- February begins on the
same day of the week as
March and November in a
common year, and on the
same day of the week as
August in a leap year. - On a few occasions in
history, February has had
30 days. - February in the Northern
Hemisphere is the
seasonal equivalent to
August in the Southern
Hemisphere and vise versa. - February's birthstone is
amethyst. - February's flower is the
violet or primrose. - The Chinese floral emblem
of February is the peach
blossom
Potato Lover's Month
- Your options are enormous
for celebrating the Potato.
How about inviting
someone in to talk about
the nutrition found in
potatoes. How about
sharing potato recipes
(how about making those
recipes to sample). We
were lucky enough to have
a Lays plant at the edge of
town. They provided us
with lots of seconds (the
only problem was that the
label had slipped or
misprinted and the bags of
chips couldn't go to
market)...talk about fresh
potato chips...yummy! And
don't forget homemade
French fires, fried potatoes,
stuffed potatoes, real
mashed potatoes, baked
potatoes...and on, and on,
and on. Also, don't forget
the people who make craft
stamps out of potatoes.
Vegetation Month
- This is a good opportunity
to bring in samples of
Bonsai Trees and other
indoor plants. Perhaps
pass out house plants to
your residents. How about
starting an indoor
gardening club where the
residents bring their plants
together each month to see
how they have grown?
American Heart Month
- Promote heart awareness
throughout your facility.
Include Nursing and
Dietary. Put up posters,
conduct an inservice, make
badges and have your
residents support American
Heart Month all month
long. Invite the public in
and conduct a mini-
seminar featuring your local
Heart Association (serve
heart healthy snacks).
American History Month
- Have a history discussion
with your residents. Let
them share what they
remember (i.e. historic
events which happened in
their lifetime). Bring in a
history club to share the
history of your local area.
Perhaps you can work in a
program about genealogy.
American Music Month
- The door is wide open
here. Invite in your music
contacts and organize
special music for each
week of the month. Hardly
any musician turns down a
chance to present their
music in health care
facilities (some charge,
some do it for the
residents, some do it to
practice...you try to get them
for free).
Biorhythm Health Month
Black History Month
- Invite local teachers and
historians in to talk about
black history. In some
areas of the country, the
only black history people
know about is Martin Luther
King Jr. While he is
extremely important, black
history is far richer and
more important than many
people are aware.
Canned Food Month
Celebration of Chocolate
Month
- Oh, Yeah!!!! My favorite
subject. Find out the history
of chocolate. Provide
samples. If there is a
chocolate shop near you,
invite them in to talk about
making chocolates (and
encourage them to bring
samples). A chocolate
shop owner will make a
great resource for you to tap
several times throughout
the year.
Creative Romance Month
- Gather the residents and
discuss how they met their
great love. Works great
with Valentine's Day.
Great American Pies Month
- How about a pie contest?
Let the residents eat the
entries.
Human Relations Month
International "Boost" Your
Ego Month
International Embroidery
Month
- Many of your lady residents
(and some men) love to do
embroidery. Bring in
samples from people who
embroider for a hobby.
Perhaps your residents
have samples of their own.
It would be a good time for
a ladies tea and to kindle
an embroidery club (if you
have anyone whose fingers
are dexterous enough to do
the fine hand work).
International Friendship
Month
- This would be a good
chance to start a Secret Pal
club. How about assigning
"friends for a day" (let the
residents hang out with
someone they don't know
too well). Give the
participating residents a
little question form so they
can interview their "friend
for a day." Then
reassemble the next day
and share what they have
learned with the other
participants. It helps
everyone learn about
everyone else. (You could
do the same thing with staff
and residents).
International Twit Award
Month
- Everyone knows someone
who is a candidate.
National Cat Health Month
- Bring in cats for show &
tell. Perhaps a veterinarian
can come in and talk about
cat health (with examples of
healthy cats). The
residents will love to hold
them and pet them (the
cats, that is).
