When someone thinks of holidays is it likely they will think of the more commonly recognized ones such as Halloween, Valentine's Day, or Veteran’s Day. There is actually a wide range of holidays, and many of them seem rather obscure or comical in nature. Below are a few lesser-known holidays found in the month of February.
Lame Duck Day (6th): A holiday with a rather misleading title, this day is put aside to recognize people whose tenure in a position is running out.
Toothache Day (9th): It is a question as to why one would celebrate a thing such as a toothache, but many people speculate that this date was used because it was the day the Hershey Corporation was founded.
Fat Tuesday (9th): A day in which people eat however much they want of anything they see fit to eat.
Umbrella Day (10th): This date was picked to celebrate the creation of one of the world’s most invaluable inventions: the umbrella!
Don’t Cry Over Spilled Milk Day (11th): This holiday was developed to encourage people to look on the bright side of things, and to recognize that everybody spills a bit of milk from time to time.
Get a Different Name Day (13th): Some people just are not fond of the name given to them when they were born, so if they were planning on a name change, this is the day to do so.
Hoodie Hoo Day (20th): On this day, participaters walk outside at noon, throw their hands up over their heads and chant ‘Hoodie Hoo,’ in an attempt to chase away winter boredom.
National Tortilla Chip Day (24th): A holiday dedicated to the tortilla chip, a popular snack.
Polar Bear Day (27th): In honor of the world’s largest bear species, this little known holiday can be celebrated by visiting a local zoo.
Public Sleeping Day (28th): An opportunity to sleep in public, this holiday gives people a good excuse to catch a few extra winks of sleep in the public eye.
Winter Weather Car Maintenance
With winter comes icy roads, slushy streets, and generally awful conditions for driving. This can make driving rather dangerous, though lives will continue to move on regardless and using the roads is arguably unavoidable.
According to the Federal Highway Administration’s weather related accidents data, there were over 541,000 crashes in the 2002-2012 time period, and 1921 deaths due to winter weather related accidents. Car crashes that happen due to snow, slush, and ice on the roads account for thirty three percent of vehicle crashes total, a startlingly large amount. Winter weather is no joke, and perhaps too many people forget that when they begin preparing for the colder weather. It was found that many people believe that a set of snow tires leaves them set for winter weather. Contrary to this belief, there are many different things that should be considered before a person begins driving on snowy or slushy roads. While it is important to take note of outside conditions while driving, such as icy streets, it is also vital that the inner workings of the car are taken into account as well. In cold weather, a car’s fluids will thicken, spark plugs will weaken, and the tire pressure will regularly fall; all of which can cause complications while driving or even starting a car. To avoid these rather irritating and troublesome situations, a car owner could take on a few habits that would help prevent or foresee them coming. For example, a driver should regularly check his or her tire air pressure and spark plugs for irregularities or anything abnormal to prevent a surprise breakdown. Below is a list of tips that has been compiled in order to aid motorist in driving safety during the winter months. Though this list does not include everything a driver could do, it does cover a number of things that could lead to inconveniences.
Be consistent about checking the oil in the car! Dirty oil can prove to be rather troublesome in the winter.
Have your battery checked, as cold weather can be hard on batteries and your charging system.
Have your exhaust system checked for carbon monoxide leaks. These can be exceptionally dangerous when all of your windows are rolled up; and the fumes may get trapped in the car.
Do not let your fuel run too close to empty, doing this creates the potential for mechanical problems in the vehicle and it is almost assured the fix will be more expensive than the gas.
Change your windshield wipers if they do not seem to be cleaning the windows effectively.
LGBTQ Myths Debunked
The LGBTQ community has quite a few misconceptions surrounding it and it’s members; here are a few of the more common ones disproved.
The LGBTQ community has always had stereotypes, and many of these misconceptions have been accepted as facts by those who are not educated properly on the matter. This has resulted in a rather conventional and set image by which the public views them, whether they be gay, transgender, bisexual, or anything else. Below are a few of the most recurrent stereotypes and misconceptions surrounding the LGBTQ community, as well as an explanation as to why they are untrue.
All homosexual men are feminine. Though a rather commonly accepted stereotype, it is entirely untrue. While there are of course some gay men who express themselves in ways which are traditionally seen as "feminine," there are many others who do not. There was even a flag (The Bear Pride Flag) dedicated and created to represent the more masculine side of the gay community. Gay men as a group display tremendous diversity in their expressions and displays of masculinity and femininity.
