April 28, 2015 – NATIONAL BLUEBERRY PIE DAY – NATIONAL BRAVEHEARTS DAY – WORKERS’ MEMORIAL DAY – NATIONAL GREAT POETRY READING DAY

                                     NATIONAL BLUEBERRY PIE DAY

National Blueberry Pie Day is celebrated each year on April 28.  It honors one of Americas favorite desserts.
Blueberry Pie:

• Has been enjoyed since the early American settlers
• Is the official state desert of Maine
• Was documented in the Appledore Cook Book in 1872

Blueberries:

•  One of the healthiest fruits on the market
•  Inhibit cancer development
• Can help prevent urinary tract disease
• Assist in maintaining normal blood pressure
• Help reduce blood sugar and symptoms of depression
•  Enhance memory

Enjoy baking a blueberry pie at home or having a slice at your favorite restaurant.
NATIONAL BLUEBERRY PIE DAY HISTORY
Our research failed to find the creator of National Blueberry Pie Day, an “unofficial” National holiday.

National BraveHearts Day April 28

NATIONAL BRAVEHEARTS DAY

National BraveHearts Day, April 28th celebrates the bravery of families dealing with pediatric cancer, the bravery of children suffering with cancer, and all the people who care so deeply about the lives of these precious kids.
BraveHearts for Kids exists to help Save the Lives of Children with Cancer by providing Information, Hope, Guidance and Resources to families dealing with a cancer crisis.  Services are free, and 100% of individual contributions go to support programs which include Emergency Fundraising and 1-on-1 Mentoring where families are matched with a mentor that has been through a similar diagnosis and crisis with a child of their own.
April 28th also coincides with the kick-off of operation “Brave Future”, a massive expansion initiative which will take BraveHearts for Kids Services and Programs from the local level to the national level thereby increasing their outreach and capacity to help many, many more suffering families all over the United States.
Another key feature of “Operation Brave Future” is the final phase of “BraveHeart’s Spotlight Hope Project”, a comprehensive Resource Guide for Parents and Families of Children that have Cancer.
The Resource Guide reflects over 7 years of learning and sharing among the Pediatric Cancer community and features children that have survived against the odds.  It will serve as both inspiration and a step-by-step guide to help families ultimately find and obtain successful treatment for their own children.  Many common questions of parents, friends and family will be addressed.  The guide provides answers to questions that no parent of child facing cancer should have to go without.  We all wonder “What were the defining reasons for success that enabled certain children not only to survive, but thrive?”  This is just one of the key answers this project seeks to uncover and examine from many different perspectives.
Everyone knows someone who has been touched by a Pediatric Cancer crisis.  If cancer hasn’t touched your own children, it may have touched a friend’s child or someone in your community.  If you know of someone dealing with Pediatric Cancer, take the time today to let them know how much you care.  Reach-out and celebrate their bravery, and make sure they know about the support programs available at BraveHeartsforKids.org.
Go to www.BraveHeartsforKids.org/BraveFuture to join the “National BraveHearts’ Day” celebration.  Our sponsors have arranged for some very cool mystery prizes for doing simple actions like visiting a sick child with a “BraveHeart’s Award Shirt”, or simply sharing links to the project with your friends, fans and followers.  We know you’ll  do these things anyway just to help; but the points and prizes certainly add to the excitement.  So, come be part of the fun, and welcome to our Circle of Action Takers who help make a difference for Kids with Cancer now while dreaming of a Brave new future without Pediatric Cancer.

Workers’ Memorial Day – April 28

WORKERS’ MEMORIAL DAY

By Presidential Proclamation, April 28 has been declared Workers’ Memorial Day.
Workers’ Memorial Day takes place annually across our nation and Workers’ Memorial Day, International Workers’ Memorial Day or International Commemoration Day (ICD) for Dead and Injured or Day of Mourning takes place annually around the world on April 28.  This is a national and international day of remembrance and action for workers killed, disabled, injured or made unwell by their work.
The slogan for Workers’ Memorial Day is:
Remember the dead – Fight for the living.
Started by the Canadian Union of Public Employees in 1984, Workers’ Memorial Day was first recognized in the United States of America in 1989.   For years events have been organized in Canada and the USA and then worldwide.
Workers’ Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for workers killed in incidents at work or by diseases caused by work with events held throughout the world.  Events may include, but are not limited to, active campaigning and workplace awareness, multi-faith religious services, laying wreaths, planting trees, unveiling monuments, balloon releases, raising public awareness of issues and the laying out of shoes to symbolize those who have died at work.   This day is also an opportunity to highlight the preventable nature of most workplace accidents and ill health and to promote the fight for improvements in workplace safety.
To read the Presidential Proclamation for 2015, go to https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/04/27/presidential-proclamation-workers-memorial-day-2015.

National Great Poetry Reading Day – April 28

NATIONAL GREAT POETRY READING DAY

April 28th marks the observation of National Great Poetry Reading Day.  This day celebrates great poetry and the great poets that wrote them.
As an art form, poetry may predate literacy.  Epic poetry appears to have been composed in poetic form to aid memorization and oral transmission in prehistoric and ancient societies.  It is directly from folk songs that other forms of poetry developed.
There are different forms of poetry including: Sonnet, Shi, Villanelle, Tanka, Haiku, Ode, and Ghazal.
As well as different genres including: Narrative poetry, Epic poetry, Dramatic poetry, Satirical poetry, Lyric poetry, Elegy, Verse fable, Prose poetry and  Speculative poetry.
Some of the well-known, great poets include William Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Robert Frost, Mark Twain, Emily Dickinson and T.S. Eliot. 
It is a good day to settle back, relax and read your favorite poetry.