What to Celebrate September 13 thru 19, 2021
Celebration Ideas for September 13 – 19, 2021
Pumpkin spice season and Halloween are right around the corner … and have already made their way into many stores. The anticipation is high!
But don’t forget to enjoy the waning days of beach season, too. Along with humming bird migrations, country music, and living creative, among other things.
So do take a peek and plan your week. And as always, remember to …
Enjoy!
Celebrate All September Long
Get out and enjoy some square dancing and fun in the sun at the beach. Maybe help clean up a beach, too. And make sure you take pictures of the fun, which you’ll want to make sure you preserve to enjoy later. For people with chronic pain, these things may not be quite so fun; consider helping others understand this.
Pain Awareness Month: If you or someone you love is in pain, especially chronic pain, you are certainly aware of pain. But not everyone realizes just how debilitating it can be. This month helps raise awareness of the toll chronic pain can take, including leading to depression and isolation.
National Square Dance Month: Although square dancing seems to be associated mostly with the US, cowboys, and country music, it actually existed at least as far back as 16th-century Europe. And early slave communities in the US also had a form of square dancing. If you don’t already know how, learn to square dance this month!
World Beach Month: September may be when the weather starts cooling off, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the beach! Especially this year, when the heat seems to be lingering. It’s also the perfect time to help clean up your favorite beach. Why not see if there are any beach cleanup events or beach protection events scheduled near you? We want to make sure the beaches are around to enjoy for the future!
Save Your Photos Month: Learn how to protect and organize your photos (physical and digital!) to preserve your precious memories for years to come. And how to overcome the procrastination that often comes with feeling overwhelmed by the number of photos you have in dozens of different locations.
Weekly Celebrations for 9/13 to 9/19
Let truck drivers know you appreciate them, learn about male cancers, and take some time to enjoy bananas and/or humming birds.
Orchid Male Cancer Awareness Week (September 13 -19, 2021): This week raises awareness of testicular, prostate, and penile cancer and reminds those at risk of these cancers to be screened and know the symptoms. And for the rest of us to make sure they do.
Banana Festival (September 10 – 19, 2021): If you’re near the twin cities of Fulton, KY and south Fulton, TN you’ll want to celebrate bananas with music, food (banana pudding!), a circus, a parade, and more. Why do 2 states in the southern US celebrate a tropical fruit? Find out here. And if you can, plan to attend!
HummerBird Celebration (September 16 – 19, 2021): If you prefer humming birds to bananas, or you’re closer to Texas than Tennessee, consider this celebration of the Ruby-throated hummingbird’s migration. And a more general celebration of all the area’s birds. It happens in the Gulf Coast towns of Rockport and Fulton, Texas. There are birding bus trips & boat trips, banding demonstrations, bird photography classes, exhibits, food, & more.
National Truck Driver Appreciation Week (September 12 – 18, 2021): Up until last year many of us probably took truck drivers mostly for granted. Then we learned just how important they are to our supply chain. And we’ve certainly been appreciating them more, even if we maybe haven’t said so. This is the week to make sure they know it.
Celebration Days coming up for Sept. 13 thru Sept. 19
Soothe the end-of-summer blues with chocolate, creativity, and pirate-speak. Then relax and let your kids cook for you, spend some time just listening, and some more time enjoying an ebook.
Or choose other celebrations to create your own, perfectly fun-tastic week.
September 13:
International Chocolate Day: This is the day for eating your favorite chocolates and creating chocolate-flavored everything! From croissants to cupcakes, fudge to hot fudge sauce, and everything in between, go crazy with chocolate! Just make sure you eat less than 20 pounds of chocolate for the day, because more is apparently dangerous. 😉
National Kids Take Over the Kitchen Day: Parents, you get to take a break (sort of) from the cooking and let the kids cook for you for a change! Your young chefs get to create the menu, make the food and then plate & serve it to you. Of course, depending on your kids’ ages you may need to supervise. And help with knife use. But do let them do everything they can safely do themselves. If your kids are older you can probably stay out of the kitchen entirely!
