by Kathleen M. Muldoon
Yvette Silver ysilver@erols.com
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Wow, you must be so excited! July is chock full of holidays, but perhaps the most widely anticipated—the one that has your skin tingly and mouth watering—is July 15, Cow Appreciation Day. I can just imagine your preparations . . . What? You’ve never heard of this holiday? Oh, man, I hope Bossie the cow and Ferdinand the bull don’t hear about that. All right, I’ll admit it. I just learned about this holiday myself. But I am preparing to go out and find the biggest milkshake in the world to celebrate.
Did you ever wonder who thinks up holidays anyway? The way I discovered the weird and wacky world of days that celebrate just about anything is by surfing the Net. I sponsor a young girl, Mihret, who lives in Ethiopia. Last fall, she wrote to me about their New Year’s celebration in September. I wanted to learn more about this special day for Mihret so I entered “international holidays” into my search engine. I found the information I sought, but I also learned so much more!
Let’s take July in the US, for example. Besides Cow Appreciation Day, there are many more holidays about which I’m sure you’re totally unaware. Mark your calendar for any of these that you want to honor. Some of my favorites are:
• Compliment Your Mirror Day (July 3)
• Don’t Step on a Bee Day (July 10)
• Embrace Your Geekness Day (July 13)
• Rat Catchers Day (July 22)
• Hot Enough for Ya Day (July 23)
• Take Your Houseplant for a Walk Day (July 27)
So, back to our original question-who gets to say what is and isn’t a holiday? Governments, of course, can legislate holidays-Labor Day and Martin Luther King Day, for example. Religions, of course, establish holidays like Hanukkah, Ramadan, and Christmas. People develop ethnic and cultural holidays, too, such as Kwanzaa. Individual states can order holidays-where I live, one is Texas Independence Day. Organizations name holidays-two in July are Special Recreation for the Disabled Day (July 2) and Special Olympics Day (July 20).
Well who, I hear you ask, made up Cow Appreciation Day? As far as I can find out, the answer is that a dairy farmer in Vermont is responsible for naming July 20 as a day to celebrate cows.
All this research got me to thinking that I can name a holiday just as well as anyone else can. So I’ve been thinking about that. I already came up with one- Give the First Person You See on Crutches a Twenty Dollar Bill Day. I’d like that one to be on my birthday, July 17, and I’ll be sure to spend most of the day walking on my crutches through downtown San Antonio, Texas where we’ve got lots of tourists. I’ll probably need some kind of sign, though-it might take me some time to get this holiday on most people’s calendars.
Now that most of you know the way my mind works, you probably know what’s coming next. That’s right, I want to know what holiday you would like to propose. In a paragraph, state the name of your holiday, the day on which it will be celebrated, and how you recommend celebrating it. You can e-mail this to action@unitedspinal.org or mail it to:
KIDS IN ACTION
United Spinal Association
75-20 Astoria Boulevard
Jackson Heights, NY 11370-1177
You might just see your holiday disclosed to the world in a future Action issue. Remember, though: Embrace Your Geekness Day is already taken.
Kathleen M. Muldoon is a children’s book author and writing instructor for the Institute of Children’s Literature. She lives in San Antonio, Texas.
BUBBLE UP!
What could be more fun than bubble-making on a sunny summer day?
There are lots of things around the house which can be used to make bubbles. String formed into a loop, a six-pack soda pop holder, empty milk containers, a lidless can, old pieces of hose, even just your hands held in a big circle.
Stir up this simple recipe with your favorite adult and tell us how you did!
2 parts dish soap
1 part cool tap water
Now try adding your favorite food coloring…dip your wand and have fun!
E-mail Chris Pierson with your best bubble picture and other ideas for the summer!
