JUNE 20, 2014 – NATIONAL FLIP FLOP DAY – AMERICAN EAGLE DAY – NATIONAL VANILLA MILKSHAKE DAY

                          NATIONAL FLIP FLOP DAY

Put on your flip flops and wear them all day as you celebrate National Flip Flop Day which is celebrated each year on the third Friday in June.
http://www.nationalflipflopday.com/about-nffd/
 NATIONAL FLIP FLOP DAY HISTORY
In 2007, Tropical Smoothie Cafe created National Flip Flop Day, an “unofficial” national holiday, to celebrate it’s 10th anniversary.  Every year on this date, customers who come into participating Cafes across the nation, wearing flip flops, receive a free Jetty Punch Smoothie.  Tropical Smoothie then gives proceeds of a $1 paper flip flop, from customers, to send ill children and their families to Camp Sunshine.
Based in Casco, Maine, Camp Sunshine’s mission is focused solely on addressing the effects of a life-threatening illness on every member of the immediate family — the child, the parents and the siblings.  This year-round program is free of charge to families.
$365,000 was raised by Tropical Smoothie Cafe, for Camp Sunshine, in 2012.  This brought the total amount raised since the beginning in 2007, to over $1.5 million.   The money raised in 2012, from Tropical Smoothie Cafe, was enough to send 150 children and their families, from across the country, to camp for a week of fun, games and activities.
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AMERICAN EAGLE DAY

Celebrated each year on June 20, it is American Eagle Day.  This day is annually set aside to honor our national symbol, raise awareness for protecting the Bald Eagle, to assist in the recovery of their natural environments and to take part in educational outreach.

The Bald Eagle is both the national bird and the national animal of the United States of America and appears on it”s Seal.

In the later 20th century, the Bald Eagle was on the brink of extirpation in the continental United States.  Eventually populations recovered and on July 12, 1995, the species was removed from the U.S. Federal Government’s List of Endangered Species and transferred to the List of Threatened Species.  On June 2007, it was removed from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife in the Lower 48 States.
The Bald Eagle’s range includes most of Canada, Alaska, all of the contiguous United States and northern Mexico.  They can be found near large bodies of open water where there is an abundant food supply and old-growth trees for nesting.
Opportunistic feeders, Bald Eagle’s survive mainly on fish, swooping down and snatching them from the water.  Their nests are the largest nests of any North American bird and the largest tree nest ever recorded for any animal species.  A  Bald Eagle’s nest was measured at 13 ft deep and 8.2 ft wide and it weighed 1.1 ton.
The name “Bald Eagle” derives from an older meaning of “white headed” as the bird is actually no bald.  The adult eagle is mainly brown with a white head and tail.
For more information on American Eagle Day see: http://www.eagles.org/
AMERICAN EAGLE DAY HISTORY
American Eagle Day, an “unofficial” national holiday, is sponsored by The American Eagle Foundation.
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NATIONAL VANILLA MILKSHAKE DAY

National Vanilla Milkshake Day is happily celebrated by many people on June 20 of each  year.   You can celebrate this day by making a homemade vanilla flavored milkshake for you and your family to enjoy today.
The first time the term “milkshake” was used in print was in 1885.  At this time, milkshake referred to an alcoholic beverage which was a whiskey drink described as a “study, healthful eggnog type of drink with eggs, whiskey and etc., served as a tonic as well as a treat”.
By 1900,  milkshake then referred to “wholesome drinks made with chocolate, strawberry or vanilla syrups”.  A few years later in the early 1900′s, people began asking for this new treat with a scoop of ice cream.  It was then by the 1930’3 that milkshakes were a popular drink in malt shops everywhere.
Maybe you want to top off your vanilla milkshake with a little whipped cream  and a cherry on top!!
Following are a couple of delicious “tried and true” recipes for you:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/vanilla-milkshake-recipe/index.html
http://www.food.com/recipe/kittencals-creamy-vanilla-milkshake-376850