Uncle Sam Day: Celebrate the birthday of the man who came to symbolize the United States as Uncle Sam. He was Samuel Wilson, a meat packer in Troy, New York. He supplied meat to the US forces in New York & New Jersey during the War of 1812 and stamped his meat shipments with “U.S.”. Soldiers joked that the initials were for “Uncle Sam”. In 1961 “Uncle Sam” got congressional recognition, and in 1989 his birthday became an official holiday.
Roald Dahl Story Day: Read Roald Dahl stories. Yes, even if you’re an adult with no kids. The end.
Day of the Programmer / International Programmers Day: This is the day to thank programmers for all they do. And these days, that’s a lot! Because, let’s face it, pretty much everything we do these days relies on an app or other program with underlying code put there (and maintained!) by programmers.
9 x 13 Day: For this day we celebrate what may be the most popular size of baking dish ever: the 9″ x 13″ pan! And of course you know this is a US-centric holiday because we’re measuring the dish in inches (instead of centimeters) and celebrating on 9/13 (not 13/9, which doesn’t exist anyway!). And how do we celebrate? By making all our meals in a 9 x 13 pan! Breakfast casseroles, lasagna, pan pizza, brownies … get creative!
National Celiac Disease Awareness Day: In recent years many people have gone gluten-free because they say they feel better when they don’t eat gluten. But for people with Celiac Disease, it’s not just a matter of feeling better, it’s a matter of not damaging their intestines. Because this auto-immune disorder damages the small intestine and leads to problems absorbing nutrients from food. Learn more about this disease and why it’s not just good for people with it to avoid gluten, it’s absolutely critical. We celebrate on Sept. 13 to honor the birthday of the man who first published a modern description of celiac and the importance of diet to control it, Dr. Samuel Gee.
National Peanut Day: As long as you’re not allergic, make this a peanut-filled day! From peanut butter pancakes to PB&Js, peanut butter cookies, peanut sauce & more, there’s an almost endless number of ways to enjoy this little legume (not actually a nut!). And don’t forget just snacking on roasted peanuts.
September 14:
Eat a Hoagie Day: Whether you call them hoagies, subs, grinders, or something else, these long sandwiches stuffed with meat, cheese, & veggies make mealtime simple. So have one for lunch or dinner or both.
National Live Creative Day: Explore your imagination and let your creativity flow. You’re more creative than you may think. You just have to let yourself feel it! And then, if you’re up to it, let the world see it. Seriously, let the world see it … you might even inspire others to celebrate the day too! And remember, creativity isn’t just about painting or writing. It’s also about ideas for new ways to do or think about things.
National Sober Day: Celebrate sobriety. And/or the journey toward sobriety (even if it’s not a smooth journey). Yours or someone else’s. And if you feel comfortable, share your sobriety story. Too many people feel alone or embarrassed in their sobriety, but it really is something to celebrate, not something to hide.
National Cream-filled Donut Day: Consider “toasting” your creativity and/or sobriety with a cream-filled donut! What’s your favorite cream filling? Boston cream? Bavarian? Vanilla? Orange-vanilla? Coconut? Something else?
September 15:
Felt Hat Day: If you’re wearing a hat for hump day, you must make it a felt one. Because otherwise you can’t celebrate this fashionable day! Yes, hats were once very fashionable. And for at least one day a year they can be again.
International Dot Day: Here’s another day about creativity, along with courage and collaboration. So join people just like you all over the world and “make your mark”. And encourage others to do the same.
National Online Learning Day: Despite the push to get kids out of virtual “classrooms” and back to in-person learning to make up for “lost learning”, many kids actually thrived with virtual learning this past year. And adults have been doing so with college and continuing education classes for many years. With a personalized approach, online learning really can be a game-changer for just about anyone. Learn more about it for this day.
Lymphoma Awareness Day: Learn more about lymphoma, its symptoms, and the different types. Because more than 735,000 people get a lymphoma diagnosis every year. And, like much of our lives, the pandemic has had a negative effect on lymphoma patients’ access to care. Help spread the word.
