Aunt Donna promotes HIV/Aids Awareness

About the Day
June 27 is National HIV Testing Day. The National Association of People with AIDS is the lead for this day.
The Facts
An estimated 250,000 people in the United States have HIV and are not aware of it. National HIV Testing Day is an opportunity for people nationwide to learn their HIV status, and to gain knowledge to take control of their health and their lives.
Resources
Posters:Download and customize these posters to promote your National HIV Testing Day events!

Events, Posters, PSAs, and other Materials:Find or register events, order posters, download public service announcements (PSAs), and other materials for National HIV Testing Day.

Fact Sheets:Download these fact sheets, post them on bulletin boards, share them with local newspapers, and distribute them at events!

You can also click here to order free copies of these fact sheets.

Aunt Donna's Cinco de Mayo History (May '08)

Cinco de Mayo ("The Fifth of May" in Spanish) is a national holiday in Mexico which is also widely celebrated in the United States. It commemorates the victory of Mexican forces led by General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguin over the French occupational forces in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. See main story: Battle of Puebla

It is a common misconception that Cinco de Mayo is Mexico's Independence Day, which is celebrated on September 16th ("Dieciseis de septiembre" in Spanish), but actually it is a celebration of the battle.

Word Search: http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/cinco/word/word1.gif

The DFGs do DC.

Jurasic Park

How did life and all its wondrous forms come about? The story begins almost 3.5 billion years ago and unfolds in this exhibit. The Exhibit includes Dinosaurs, Life in the Ancient Seas, Fossil Mammals and Fossil Plants

The Lost Amazon

The Discovery Room

The Discovery Room is a unique educational facility for families and students. The room features activities using real Museum objects and interactive, hands-on experiences that allow visitors to explore the natural world at their own pace, guided by their own interests.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!!!

During their daytrip to the museum the DFGs saw several animal exhibits including the African elephant with his trunk raised in alert, this male African elephant seems to sense your presence. Like humans, elephants have complex social systems. They live in extended family groups led by mature females, who teach and nurture the young. So, if you meet your family "by the elephant," remember that they also meet, grow, learn and cooperate in groups.

Aunt Donna gets to the root of Arbor Day

The idea for Arbor Day came from a man named Julius Sterling Morton, from Nebraska . Morton and his wife, Caroline, were among the pioneers moving into the Nebraska Territory in 1854. Having lived in Detroit where they were surrounded by trees, they grew up being lovers of nature.

Morton was a journalist and became editor of Nebraska's first newspaper. He used the newspaper to spread agricultural information and his enthusiasm for trees. Morton promoted tree planting and care and also wrote and spoke about environmental stewardship (taking care of the earth) and how all of life is interrelated. Through the newspaper and his speeches, he encouraged everyone to set aside a specific day to plant trees.

In 1872, the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture accepted a resolution by him "to set aside one day to plant trees, both forest and fruit." The Board declared April 10 as Arbor Day and offered prizes to counties and individuals for their tree planting efforts. With this first tree planting holiday celebration, J. Sterling Morton became known in history as the Father of Arbor Day. Today, Arbor Day is celebrated in all 50 states and around the world.

Aunt Donna Goes Green

St. Patrick's Day is an Irish holiday celebrated all around the globe to honor the patron saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick.

When Is St. Patrick's Day?
Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated each year on March 17th.

Note for 2008: For 2008, the Catholic Church has officially moved St. Patrick's Day to Saturday, March 15th to avoid a conflict with the Holy Week leading up to Easter Sunday. Most establishments, such as restaurants and bars, will continue to celebrate the holday on March 17th, and the 17th will remain a national day off from work in Ireland.

Who Was Saint Patrick?
Did you know that Saint Patrick's name at birth was Maewyn Succat? He was born somewhere near the end of the fourth century and took on the name Patrick or Patricus, after he became a priest, much later in his life. At the age of sixteen Maewyn Succat was kidnapped from his native land of Britain, by a band of pirates, and sold into slavery in Ireland. Maewyn worked as a shepherd and turned to religion for solace. After six long years of slavery he escaped to the northern coast of Gaul.

In Gaul, Maewyn became Patrick and studied in the monastery for twelve years. He came to believe that it was his calling to convert the pagans of Ireland to Christianity. Patrick was about sixty years old when he arrived in Ireland he had a winning personality that helped him win converts. He used the shamrock, which resembles a three-leafed clover, to help explain the concept of the Trinity (father, son, holy spirit).

Patrick was arrested several times, but escaped each time. He traveled throughout Ireland, establishing monasteries and setting up schools and churches to aid in converting the Irish to Christianity. Legend has it that Saint Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland. They all went into the sea and drowned. The snake is a pagan symbol and perhaps this is a figurative tale explaining that he drove paganism out of Ireland.

Patrick died on March 17 in 461 AD. That day has been commemorated as St. Patrick's Day ever since. The first year St. Patrick's Day was celebrated in this country was 1737 in Boston, Massachusetts. The saying goes, on this day "everybody is Irish!" Over 100 U.S. cities now hold Saint Patrick's Day parades.

Fun Facts About St. Patrick's Day and Saint Patrick

Aunt Donna's Presidents Day History

Presidents Day is the common name for the federal holiday officially designated as Washington's Birthday, It is celebrated on the third Monday of February. Washington's Birthday was originally implemented by the federal government of the United States in 1880 in the District of Columbia and expanded in 1885 to include all federal offices. As the first federal holiday to honor an American citizen, the holiday was celebrated on Washington's actual birthday, February 22. On January 1, 1971 the federal holiday was shifted to the third Monday in February by the Uniform Monday Holiday Act.

In the late 1980s, Presidents Day began its public appearance. The theme has expanded the focus of the holiday to honor another President born in February, Abraham Lincoln, and often other Presidents of the United States. Although Lincoln's birthday, February 12, was never a federal holiday, approximately a dozen state governments have officially renamed their Washington's Birthday observances as "Presidents Day", "Washington and Lincoln Day", or other such designations. In Washington's home state of Virginia the holiday is legally known as "George Washington Day."

Coloring Page: http://www.whitehouse.gov/kids/presidentsday/color/1.html

Autumn's Sleepover