Author: Lisa Mungovan

Last week, a deer in Wisconsin was stranded on slippery ice. She was in the middle of a frozen reservoir, and couldn’t get enough traction to get back to shore. Luckily, Gil Lencour spotted the deer. He walked out carefully, and gently pushed the deer across the ice, sliding her to safety.

13-year-old Rylee Brooke Kamahele, has been volunteering to help others all her life. The Hawaiian teen recently won a “Spirit of Community” award. She formed The Catalyst Club, and the Love Is A Verb organization. Her volunteer teams have organized beach cleanups, Thanksgiving dinners for the homeless, and entertainment for kids at shelters.

What do you do when it’s Visit The Zoo Day, but it’s the middle of a pandemic? You visit the zoo virtually! Many zoos have livecams, to watch animals from home. See a baby panda on National Zoo’s Panda-Cam, view Vancouver Aquarium’s hypnotic Jellyfish-Cam, or watch insects at work, on Houston Zoo’s Leafcutter Ant-Cam.

Today is Fruitcake Day! Fruitcake has a bad reputation, but it’s really a delicious cake made with candied fruit and nuts. Ancient Romans used pomegranate seeds and pine nuts. Honey and spices were added in the Middle Ages. One family keeps a fruitcake as a family heirloom. Their great-great-grandmother, Fidelia Ford, baked it in 18 78!

Today is Make Cut-Out Snowflakes Day. Fold a square of paper in half, then in half again. Cut the corners off your folded square, then unfold it. See? The more cuts and folds you make, the fancier it will be! Look up a pattern online, to make a Mandalorian and Baby Yoda snowflake!

The 11th annual Surfing Santa event, took place in Cocoa Beach in Florida on Thursday. Due to COVID-19, the surfin’ Santas kept their distance in the waves. It was livestreamed online, so people could safely watch the dazzling sight from home. The surfers dressed in Santa suits, were raising money for the charity.

Have you ever seen a snow doughnut? They look like big tires, made of snow. The weather conditions have to be just right, for these natural wonders to form. A layer of wet snow on a hill, starts sliding down a layer of dry, powdery snow, and a strong wind gets it rolling. Incredible!

Today is Candy Cane Day. For centuries, candy canes were peppermint-flavored, red-and-white-striped, sticks of candy. In recent years, the flavors have expanded to include fruit punch, cinnamon, and watermelon, with bright colors to match. Those seem fine, but you can also get mac-and-cheese, ham, pickle, rotisserie chicken, pizza, or clam candy canes! Yuck!

December 26th, St. Stephen’s Day, is known as Boxing Day in many countries. It’s named for the Christmas box some employers give to their employees, or the donation box outside churches. In Ireland, it’s also the Day of the Wren. Straw-costumed Wrenboys parade through town, singing and dancing, and collecting money for charity.

Did you receive any presents over the holidays? Today is Thank You Note Day, so write an old-fashioned letter to say thanks! It’s also Whiners Day. You’re allowed to complain about anything, except for what you didn’t get for Christmas! The day was created to encourage people to be thankful for what you have!