March 5, 2021 – NATIONAL EMPLOYEE APPRECIATION DAY – NATIONAL DRESS IN BLUE DAY – NATIONAL DAY OF UNPLUGGING – NATIONAL CHEESE DOODLE DAY – NATIONAL ABSINTHE DAY – NATIONAL MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DAY – NATIONAL SPEECH AND DEBATE EDUCATION DAY – National Day Calendar

NATIONAL EMPLOYEE APPRECIATION DAY National Employee Appreciation Day on the first Friday in March each year focuses attention on employees in all industries. Employers across the country in business and organizations plan employee recognition and celebrations. Employee achievement and contributions are honored.   Employees are one of a company’s greatest assets. Recognition and appreciation are known as some of the key motivational factors in the workplace. An employer may show their gratitude for an employee’s efforts and contributions to the company’s goals in a variety of ways. Many organizations include employee appreciation as part of their business structure. It shows how much they value their employees and keeps morale high in the workplace. Employers who express employee appreciation tend to increase employee job satisfaction as well. While showing your employees how much you appreciate them, ask them how they like to be thanked. Employers might find a consensus of three or four ways that might best serve your industry overall. It might also save some head-scratching too. Did you go over budget on an ice cream sundae bar last year when your team prefers discounted services to the local chiropractor? In the spirit of enthusiasm, consider the nature of your business and how your employees celebrate, too. While employees’ personalities differ, most employees are goal-driven people. Earning an award, a thank you, or recognition motivates them to reach even higher goals to the benefit of any business or organization.  HOW TO OBSERVE #EmployeeAppreciationDay Great Ways To Show Your Employees Some Appreciation If you have employees, be sure to show them some appreciation and use #EmployeeAppreciationDay to post on social media. NATIONAL EMPLOYEE APPRECIATION DAY HISTORY In 1995, Bob Nelson, a founding Recognition Professional International board member, and his publishing company, Workman Publishing, created National Employee Appreciation Day. NATIONAL DRESS IN BLUE DAY In an effort to knock out one of the top cancers causing death, National Dress in Blue Day on the first Friday in March encourages everyone to learn about the causes of colon cancer and raise awareness by wearing blue. Much like the pink ribbon represents those lost to breast cancer, a blue star honors the memory of those lost to colon cancer. Continuing the blue theme on Dress in Blue Day, awareness efforts provide support through fundraising for screening, research, and awareness education. Screenings are vital. Colon cancer often has no symptoms until its advanced stages placing its victims at higher risk if they wait until symptoms appear. Screenings are recommended beginning at age 50 and younger if you are at high risk. HOW TO OBSERVE #DressInBlueDay Check your closet and wear something blue. Find out more about your risk factors. Schedule a screening if you are due. Donate. Visit www.supportccalliance.org to find out more. Spread the word.  Use #DressInBlueDay to share on social media. NATIONAL DRESS IN BLUE DAY HISTORY In 2006, Anita Mitchell, a stage IV colon cancer survivor, founder of Colon Cancer Stars helped organize a day in her child’s school to raise colon cancer awareness called Wear Blue for Colon Cancer Awareness Day after losing her father and a friend to the disease. National Dress in Blue Day’s success as a local school program encouraged Anita to bring the idea to the Colon Cancer Alliance in 2009. From there, this outstanding fundraiser developed into a nationwide program. NATIONAL DAY OF UNPLUGGING On the first Friday in March, National Day of Unplugging, kicks off a 24 hour period from sundown to sundown, to unplug, unwind, relax and do things other than using today’s technology, electronics, and social media. Look around the average American household. Smartphones, computers, gaming systems, and smart TVs may not fill every nook and cranny, but gradually these devices are taking up residence and bandwidth in our homes and brains. According to Pew Research, the typical American family contains approximately 5 connected devices. Media, friends, entertainment, education, work, and more are all at our fingertips. The amount of information available to us is at an all-time high and the amount of connectedness goes with us everywhere. Disconnecting or unplugging from all the digital static offers us an opportunity to reset. It also allows us to make more human connections with the people around us. Digital connections lack the tactile essence of the real world such as sounds, smells, and touch. Eye contact, for example, lacks depth in the digital world. In-person, however, we gain a sense of someone even if we don’t know what it is