No official holidays in August, but much to celebrate
August is the prelude to fall. Some late summer insects are singing their fall songs daytime and nighttime. There are no official holidays in August, but there is some sort of observance every day.
Aug. 1 was National Girlfriends Day. I’ve had a special girlfriend since we were in second grade. Networking is important with other like-minded folks. We have been "networking” for 73 years. Our Farm Bureau Council has served that networking purpose since we began meeting in 1966.
In my home county the fair was in early August, then the next week was 4-H camp. Our family didn't go on vacations so 4-H camp was a highlight for me. My brother and I showed our Shropshire sheep at our fair. In fact, that's what brought us to the Muskingum County Fair for the first time in 1959 to show our sheep. The Muskingum County Fair is not a holiday, but is a highlight of summer for many. So, even without an official holiday August is a busy month.
The Dog Days of Summer actually have no connection to the four-legged dog. They are the 20 days before and the 20 days after the alignment of Sirius with the Sun. This year the Dog Days were July 3 to Aug. 11. Sometimes these are extremely hot days. Sirius, or the Dog Star, is the brightest star in the night sky, a blue/white star that seems to twinkle. It is a part of the constellation Canis Major.
Before the times of the Salk and Sabin polio vaccines there was an undercurrent of fear of polio, a paralytic disease that mostly affected children. Since the Dog Days of Summer were typically hot days and since polio was primarily a disease transmitted in summer, the fear of polio and Dog Days seemed to be connected in peoples' minds. People stayed away from swimming pools and some closed.
After years of research and testing, Jonas Salk in the early 1950s developed a polio vaccine. Then a few years later Albert Sabin developed an oral vaccine. I remember being among the families in line at our high school to get that vaccine. Polio was declared eliminated from the Americas in 1994.
National Root Beer Float was Aug. 6. I think I'll take the opportunity to celebrate that day all month with root beer floats made with chocolate ice cream.
Iris Eppley is a member of the Farm Bureau Council.
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: No official holidays in August, but much to celebrate