There is always a ‘man’ and a ‘woman’ in homosexual relationships. As people are often raised to think of a relationship in male-female terms, people assume these roles are taken within a homosexual relationship, which is not the case in most. This particular stereotype is commonly applied to lesbians, where one women is expected to be feminine and the other is expected to be more manly or butch.This idea is very old-fashioned, as people are diverse and will create relationships that suit them, not societal conformities.
Asexual people can not fall in love. Most asexuals can feel a full range of romantic emotions from small crushes to love, this type of romantic love is just devoid of the urge to engage in sexual behavior. The exact opposite is applied to those who are aromantic, who have no desire for a romantic relationship, but are fine with sexual encounters. This is where the difference between sexual and romantic orientation is often not acknowledged.
All transgender people are gay. Being Transgender is not the same as being gay. Gender identity and sexual identity are two completely different things that should not be grouped together. Being transgender is about gender identity, which is what they see themselves as (For example, a person born as a male who feels as if they are meant to be a woman). Transgender people can be straight, gay, pansexual, any sexual or romantic orientation. It all depends on the person.
Homosexual men molest children at higher rates than heterosexuals. This has to be one of the most harmful stereotypes about the LGBTQ community. The Child Molestation Research & Prevention Institute states that 90% of child molesters target children in their network of family and friends, and the majority are men married to women. No evidence has ever been found to actually support the notion that gay men molest children at higher rates than heterosexuals. The untruthful notion that they do only stokes up unnecessary fear focused towards LGBTQ people.
The Monster is Real!
Flathead Lake’s esteemed ‘Flathead Lake Monster’ has been seen as ‘myth’ for decades, but a recent discovery confirms that a simple folk-tale can turn out to be the truth.
On Saturday, April 2, Lakeside wildlife rescuer and marine biologist Stephen Tucker confirmed the existence of the Flathead Lake ‘Monster’.The creature, which has allegedly been seen by a small number of the lake’s surrounding cities’ residents was discovered washed up on the shore of said lake in the early morning hours, by Gloria Smith, local resident.
When asked how she had stumbled upon such a creature she said, “I was just walking my dog down by the water, like every other morning, when I spotted this black mass lying on the rocks in the water a ways down the shore. I hadn’t seen it on any of my previous trips down this beach, so I went to take a look.”
What the women found was a 13 foot long plesiosaur-like (A marine reptile dating back to the Mesozoic Era) creature, beached in the shallow water. After making this discovery she quickly dialed 911, who hesitantly answered the rather strange request for help, arriving on the scene within 15 minutes of being notified.
Firefighters and police were baffled by what they saw, “It wasn’t like anything I’ve ever seen before, we didn’t know what to do,” said Darwin Eberhardt, a 911 responder who was able to get a closer look at the animal. Among the confusion, a wildlife rescue team was called in to assist in getting this (apparently alive) creature back into the depths of the lake. After the arrival of the research team, progress was swift and the creature was returned to the waters of Flathead Lake and out of the prying eyes of the public.
Among the team members was Stephen Tucker, who revealed that he “wasn’t able to observe much of this magnificent creature,” but is very eager to continue learning about this marine reptile, Tucker plans to begin a research program centered around the ‘monster’. An official name for the animal’s species is pending, and much about it is still unknown.
Clean YOUR ‘Fork, and the benefits of volunteering
Clean YOUR ‘Fork is a wonderful opportunity to both better the community, and yourself.
Clean YOUR ‘Fork is an annual community service event in which groups of people go out and clean up the areas around Bigfork that Adopt a Highway is not responsible for. Starting at 8:00 a.m., on Saturday, April 23rd, community members who wish to spruce up Bigfork are welcomed to join in and help demonstrate some pride in our town. Instructions and a free continental breakfast are offered at the Flathead Bank on the day of said event. It provides a good chance for high school students to get out there and really do something good for the community.
Community service not only benefits those around you, but it can work to your advantage as well. Studies show that volunteering can help you stand out among other applicants for college, in fact, it is the one of the top decision-making factors behind SAT and GPA scores. Colleges will be looking for people who can and will devote their time to a cause, because they find it admirable. It has also been observed that engaging in community service can give teens a sense of purpose or drive, as well as an increased sense of things like responsibility. Not only that, volunteering can help students explore their interests and possibly find a career path that they would like to follow. Passions may be discovered easier when people are working hands on and learning through their experiences instead of a simple text-book.
Want to volunteer yourself? Bigfork may seem small, and finding volunteer work might appear difficult, but Bigfork High School makes the process of finding such opportunities much simpler. If you are looking for a chance to help out your community, simply take a look at the metal events board near the front office. Take a chance to help both others and yourself.