Toy Soldier Day & Other Curious Holidays

Do you prefer to write mysteries or romances, thrillers or fantasies, science fiction or historical fiction? Whatever genre you prefer to write in, I'm sure you can find a way to include one of these curious holidays that occur in March in your story. It will add a bit of something different to your story.

Do you know what Benjamin Harrison's claim to fame is? How much knowledge do you have about the Iditarod? Are you going to begin your scrapbook on International Scrapbooking Day? On National Grammar Day are you going to write to your high school English teacher and thank her profoundly for inspiring you to learn your grammar?

Benjamin Harrison Day - This day is set aside to honor Benjamin Harrison, the twenty-third president of the United States. This great man was also an Army general during the Civil War. Every year this holiday is celebrated at Harrison's home in Indianapolis.

How can you celebrate this day? You can learn about the life of this great man. Once you have done your research, you can teach others about him by writing an historical fiction story about some great event that happened during his life.

Courageous Follower Day - A follower is defined as a person who follows another in regard to his or her ideas or beliefs. Followers are often thought of as wimps and unable to stand up themselves for what they believe in. This is the day to get rid of that belief once and for all and show that it takes energy and courage, not passivity, to be a follower.

Try your hand at writing a story that show just how much courage it takes to be a follower of someone whose beliefs and ideals are not accepted as normal.

Iditarod - The Iditarod, known as 'the last great race', is a dog sled race that is 1,049 miles long from Anchorage to Nome. The number 1,049 is symbolic since Alaska was the 49th state to be admitted to the United States of America. The race actually covers closer to 1,200 miles, but even that depends upon the route taken. Even though the race starts on March 3 this year, it is always celebrated on the first Sunday in March. This year that happens to March 4.

You can learn more about this amazing race on your own, but I'm going to share some interesting facts about it with you.
>The very first Iditarod was run in 1973. Exactly 100 years before, the USA purchased Alaska from Russia.
>Since the race began in 1973, a total of 142 dogs have died during this strenuous race.
>Iditarod means “clear water”.
>The average number of dogs per team is 15.
>Many other states besides Alaska have been represented in this race, as have several countries.

International Scrapbooking Industry Day - Scrapbooking is one way of preserving memories that many people enjoy. Some enjoy it so much that they become obsessed with it. You can even hire 'custom' scrapbook artists to help you with your endeavors.

How do you celebrate this day? Well, my guess would be that you add memories to your scrapbook. As a writer, I would suggest that you write a story that includes scrapbooking as part of your plot. As is usual for me, I can see a great mystery or horror story develop around a scrapbook found in the attic of a house that a family moves into. See what ideas you can come up with.

March Forth – Do Something Day - This holiday is the creation of creativity coach, writer, and speaker Deborah Shouse. On this day, we are supposed to march forth in our lives and celebrate the things we have accomplished. Make a list of new goals for your life and begin working out how to reach them.

Have you always wanted to write a novel? This would be an awesome day to start on this goal. And you can vow to have it done by March 4th of next year, one year from today.

National Grammar Day - This is the day we celebrate our wonderful, confusing language and vow to learn how to use it better. Many people have trouble with homonyms, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling. If you are knowledgeable in these areas, why not offer to help those who are not? Learning is addictive. Some people do not take correction kindly, though, so first be sure your help is wanted.

On this day celebrating grammar, why not write a story where your characters are different marks of punctuation, capital letters, homonyms, antonyms, etc.?

Toy Soldier Day - This is the dream holiday for probably every little boy in existence, a day honoring the toy soldier! On this day, the goal is to have fun, fun, and more fun. So invite your friends over and have a blast playing with your toy soldiers.

In celebration of this day that also honors the real Army, I would write a story about one young child's toy soldiers who come to life. Why do they come to life? How does the boy react when he discovers this? Or do the soldiers manage to keep their new life hidden from him? Do these soldiers have a nice personality when they begin to breathe? Or are they terrible, mean soldiers, ones who are only out to destroy?

Hug a G.I. Day - In my opinion, this holiday is somewhat related to Toy Soldier Day, only now we are talking about flesh and blood soldiers. If you do not see a real live G.I. to hug, you can send them a virtual hug over the internet and tell them how much you appreciate how they work to protect our freedoms.

On this day, you should write a story that shows how much you appreciate the men and women who fight to protect our freedoms.