National Cheese Toast Day: Make yourself some cheese toast to enjoy as a snack or a side. If it’s cool where you are, cheese toast is the perfect accompaniment to soup! Or make garlic cheese toast to celebrate with the next holiday.
National Linguine Day: Make your favorite linguine recipe (or try something new!), pair it with that garlic cheese toast & enjoy a perfect Wednesday night dinner.
September 16:
National Guacamole Day: Make sure you’ve got avocados on hand, because you’re going to want to make some guac to celebrate this day. Yes, you can buy it, but homemade is soooo much better!
International Day of Listening: Listening. It’s how we understand. And how we can foster connections. So spend this day listening. Of course you’ll want to listen to the people you are with, but you can also listen to podcasts, music, and even the sounds of the birds or other animals in your yard.
National Stepfamily Day: Celebrate the stepfamilies you know. That might include your own! Because blending families can be challenging. But it’s also rewarding and absolutely worth celebrating!
National Cinnamon Raisin Bread Day: Buy or make cinnamon raisin bread to enjoy with your stepfamily while listening to them. Or with anyone, whether or not you’re listening to them (but listen to them). It’s amazing toasted with butter, but it’s even better when you use it to make French toast.
September 17:
International Country Music Day: Country music lovers around the world will be spending this day the same way they spend every other day: listening to country music! But maybe consider introducing country music to friends who (mistakenly think they) don’t like country music? And if you (mistakenly think you) don’t like country music, try it again; you probably just haven’t found an artist you like.
National Doodle Day: This is technically a UK celebration, but it’s for a great cause! Epilepsy Action founded the day in which famous people create doodles (although some are more like true works of art!) for the organization to auction off. It’s an online auction, so anyone can participate.
Constitution Day: Celebrate the signing of our (the United States) Constitution on this date in 1787. Reading the Constitution—all of it, not just the Bill of Rights (which weren’t part of that original Constitution anyway)—might be a good way to start your celebration of this day.
National Monte Cristo Day: Make a Monte Cristo to enjoy while reading the Constitution, listening to country music, and checking out the doodles up for auction.
September 18:
National Ceiling Fan Day: Ceiling fans belong in every room of every home. Why? Because they can help you lower your heating & cooling costs. By moving the air in the room they can make you feel cooler (or warmer) than the actual air temperature. So you don’t have to make your AC & furnace work so hard. Which means it costs less to run it.
International Red Panda Day: Learn about red pandas! Despite the similar name, they’re really not closely related to giant pandas. But they do need our help to survive (like so many other animals, sadly). So learn about how we can help save their habitats. Maybe go visit red pandas at a nearby zoo, too? Some zoos hold special events or educational sessions for the day.
National Respect Day: This day began to raise awareness of, and help to end, domestic violence, especially against women and children. That’s still the goal of the day, but respect in general is also worth celebrating. And by being more respectful overall we also decrease violence overall, including against women and children.
Read an Ebook Day: If you’re a physical book lover, this is the day to switch it up. Grab your tablet or your phone and head over to Google Books or Amazon or whichever ebook seller you prefer. Then find a book that looks interesting and download it! Or, if you already have ebooks collecting digital dust on your device, pick one & start reading. If you already prefer ebooks over physical books, well carry on (and make sure you find time to read one for the day)!
World Water Monitoring Day: We all need to be part of the campaign to ensure clean water for the future. Find out how, and then be part of this event.
Air Force Birthday: Celebrate the day the US Air Force became its own, separate branch of our military, September 18, 1947. Before that it was part of the US Army.
National Cheeseburger Day: You know what you need to do. Right?
September 19:
Wife Appreciation Day: If you have a wife you must appreciate her all day. That is all (and everything!).
Talk Like a Pirate Day: ‘ay there! It be time once again to spend yer day blabberin’ like gentlemen o’ fortune. So ‘op to it!
National Butterscotch Pudding Day: Would your wife appreciate some butterscotch pudding? She’d probably appreciate it even more if it was homemade butterscotch pudding. Especially if she’s not a fan of your pirate-speak.