National Cherry Month
- How about chocolate
covered cherries? Also,
cherry pies. How about
chocolate covered cherry
pies? Mmmmmm! Or you
could top all of your
desserts with maraschino
cherries.
Dental Health Month
National Fiber Focus Month
- Eat oats. Bring in someone
to talk about the benefits of
eating more fiber (maybe
your facility dietitian).
National Scottish Culture
Month
- Bring in bagpipes, tartans,
and kilties.
National Snack Food Month
National Weddings Month
National Wild Bird Feeding
Month
- Clean up and fill up those
bird feeders. Maybe
someone can present a
program about feeding the
local wildlife.
Responsible Pet Owner
Month
- Return Shopping Carts To
the Supermarket Month
- Sleep Safety Month
FAMOUS WEEKS
Week 1
Agricultural Week
National Pay Your Bills Week
Week 2
Big Brothers/Sisters Week
Boy Scouts Week
- Bring in your local Boy
Scout troop in uniform to
visit the residents.
Celebration of Love Week
- Have a Valentine's Party.
Crown a King & Queen.
Make it an all out
resident/staff/volunteer/famil
y occasion.
Circle K International Week
Dietary Managers' Pride in
Food Service Week
- Honor your dietary
manager. Give her a card
signed by residents and
staff. Have a little party.
Brighten her day and let her
know she is appreciated.
Hero Week
International Forgiveness
Week
National Cardiopulmonary
Week
National Crime Prevention
Week
National Future
Homemakers of America
Week
National New Idea Week
National Salute to
Hospitalized Veterans Week
National School Counseling
Week
Week 3
Brotherhood Week
Health Education Week
Home for Birds Week
International Friendship Week
National Cardiovascular
Technologists Recognition
Week
National Condom Week
National Engineers Week
National Pedestrian Toll
Week
Pay Your Bills Week
Week 4
International Friendship Week
National Engineers Week
Pancake Week
- Everybody loves breakfast.
How about a cooked to
order pancake breakfast
(for the men only?; for
everyone?; your choice).
Truth Week
February 1st:
February 2nd:
February 3rd:
February 4th:
February 5th:
February 6th:
February 7th:
February 8th:
February 9th:
February 10th:
February 11th:
February 12th:
February 13th:
February 14th:
February 15th:
February 16th:
February 17th:
February 18th:
February 19th:
February 20th:
February 21st:
February 22nd:
February 23rd:
February 24th:
February 25th:
February 26th:
February 27th:
February 28th:
- Sherman Hemsley, 1938
- Rick James, 1948 (Singer)
Died August 6, 2004. www.
rickjames.com. - Lisa Marie Presley, 1968
- Princess Stephanie of
Monoco, 1965
February 2nd:
- Christie Brinkley, 1954
- Farrah Fawcett, 1947
(Actress) - James Joyce, 1882 (Died
January 13, 1941 at the age
of 58) - Holly Hunter, 1958 (Actress)
- Tom Smothers, 1937 (The
Smothers Brothers - Official
Web site: www.
smothersbrothers.com)
February 3rd:
- Joey Bishop, 1918 - Actor,
Comedian, TV Personality -
member of the "Rat Pack."
(Born in the Bronx, NY) - Morgan Fairchild, 1950
(Actress) - Dr. Henry Heimlich www.
heimlichinstitute.
org/howtodo.html - Frank Tarkenton, 1940
(Athlete, Football)
February 4th:
- David Brenner, 1936
(Comedian) - Alice Cooper, 1948
(Musician) - Real name:
Vincent Furnier - Charles Lindbergh, 1902
- Rosa Parks - "Mother of the
Modem Day Civil Rights
Movement." Born Rosa
Louise McCauley on
February 4, 1913 in
Tuskegee, Alabama. She
refused to give up her seat
to a white passenger on a
segregated bus on
December 1, 1955 and was
arrested. She died October
24, 2005 at the age of 92.
