November 19, 2016

Today we celebrate:

Family Volunteer Day – Celebrated on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, this is a day to get your whole family involved in volunteering. Pick your favorite activity whether it's helping your local food pantry, helping at a local homeless shelter, picking up the garbage at your local park or any other worthy cause and get the family working on it today.

International Survivors of Suicide Day – Also celebrated on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, this is a day for the friends and family members of those who have died by suicide to join together and share a healing spirit. There will be events happening all over the world for the purpose of uniting these survivors. This day was begun by Senator Harry Reid in 1999 and started out as a National Day but when other countries began celebrating it as well it was changed to an International Day.

International Games Day @ Your Library – On the third Saturday in November we have a day to celebrate games and libraries, so today libraries all over the world are playing all different kinds of games. Check with your local library to see if they are participating.

National Adoption Day - Celebrated on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, today we celebrate a day that was begun in 2000 by several organizations including: The Alliance for Children’s Rights, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, the Freddie Mac Foundation and the Children’s Action Network. Thousands and thousands of adoptions from foster care have been finalized on this day over the years and we celebrate both the families who adopt and the children who are adopted.

Women’s Entrepreneurship Day - Begun in 2014 by the United Nations, this day has been held on November 19th in the past, and the website says it is to be held on the 19th every year. But it also says that it will be celebrated on the 18th this year (2016). I have no idea why there is that discrepancy. But I do know that we celebrate this day by highlighting and honoring the work of female entrepreneurs all over the world. We want to support them by enabling connections and improving networking that will help help to empower women and their businesses.

National Blow Bagpipes Day - Now you may know that the Scottish are not the only ones who like to play the bagpipes, but whenever any of us hear or see bagpipes, we think of the Scottish first. I think it is a requirement that all Scottish people have to listen to bagpipe music at least once a year or they are no longer allowed to call themselves Scottish. It looks like a difficult instrument to learn but I enjoy them when I hear them in the local parades.

National Carbonated Beverage with Caffeine Day - There aren’t too many carbonated beverages with caffeine that I am aware of. I can really only think of soda. If there are others out there, let me know because I’m thinking that the powers that be could have saved themselves some space if they called this National Soda with Caffeine Day. Maybe the problem lies in the fact that different parts of the country call soda something different. Would anyone like some pop?

American Made Matters DayThis is a day that is a “Call-to-Action” for American consumers. We can change our economy for the better if more of us buy American made products than imported products. The goal is to encourage everyone to buy at least one American made product today so check those tags and look for American made products when you are shopping.

Equal Opportunity Day (aka Gettysburg Address Day) – On this day in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address. Now considered one of the greatest speeches of all time, at THAT time it was just another speech that was thankfully short. Unlike most politicians, President Lincoln didn’t believe in talking just to hear himself talk. This speech was only 272 words.

International Men's Day – Begun in 1999 in Trinidad and Tobago, this is a day to focus on Men's health (when I say 'men', I mean all males whatever their age), gender equality and promoting positive male role models. We need to celebrate their achievements in life and particularly their importance to their communities and families.

Rocky and Bullwinkle Day – An animated television series that began on this day in 1959 and was originally called Rocky & His Friends. For those too young to remember or to have seen the reruns, this is a show that featured a flying squirrel named Rocky and a moose named Bullwinkle who was his best friend. It was big on puns and satire and was enjoyed by adults as well as children.

Play Monopoly Day - Is there anyone out there who has never played Monopoly? I don’t know if you can find a plain old Monopoly game board any more. They make them all with themes these days like Harry Potter Monopoly. Well, whatever kind of Monopoly you have, dig it out because the family is going to be playing it today.

World Toilet Day – Designated by the United Nations General Assembly, this is a day to focus on the lack of clean toilets in the world. More than a billion people in this world do not have a toilet at all and more than 2 billion do not have a clean toilet. That's a lot of people living in unsanitary conditions that spread disease.

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