yet. Another benefit of unplugging is better sleep. When we push away from the computer, put down the smartphone, and turn off the computer, we’re more likely to stretch our legs. Going outdoors into the fresh air, we might actually get more natural exercise causing our bodies to sleep better. Other things about unplugging that might surprise you are that you’ll find more time to do the things you keep saying you have no time to do. For example, reading that book or visiting with an old friend, cleaning out the closets, or hiking a trail. What’s on your list that National Day of Unplugging will help you get finished? HOW TO OBSERVE #NationalDayOfUnplugging It’s pretty simple really. Make a plan with a friend or two ahead of time. Turn off the smartphones, computers, personal assistants, gaming systems, and televisions. Start your day by singing in the shower. Read the newspaper. Meet a friend for breakfast. Go to the library and use the Dewy Decimal System. Have a conversation uninterrupted by a notification. How else will you spend the day? Make sure to sign the Unplugging Pledge, too! Take a break from technology and use #NationalDayOfUnplugging to post on social media the day before to spread the word. NATIONAL DAY OF UNPLUGGING HISTORY. HISTORY Members of the Reboot Network founded National Day of Unplugging to encourage others to have a more unplugged life.  NATIONAL CHEESE DOODLE DAY National Cheese Doodle Day on March 5th marks an annual celebration where fingers turn a cheesy orange as we snack on these flavorful treats! Found all across the country, these cheddar cheese coated snacks come in puffed or crunchy, fried or baked. They also come in single-serving or jumbo-sized packaging.    The actual inventor of Cheese Doodles is under debate. Generally, the credit goes to a man named Morrie Yohai who made a variety of extruded snack foods in the 1940s for his family’s company called Old London Foods. Other sources show patents for similar products in the 1930s and still other competing accounts in Wisconsin and in New Orleans as well. However they came to be, they are here. Their crunchy, orange deliciousness is enjoyed around the world! They come in a variety of shapes, sizes and flavors and 15 million pounds are produced annually.   HOW TO OBSERVE #NationalCheeseDoodleDay Celebrate National Cheese Doodle Day by adding the orange-y snack to your lunch. You can also include cheese doodles in your recipes. Crush them up and use them as breading for fried fish. Top homemade mac and cheese with crushed cheese doodles for added crunchy flavor. What recipes will you create using cheese doodles? Grab a bag (or tub) of cheese doodles and use #NationalCheeseDoodleDay to post on social media. NATIONAL CHEESE DOODLE DAY HISTORY National Day Calendar continues to research the origins of this snack food holiday. NATIONAL ABSINTHE DAY March 5th is also known as National Absinthe Day. This day is for those who are 21 years or older to celebrate a drink called absinthe.  Often mistaken for a liqueur, it is truly a spirit because it isn’t sweetened. It belongs to the vodkas, gins, and whiskeys when categorizing absinthe. The spirit is made by infusing wormwood, fennel, anise, and other herbs into alcohol through distillation. Pierre Ordinaire, a French doctor, is credited with the creation of absinthe. He developed and prescribed the elixir in the early 19th century as a cure for many illnesses. It has a strong licorice flavor to it and has a high alcohol content. The spirit is often served with ice, a sugar cube placed on a slotted spoon over the glass, and water poured over the sugar. Also known as the Green Fairy, the Green Goddess, or the Green Lady, the drink was popular with artists and writers. It was also once rumored to have hallucinogenic effects. Just as it was gaining popularity, as the century was coming to a close, its reputation took some severe blows. Many blamed the Green Lady for causing madness, seizures, and low morality, among other ills of society. One of the final blows was a scandal in 1905 involving a French laborer who had spent the day drinking. His drink of choice was absinthe. Later that day, he murdered his children and pregnant wife. France banned the drink, and other countries soon followed. In the United States and around the world, the ban has since been lifted. Studies have proven there is nothing hallucinogenic about the drink. Absinthe does have a higher alcohol content than other spirits, so keeping that in mind is important to drink responsibly. HOW TO OBSERVE #NationalAbsintheDay Celebrate the day by learning more about absinthe. Whether you have a taste, mix up a cocktail or watch a documentary, it will be a worthy endeavor. Have some absinthe (Remember to drink responsibly and never drink and drive) and use #NationalAbsintheDay to post on social media. NATIONAL ABSINTHE DAY HISTORY Why March 5th? It’s a nod to Pernod, and the day the approval of their final label for Pernod Fils Absinthe became official in 2013. NATIONAL MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DAY National Multiple Personality Day on March 5th has two separate approaches to recognizing this day.  