www.rosaparks.org - Dan Quayle (former US VP)
February 5th:
- Hank Aaron, 1934 (Athlete,
Baseball) - Bobby Brown, 1969 (Singer)
- Red Buttons, 1919
(Comedian/Actor) www.
redbuttons.net - Barbara Hershey, 1948
(Actress) - Al Kooper, 1944 (musician,
Blood Sweat & Tears) - Roger Staubach, 1942
(Athlete, NFL quarterback)
February 6th:
- Zsa Zsa Gabor, 1917
(Actress) - Ronald Reagan, 40th US
President 1981-1989. Born
February 6, 1911, in
Tampico, Illinois. Died June
5, 2004 in Bel-Air,
California. Married to Nancy
Davis Reagan. See
biography at the official
White House - Babe Ruth (Baseball Great)
- born George Herman
Ruth, Jr. on February 6,
1895 in Baltimore,
Maryland. He died on
August 16, 1948 at
Memorial Hospital in New
York City at age 53 from
throat cancer. www.
baberuth.com
February 7th:
- Charles Dickens, Author.
Born February 7, 1812.
Died June 9, 1870. www.
dickensmuseum.com - Sinclair Lewis, Author -
born Harry Sinclair Lewis in
Sauk Centre, Minnesota on
February 7, 1885. Died
January 10, 1951.
February 8th:
- Gary Coleman, 1968 (Actor)
- James Dean, Actor - born
James Byron Dean on
February 8, 1931 in Marion,
Indiana. Died September
30, 1955 in an auto
accident in California at the
age of 24. www.jamesdean.
com - John Grisham, 1955
(Author) - Robert Kline, 1942
(Comedian, Actor) - Ted Koppel, 1940
(Newsman) - Audrey Meadows, 1926
(Actress, Alice on The
Honeymooners) born
February 8, 1926 in China.
Died February 3, 1996 in
Los Angeles at the age of
69. Sister of actress Jane
Meadows. www.
audreymeadows.com - Terry Melcher, 1942 (record
producer.) Died November
19, 2004 from Melanoma.
Doris Day's son. - Jules Verne, 1828 (Sci-Fi)
- Mary Steenbergen, 1953
(Actress)
February 9th:
- Mia Farrow, 1945 (Actress)
- William H. Harrison, 1773
(9th US President)
February 10th:
- Lon Chaney, Jr. "The
Master Monster" born
Creighton Tull Chaney on
February 10, 1906 in
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Died July 12, 1973. He was
the son of silent screen star
Lon Chaney. See Web site:
www.lonchaney.com - Roberta Flack, 1939
- Mark Spitz, 1950 (Olympic
Swimmer, Won 7 Gold
Medals) - Robert Wagner, 1930 (Actor)
February 11th:
- Thomas Edison, 1847
- Leslie Neilson, 1927 (Actor)
- Burt Reynolds, 1936 (Actor)
February 12th:
- Lorne Greene, Actor
(Bonanza) - born February
12, 1915 in Ottawa Canada.
Died September 11, 1987
in Santa Monica, CA from
pneumonia following heart
surgery. http://bonanza1.
com/lorne.html - Abraham Lincoln, 1809
(16th US President)
February 13th:
- Tennessee Ernie Ford,
Singer & TV Personality.
Born February 13, 1919 in
Bristol, Tennessee. Died
on October 17, 1991 in
Reston, VA. Elected to the
Country Music Hall of Fame
in 1990 - Kim Novak, 1933 (Actress)
February 14th:
- Hugh Downs, 1921 (TV
Personality) - George Ferris, 1859
(Inventor of the ferris wheel) - Gregory Hines, 1946
(actor/dancer.) He died
August 9, 2003 from cancer. - Jimmy Hoffa, 1939 (Labor
Leader) - Rosa Parks, 1913 www.
rosaparks.org
February 15th:
- Susan B. Anthony, 1820
- Roger Chaffe, 1935
(Astronaut) - Galileo Galilei, 1564
(Astronomer) - Charles Tiffany, 1812 - born
in Killingly, Connecticut.
