“Worldwide Food Service Safety Month”: People working with food need to buy, store, prepare and keep prepared foods properly. For info, call Harold LeBouf at 508-243-3842 or email info@SweetandSavoryFoodConcessions.com.
“Safe Toys and Gifts Month”: Make safe toys and gifts part of your holidays. www.preventblindness.org, email info@preventeblindness.org, or phone 800-331-2020.
Dec 1-31 “Bingo’s Birthday”: Celebrating the invention of the great game in 1929 by Edwin S. Lowe. Bingo raises over $5 billion each year for charity. Call Tara Snowden 800-327-6437 or 206-463-5656. email tara@bingobugle.com.
Dec 1 “World AIDS Day”: The UN declared this day as an international day of awareness and education about AIDS. See www.cdnaids.ca.
Dec 2 “Cyber Monday”: Traditional beginning of the online Christmas shopping season.
Dec 3 “International Day of Persons with Disabilities”: Annual observance to promote the continuation of integrating the disabled into general society. See www.un.org/disabilities.
Dec 5 “International Volunteer Day”: Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 17, 1985. See www.unv.org/what-we-do/intl-volunteer-day/
Dec 6 “National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women”: Annually on the anniversary of the 1989 murders of 14 young women at l’École Polytechnique De Montréal. See www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/dates/vaw-vff/index-eng.html.
Dec 10 “Nobel Prize Awards”: Held on the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish chemist and inventor of dynamite. The Nobel Peace Prize is announced in Oslo while the others [physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and economics] are announced in Stockholm.
Dec 10 “United Nations: Human Rights Day”: Anniversary of adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights” in 1948. For info, email inquiries@un.org. see www.un.org/en/events/humanrightsday/
Dec 14 “International Shareware Day”: A day to take the time to reward the efforts of thousands of computer programmers who trust that if we try their programs and like them, we will pay for them.
Dec 16 “Boston Tea Party”: [1733] Have the morning show give away cups of “free tea for thee” to commuters.
Dec 17 “Wright Brothers Day”: It was this day in 1903 that Orville and Wilbur Wright managed to fly near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
Dec 20 “Underdog Day”: To salute all the underdogs and unsung heroes – the number two people who contributed so much to the number one person [Sherlock Holmes’ Dr Watson, Robinson Crusoe’s Friday]. Have listeners salute their favourite underdogs.
Dec 21 “Humbug Day”: Encourages people frazzled by holiday preparations to vent today using up to 12 humbugs. Listeners call in with people/things lacking the holiday spirit and deserving of humbugs.
Dec 21 “First Day of Winter”: It officially starts at 12:11pm, EST. It’s also the shortest day of the year in the Northern hemisphere. In the Southern hemisphere this marks the first day of Summer.
Dec 24 “Christmas Eve”: Family gift-giving occasion in many Christian countries.
Dec 25 “Christmas Day”: Christian festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.
Dec 26 “Boxing Day”: Formerly a day when Christmas boxed gifts were expected by public servants such as postman, lamplighter, etc. Now frequently observed by collecting clothes and food for the homeless.
Dec 26 “National Whiners Day”: Dedicated to whiners, especially those who return Christmas gifts and need lots of attention. Most famous whiners of the year announced. Call Kevin Zaborney at 989-673-6696 or email hugging_whining@yahoo.com. See www.nationalhuggingday.com.
Dec 26-Jan 1 “Kwanzaa”: A week long celebration held in US, Canada and African Diaspora. Kwanzaa means “first fruit” in Swahili.
Dec 31 “No Interruptions Day”: A day for quiet and or focus. A day to renew our energies to prepare ourselves for the new calendar year ahead. Call Sylvia Henderson 301-260-1538. email sylvia@springboardtraining.com. See www.springboardtraining.com.
Dec 31 “First Night”: Many Canadian cities celebrate this night with activities including Banff, DraytonValley, Edmonton, Red Deer, Kamloops, Whistler, Yellowknife, Chatham-Kent, Hamilton, Kingston, Peterborough and Toronto.
Dec 31 “Make Up Your Mind Day”: Day to encourage people who have a hard time making decisions, to make a decision today and follow through with it. Have an expert on the morning show who can offer listeners tips.
Dec 31 “New Year’s Eve”: The last evening of the Gregorian calendar year, traditionally a night for merrymaking to welcome in the new year.
Dec 31 “Universal Hour of Peace”: Begins at 11:30PM on December 31, 2013 and ends at 12:30am on January 1, 2014. An hour dedicated to creating peace throughout our planet. To add your name to the “Millions for Peace” list, email your name, city, state/country to peace@som.org. See www.peacedome.org.
