “restore Columbus Day” name tags in solidarity.

Marino, of Skippack Township, told the commissioners that his remarks were on behalf of several Italian-American heritage groups. “We request this not because it is just another holiday,” Marino said. “We ask this because it is a day of acknowledgment of our immigrant ancestors who came to this country for the purposes of a better life for themselves and their children.