February 16th:
- Edgar Bergen, 1903
(Ventriloquist) - John McEnroe, 1959
(Athlete, Tennis)
February 17th:
- Alan Bates, 1934 (Actor)
Died December 27, 2003 at
the age of 69. Numerous
films including "The
Mothman Prophecies,"
"Spartacus" and many
more. For info see: www.
imdb.
com/name/nm0000869 - Hal Holbrook, 1925 (Actor)
- Michael Jordan, 1963
- Gene Pitney, American
singer, song writer and
musician born February 17,
1941 in Hartford, CT. He
died April 5, 2006 at the age
of 65 from natural causes. - Denise Richards, 1971
February 18th:
- Helen Gurley Brown,
Author, Publisher, Editor.
Born February 18, 1922 in
Green Forest, Arkansas,
raised in Little Rock. Editor-
in-Chief of Cosmopolitan
magazine for 32 years. - Matt Dillon, 1964
- Cybil Shepherd, 1950
- John Travolta, 1954 (Actor)
February 19th:
- Prince Andrew of England,
1960 - Jeff Daniels, 1955 (Actor)
- Smoky Robinson - William
"Smokey" Robinson (The
Miracles) was born
February 19, 1940 in
Detroit, Michigan - Source:
www.history-of-rock.
com/miracles.htm
February 20th:
- Charles Barkley, 1963
- Kurt Cobain, 1967
- Cindy Crawford, 1966
- Sidney Poitier, 1927 (Actor)
- Gloria Vanderbilt, 1924
February 21st:
- Erma Bombeck, 1927
(Author, Columnist) - Tyne Daly, Actress (One of
our very favorites!) Currently
plays Maxine Gray on the TV
Show Judging Amy. She
won 4 Emmys for Cagney &
Lacey. Her father is actor
James Daly and her brother
is Tim Daly (we best
remember him on "Wings.")
She was born February 21,
1946 - Kelsey Grammer, 1955
- Jennifer Love Hewitt, 1979
February 22nd:
- Drew Barrymore, 1975
- Julius Erving, 1950
- Edward M. Kennedy, 1932
(US Senator) - George Washington, 1732
(1st US President)
February 23rd:
- Peter Fonda, 1939 (Actor)
February 24th:
- Barry Bostwick, 1945
- John Vernon, Actor (Animal
House) - Born February 24,
1932 in Canada. Died
February 1, 2005 in Los
Angeles CA following
January 16, 2005 heart
surgery. Web site:
www.imdb.
com/name/nm0006893/ - Paula Zahn, 1956
February 25th:
- Sean Austin, 1971
- Tea Leoni, 1966
- Renoir: Pierre-Auguste
Renoir was born on
February 25, 1841 and died
December 3, 1919. See bio
at: www.ibiblio.
org/wm/paint/auth/renoir
February 26th:
- Johnny Cash - Musician,
Often called the "Man in
Black." Born on February
26, 1932 in Kingsland,
Arkansas. He died at 2AM
on September 12, 2003 in
Nashville, TN at the age of
71 of complications from
Diabetes (just a few
months after his wife of 35
years, June Carter Cash
passed away.) Official Web
site: www.johnnycash.com
Did You Know? Contrary to
popular belief, Johnny
Cash never served a prison
sentence. However, he
WAS arrested 7 times. Click
here for police mug shot
(from thesmokinggun.com)
when he was arrested in
October 1965. - Michael Bolton, 1953
- Tony Randall, 1920 (actor.)
Died May 17, 2004. Best
known for his role as Felix
on the TV Series The Odd
Couple. Became a first-
time father at 77. - Robert Taft, 1917 (US
Senator)
February 27th:
- Chelsea Clinton, 1980
(daughter of former
President Bill Clinton and
New York Senator Hillary
Clinton) - Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow, 1807 - Ralph Nadar, 1934
(Political Activist) - John Steinbeck, 1902
- Elizabeth Taylor, 1932
(Actress)
February 28th:
- Mario Andretti, 1940
- Bernadette Peters, 1948
(Actress)
FEBRUARY HOLIDAYS
- February 2, National
Groundhog Day Legend
has it that if the groundhog
sees his shadow, he'll
return to his hole, and
winter will last another six
weeks.
