Did you know that today (Sept. 16) marks both National Tradesman Day and National Teaching Assistants Day? Well, it’s true! And since our Apprenticeship Training and Educational Assistant programs are core to what we do at Lethbridge College and are worth celebrating, we got to thinking - what other stories can we tell this year?
In addition to the usual major holidays and some special events planned to mark the college’s 60th anniversary, there’s National Beer Lovers Day (Sept. 7), National Polar Bear Day (Feb. 27) and National Sense of Smell Day (April 29). These newer “holidays” are often created as a way to raise awareness about or celebrate a topic, subject or favourite food – and Lethbridge College has stories related to all of them for the next 12 months.
“There is no shortage of great stories to tell at Lethbridge College,” says Gwen Wirth, the college’s Communications manager. “We created this list as a fun way to recognize the more than 50 programs we offer – like our Wind Turbine Technician program, which can be celebrated on June 15 - Global Wind Day, or our Digital Communications and Media program, which can be celebrated throughout the year during Photographer Appreciation Month (October), World Television Day (Nov. 21), National Disc Jockey Day (Jan. 20), World Radio Day (Feb. 13), World Storytelling Day (March 20), World Press Freedom Day (May 3) and Social Media Day (June 30).”
The story-a-day list also contains days to celebrate Lethbridge College staff members and alumni, whether on Sept. 24, which is National Punctuation Day (a favourite of staff in the Learning Café and Communications office) or on Jan. 31, which is National Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day (a favourite in the college’s Shipping and Receiving department and pretty much everyone else on campus). This kind of comprehensive list is made possible thanks to the college’s Culinary Careers department, which has reason to celebrate on World Food Day (Oct. 16), National Sandwich Day (Nov. 3), National Pastry Day (Dec. 9) and scores of other food days throughout the year.
We encourage you to take a take a look through the entire story-a-day list and find your own favourite day to celebrate.
John-Bryan Hopkins, whose Foodimentary blog celebrates a different food each day of the year, explains that food holidays are an excellent way to bring people together. “My blog sort of tapped into something which was much more universal,” he says. “There is not an official council for food holidays. My purpose is to procure the best food holiday for particular days, celebrating foods that are in season and relevant.”
“People enjoy celebrating,” adds Marlo Anderson, who started the NationalDayCalendar.com website in 2013 to catalogue obscure and unique holidays. “Anyone can apply for a national day – currently we field over 18,000 applications for a new day each year, and approximately 30 are approved.”
Anderson says he was excited to celebrate two new days this fall – National Tailgating Day on Sept. 3 (“should be a great day!”) and National Quesadilla Day on Nov. 1.
Lethbridge College will be celebrating those days as well as about 400 others between now and the end of August 2017, a time which will be marked with another celebration – the opening of the new trades and technologies facility at the south end of campus.