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Tomorrow starting at 10 a.m., join Keep PCB Beautiful to help boat owners make trash cans for their boats to eliminate trash blowing out into local waters in Panama City. This event is free; masks are encouraged. Visit the Facebook event page HERE for more information!
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Today is Valentine’s Day! It is also called Saint Valentine’s Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine. The Feast of Saint Valentine was established in 496 AD by Pope Gelasius I. It was an annual event celebrated on February 14th in honor of Saint Valentine of Rome, who died on the 14th in 269 AD. Saint Valentine’s Day became associated with romantic love in the 14th and 15th centuries with the rise of courtly love. In 18th-century England, it grew into an occasion in which couples expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, confectionery, and sending greeting cards.
In fact, greeting cards (now referred to as valentines) were created in 1797! A British publisher issued The Young Man’s Valentine Writer, which contained suggested sentimental verses for young lovers who were unable to compose their own sweet words. Printers had begun producing a limited number of cards with verses and sketches based on The Young Man’s Valentine Writer sometimes called “mechanical valentines.” These mechanical valentines have grown into the valentine industry (worth over $19 billion as of 2018) that is known today.
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Today is Galentine’s Day, a day for women to celebrate women! February is the month of love and the 13th is designated to celebrating the important female friendships and relationships in our lives. It’s a relatively recent phenomenon; it was created by Amy Poehler’s Parks and Recreation character Leslie Knope. It was debuted in 2010 during the holiday special. It is a day to celebrate your female friends, a day to recognize the importance of friendship in order to strengthen and cherish them.
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February is Black History Month! An annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing their central role in U.S. history, the event is the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson. Since 1976, February has been acknowledged as Black History Month in the U.S.A. Other countries around the world such as Canada and the United Kingdom also devote a month to celebrating Black history.
Historically, Black History Month grew from Carter G. Woodson and prominent minister Jesse E. Moorland’s Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH). ASNLH was an organization dedicated to researching and promoting achievements by Black Americans and other peoples of African descent. It grew into a month dedicated to acknowledging and celebrating the incredible effort put into the creation of the U.S.A. as we know it by African American and Black communities.
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Looking to spice up your favorite water bottle? Have a motorbike you’d like to personalize? Check out Skinny Dipped Hydrographics! Hydrographics, otherwise known as water transfer printing, takes everyday ordinary items and make them stand out. Skinny Dipped has thousands of films to choose from. A venture started in April 2020, it is owned and operated by Robbie Clausen.
Visit their official Facebook page HERE!
on The Rebuild Florida Housing Repair & Replacement Program for Hurricane Michael is in partnership with the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in order to serve 12 Florida Panhandle counties in long-term housing recovery efforts. This is a grant program for housing rehabilitation, reconstruction, or replacement that will prioritize low-to-moderate income families. It requires applicants to be the primary resident homeowners (owner-occupied) or property owners of the rental property at the time of Hurricane Michael in the following 12 counties: HOLMES, WASHINGTON, BAY, JACKSON, CALHOUN, GULF, GADSDEN, LIBERTY, FRANKLIN, LEON, WAKULLA, TAYLOR.
Want to visit in person to discuss your qualification? Rebuild Florida Centers are open 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday – Saturday at the following locations:
Marianna
2917-B Optimist Drive
Marianna, FL 32448
To find more information and/or fill out the application online, visit the Official Website Here.
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Tomorrow is the weekly 30A Farmers Market in the beautiful and quaint coastal community of Rosemary Beach! From 9 a.m. EST to 1 p.m. EST, this family-friendly event will be occurring during the predicted sunny day. Featuring: locally-grown, farm-fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, beef, chicken, local seafood, freshly baked artisan bread, homemade pasta, sauces, meatballs, BBQ sauce, local honey, homemade Greek pastries and Greek food, delicious baked cakes, pies, tarts, cupcakes, gelato, grits, herbs, olive oil, vinegars, fresh-cut flowers, wonderful jams, preserves, salsas, and chow-chows. Visit the market at 28 N. Barrett Square, and enjoy a cool morning supporting local growers, artisans, and more!
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Today is Western Monarch Day! The Monarch Butterfly is a wonderful, far-traveling butterfly species. This annual event is held to celebrate the return of monarch butterflies to the central California coast as well as raise protection awareness. The monarch butterfly is facing a terrific decline in numbers that has lead to numerous conservation groups calling for it to be named and protected as an endangered species. Their migration can be tracked from north and east to south and west, and then back again. Amazingly, each leg of the migration takes four generations of the butterfly. Desire to conservation takes into account how much they pollinate, the fact that their long migration takes such a toll on their population, and the loss of their main food source due to human agriculture.
Want to help the monarch butterflies during their generational migration? One way is to share a little bit of your yard with them by planting milkweed. This plant is critical to their survival along their migration routes as it provides nectar AND is the only plant Monarch butterflies can lay their eggs in.
on Today is the day Punxsutawney Phil will deliver a prediction for a longer winter or an early spring! Groundhog Day is a very popular North American tradition observed primarily in the United States and Canada. Historically, it is a holdover of an old Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that says a groundhog emerging from its burrow on February 2nd sees its shadow due to clear weather, it will retreat to its den and winter will persist for six more weeks; but if it does not see its shadow because of cloudiness, spring will arrive early.
While the in-person event has been canceled for safety, there will be an official livestream broadcast of the event offered by the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. There will be a video preshow beginning at 6:30 a.m. on February 2nd with fun facts and history. The live show, beginning at 7:15 a.m., will include Phil’s emergence and an official translation of his prediction. Visit the official website HERE to stream now!
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National Freedom Day is an observance in the United States that honors the signing of a resolution that proposed the 13th amendment of the nation’s constitution on February 1, 1865. Abraham Lincoln, who was the president at the time, signed the resolution to outlaw slavery. However, it was not ratified by the states until December 18, 1865. Still, the anniversary is annually observed on February 1 due to the efforts of a former slave by the name of Major Richard Robert Wright, Sr. He founded National Freedom Day because he believed it was important to celebrate and remember this legal turning point. Major Wright was looked upon as a great leader in the community, and his immediate groundwork eventually culminated in (then)President Harry Truman signing a bill proclaiming February 1st as the first official National Freedom Day in the United States on June 30, 1948.