- February 12, Lincoln's
Birthday A holiday in many
states, this day was first
formally observed in
Washington, DC, in 1866,
when both houses of
Congress gathered for a
memorial address in tribute
to the assassinated
president.
- February 14, Valentine's
Day, The holiday's roots are
in an ancient Roman fertility
festival. Circa 496, Pope
Gelasius I recast this
pagan festival as a
Christian feast day in honor
of St. Valentine, but there
are at least three different
early saints by that name.
How the day became
associated with romance
remains obscure, and is
further clouded by various
fanciful legends.
- Washington's Birthday &
President's Day -Mon., Feb.
20. (The actual date of his
birthday is Feb. 22.) A
federal holiday observed
the third Monday in
February. It is a common
misperception that the
federal holiday was
changed to “Presidents'
Day” and now celebrates
both Washington and
Lincoln. Only Washington is
commemorated by the
federal holiday; 12 states,
however, officially celebrate
“Presidents' Day.”
- Shrove Tuesday , (Mardi
Gras), Falls the day before
Ash Wednesday and
marks the end of the
carnival season, which
once began on Epiphany
but is now usually
celebrated the last three
days before Lent. In France,
the day is known as Mardi
Gras (Fat Tuesday), and
celebrations are held in
several American cities,
particularly New Orleans.
The day is sometimes
called Pancake Tuesday by
the English because fats,
which were prohibited
during Lent, had to be used
up.
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Pie Eating Contest
(Submitted by Linda Lucas, AD)
Residents enjoy home made pie.
Many of the ladies made pie on a
daily basis. I have often used a pie
contest for a way to bring in many
different kinds of home made pie for
our residents and to bring in people
from the community. It is an excellent
marketing tool for your facility and can
make a pretty good fundraiser for your
activities department.
Preparation:
How to do it:
(Submitted by Linda Lucas, AD)
Residents enjoy home made pie.
Many of the ladies made pie on a
daily basis. I have often used a pie
contest for a way to bring in many
different kinds of home made pie for
our residents and to bring in people
from the community. It is an excellent
marketing tool for your facility and can
make a pretty good fundraiser for your
activities department.
Preparation:
- Prizes - I used $50 in gift
certificates from a popular
store. First prize was $30;
second prize was $20. - Advertising - Advertise at least
4 weeks in advance. Make
fliers and distribute throughout
your community. Call the local
newspaper and/or other
media to cover the event. - Make up entry rules - 1)
Eligible contestants include
family, friends, staff and
anyone in the community. 2)
All pies must be home made.
3) Entry Fee [I never had one,
but you need to do this if you
use the event for a fundraiser]
4) All pies become the
property of the facility. 5) The
judges decision is final. - Judges - Use an odd number
of judges (3 or 5). Choose
your judges from residents,
dietary manager, retired home
economics teachers, pastors,
etc. - Prepare an entry form - On the
form have an assigned
number, type of pie, name,
address and phone. - Prepare cards for each pie -
Put the entry number on the
card. Be sure no names are
on the pies. Judging will be
done by taste and appearance
only. - Judging form - I secured a pie
judging form from our local 4-
H and used it as a judging
guide. - You will need a table for pies,
paper plates, and forks for
tasting.
How to do it:
- Have your judges come early
and put them in a room where
they cannot see the pies
coming being delivered. This
keeps the judging fair. - Have someone accept the
entries and assign a number
to the entry. - Cut each pie for the judges to
taste (a small amount will do
fine). - Let the judging begin.
- Here’s the best part. After the
prizes are awarded, cut all of
the pie and pass it out to the
residents and guests
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