While Christmas, Valentine’s Day or New Year’s top most people’s favorite holidays lists, there are some celebrations in between that go unnoticed. With names like Deviled Egg Day, Monkey Day and Ohio Forest Products Awareness Week, these days have not caught mainstream fame — at least not yet.
OCTOBER: Fair Trade Month, Pizza Month
October starts strong: boasting Fair Trade Month and an Ohio Forest Products Awareness Week, the month also contains such strange holidays as CAPS LOCK DAY, Bridge Day and the party-school favorite, National Vodka Day.
The first week of October, now known to Ohioans as Forest Products Awareness Week, is a week of celebration of Ohio’s indigenous trees and foresting industry.
An industry which Ohio Forestry Association Executive Director John Dorka said plants around twice as many trees as it harvests every year.
The holiday was established by the Ohio government because of a request submitted by the Ohio Forestry Association, Dorka said.
Despite global warming and a slow-growing state population, Ohio’s forests are actually doing quite well, he said.
“There are more forests today than anytime in the last 100 years,” Dorka said, adding that Ohio is about 31 percent forested.
The holiday was scheduled on the first week of October because it leads into the Paul Bunyan Festival, one of the forest association’s annual events.
Later in the month, students are encouraged to be wise with debt-saddling student loans and credit cards during “Get Smart About Credit Day” on Oct. 17.
Student loans are not dischargeable in bankruptcy and can burden graduated students with debt for years, and they should only be taken out if absolutely necessary, said Deborah Thorne, an Ohio University professor who has studied consumer bankruptcy.
Sometimes students will receive overage checks from their student-loan lenders that will look like “play money” because FAFSA might have covered part of the tuition cost and the lender is sending the remaining balance to students. This money must be paid back, so using this money for anything unessential can be very dangerous, Thorne said.
“Every dollar you don’t absolutely need you should send back to the lender,” Thorne said. “It needs to be handled with exceptional care because there’s no way to get out from under (the debt).”
College freshmen must be especially careful with credit cards, which includes reading the “fine print” in contracts, Thorne said.
“There are a lot of enticements for first-year students. … My recommendation for them would be to run the other way,” Thorne said. “If someone has to bribe you to sign up… that should be a red flag.”
NOVEMBER: National Vegan Month, Native American Heritage Month, National Family Literacy Month
Tofu-turkey — affectionately dubbed “tofurkey” by many — might not be a staple on the menu for many Thanksgiving feasts, but November has been set aside for some of the most disciplined of herbivores.
Vegans lead a restrictive diet free of animal products including meat, honey, dairy and gelatin.
Being a vegan on a college campus can be a challenge, especially when eating in dining halls, said sophomore Gretchen Snyder, who works with United Campus Ministry’s weekly vegan cooking workshop and studies music production.
“It’s definitely really different in the dining halls, but as far as Athens goes it’s very friendly,” Snyder said.
Snyder said she had been a vegetarian since the eighth grade, but made the full switch to vegan when she came to OU.
“I definitely feel a lot healthier, and I’ve made a lot more of an attempt to feel healthier,” Snyder said.
Veganism has gained the attention of the conscious youth as well as many celebrities. Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker has switched to the diet in recent years and is raising his kids with the same mentality.
Andre 3000 of OutKast is a vegan, as well as James Cameron, Jared Leto of 30 Seconds to Mars, Brad Pitt, Erykah Badu, Carrie Underwood, Olivia Wilde and Thom Yorke of Radiohead.
The very end of the month brings 24 hours dedicated to protecting something college students are known to constantly use — and wouldn’t get far without.
Computer Security Day on Nov. 30 encourages more than just programmers and tech gurus to watch their virtual backs while on the web.
Simple preventative measures — such as downloading software available from the Office of Internet Technology’s website or installing ad-blockers — can help shield users from viruses and other unwanted pop-ups, said Kevin Menchaca, a sophomore studying engineering who works for OU’s OIT department.
There is some truth to the rumor that Apple computers “don’t get viruses,” as there are only around 20 viruses — many of which are dated — built to affect Mac computers. On the other hand, “millions” out there can damage PC users’ trusty computers, Menchaca said.
“The market is generally 25 percent Macs and 75 percent PCs,” Menchaca said, adding that accounts for the low number of viruses designed to attack Macs.
Browsing the Internet — rather than sticking to familiar sites like Facebook and Reddit — can put students at more of a risk for viruses and other security hazards, Menchaca said.
DECEMBER: Human Rights Month
Casey Sorrow, a 38-year-old freelance artist from the Greater Lansing area in Michigan, claims to have created the unofficial holiday of Monkey Day on Dec. 14, 2000, when he jokingly wrote “Monkey Day” on his friend’s calendar.
“From that scribble, a yearly tradition of celebrating our similar attributes was born among our friends, and from there it has just continued to snowball to what it is now,” Sorrow said in an email.
Monkey Day is celebrated in many different ways, the holiday’s self-proclaimed founder said. Some people celebrate by participating in events that raise money and awareness, or simply to letting off steam during a week that is, on some campuses, finals week.
This year, Monkey Day will fall on the Saturday immediately after Fall Semester’s finals week.
And Sorrow was quick to respond to why people celebrate Monkey Day.
“A better question would be: why wouldn’t I celebrate Monkey Day?”
ld311710@ohiou.edu
@LucasDaprile