The first strategy takes an inward examination of our own personalities. This approach sees the day as a way to explore personality traits and examining the roots of those traits. Each one of us shows a different side of our characters at other times and in different places. Sometimes our personalities appear to be altered, depending on whom we are with and what we are doing. With these things in mind, the day focuses our thoughts on our own personality traits.  The other view of the observance aims to raise awareness of the disorder. Multiple Personality Disorder is better known as Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). It is characterized by at least two distinct and relatively enduring identities or dissociated personality states that alternately control a person’s behavior. Someone with DID will experience memory impairment for important information not explained by ordinary forgetfulness. While the disorder affects less than .1 to 1 percent of the population, its impact is profound for that community and their family. The continued need for treatment, support, and research remains.  HOW TO OBSERVE #MultiplePersonalityDay While there are two ways to approach this day, you can choose to recognize both. Start by exploring your personality traits. Take a personality test and learn more about your personality. Invite a friend to take the test with you and compare your results. Then, learn more about Dissociative Identity Disorder. Please find out how it affects a person and how it is treated. Attend a seminar or read up about the disorder. Show support for those with the disorder by sharing your new-found understanding. Use #MultiplePersonalityDay to post on social media. NATIONAL MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DAY HISTORY National Day Calendar continues to research the origins of this multi-faceted day.  NATIONAL SPEECH AND DEBATE EDUCATION DAY The First Friday in March is National Speech and Debate Education Day to prepare students to do more than speaking publicly. Through the support of coaches and teachers, students learn the skills vital to success in future careers and everyday decision-making. The ability to conduct thorough research, construct intelligent arguments and receive constructive criticism produces assured citizens able to collaborate and communicate their ideas ineffective, even eloquent ways. The observance encourages communities to show the coaches and teachers support for their hard work and dedication. They spend long hours preparing and helping the students after the school day has ended. These sessions often occur after their workday has ended and before they have even been home to their families. Speech and Debate coaches spend as much time as athletic coaches preparing, studying rules, reviewing speeches, pairing teams, making changes, traveling, judges, and hosting events. Speech and debate education prepares students for future careers as well as serving their community. It helps them with critical thinking and analysis of facts. Another quality that speech and debate instills in students is confidence. As with many school activities, speech and debate helps to inspire confidence in students one speech and debate at a time. Through research, practice, and increased difficulty, they master a variety of topics, all of which benefit them in the greater world the awaits them. HOW TO OBSERVE #SpeechAndDebateEducationDay Find out more by visiting SpeechandDebate.org. Explore the opportunities for Speech and Debate in your school. Students who participate in Speech and Debate inspire others to confidently present their ideas. While motivating others, they find the confidence to be leaders and support each other to engage in a contest of words and thoughts. They won’t regret it! Support your local school’s Speech and Debate teams and use #SpeechAndDebateEducationDay and #WeAreSpeechAndDebate to share on social media. Educators and Family, visit the National Day Calendar Classroom for projects and ideas to help you Celebrate Every Day! NATIONAL SPEECH AND DEBATE EDUCATION DAY HISTORY The National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA) founded National Speech and Debate Education Day to recognize and celebrate the positive impact speech and debate activities have on schools, students, organizations, and their communities.  In 2016, the United States Senate passed a resolution declaring March 15, 2016, to be National Speech and Debate Education Day.  In 2017, the Senate passed the resolution declaring the day to March 3, 2017. Both resolutions were co-sponsored by Senator Charles Grassley and Senator Chris Coons. In 2018, the date was set for Friday, March 2nd. The latest resolution declares the first Friday in March as the celebration date.