Celebrate EVERY Day - Play Time

FEBRUARY 6, the first Saturday of this month and the first Saturday of every month is NATIONAL PLAY OUTSIDE DAY. Because electronics and screen time now take up much of our typical days, we probably aren’t getting out into the fresh air as much as we should. National Play Outside Day is a reminder to stretch our legs and fill our lungs by expending some energy in the great outdoors. In 2011, Aaron Wiggans and Rhonda D. Abeyta founded National Play Outside Day as a reminder to explore and play in the world outside. The day encourages healthy habits that will last a lifetime. Celebrate the day by going out to play! Find shapes in the clouds. Walk on the beach. Take a family bike ride. Get off the computer! NOW!  

On FEBRUARY 8, join enthusiasts across the country who are launching their kites or attending kite festivals by putting your own creation up in the air on NATIONAL KITE-FLYING DAY. 

Kites date back to China in 470 B.C. The people of the South Sea Islands were using kites for fishing around that same time. Early kites were constructed with frames of bamboo or sturdy reeds, leaves, silk, or paper as sails, and vines or braided fibers for the line or tether. While people initially used kites as tools, they also used them for ceremonial reasons. Whether they sent messages into the heavens or to lift offerings up to the gods, kites had a symbolic place in the culture. Today, kites are popular as hobbies and for outdoor fun. They range from simple diamond kites to box kites and giant sled kites. There are also sport kites designed so the operator can maneuver the kite into stunts like dramatic dips, twists, and dives. Join the fun by buying a kite to try out or building your own. You can always watch Mary Poppins for tips.  

Remember some rock n’ roll icons by playing some music. Memorialized as “THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED” in Don McLean’s iconic 1972 song “American Pie,” FEBRUARY 3, 1959, was the date of the unfortunate and untimely death of singers Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and J. P. Richardson, known as “The Big Bopper” in an airplane accident, near Clear Lake, Iowa. Their pilot, Roger Peterson, also perished in the crash.

As the sad tale goes, the musical acts had joined Buddy Holly’s band on tour and had just played at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake. Because of the cold weather, they decided to take charter plane to their next destination in Moorhead, Minnesota, rather than riding for hours on the tour bus. Waylon Jennings gave up his spot on the plane to Richardson and the “luck” of a coin toss landed Ritchie Valens in what would have been Tommy Allsup’s spot on the plane. Not long after takeoff, they became unreachable by radio, and when they failed to arrive at their destination the aircraft was reported missing. The next day, the wreckage was found less than 6 miles northwest of the airport in a cornfield. Investigation determined that weather conditions and pilot error were the cause of the crash. On this date we remember the loss of these talented young singers and their music.

Watch the movie La Bamba or The Buddy Holly Story for a glimpse of the lives of these men and the events surrounding the crash. Better yet, prove that the music didn’t die and lives on strong today by listening to songs released by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper and find music by newer artists who were influenced by them. Click HERE for our curated Spotify playlist. 

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences founded GLOBAL MOVIE DAY in 2020 to celebrate the power of movies to reach, connect, and inspire people across the globe. Observed the SECOND SUNDAY IN FEBRUARY, (typically in the heart of Academy Award season), Global Movie Day honors the way movies have captured audiences’ hearts and minds around the world for more than 100 years. Since their creation, movies have transcended geography, language, time, and culture, connecting us all through the power of storytelling. There’s no question that we love movies and our very culture is shaped by them.  

Now more than ever, theatres need our help to stay open and to keep the big screen experience alive. Celebrate the day by scheduling a private movie screening with your friends or family at GTC Island Cinemas. They have a wide selection of classic movies and newer releases from which to choose and you and up to 19 of your friends or family get the theatre to yourself for only $100. Take advantage of this opportunity while you can!  

NATIONAL FERRIS WHEEL DAY on FEBRUARY 14 honors the birth of George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., inventor of the Ferris Wheel, which was first presented to the public at the 1893 World’s Colombian Exposition. In 1891, the director of works for the fair, Daniel H. Burnham, laid out a challenge: create a centerpiece to the show that will rival the Eiffel Tower, the world attraction that had been erected in Paris the year before. Ferris was inspired.

After sketching out his design idea on napkins in a Chicago chophouse, he proceeded to develop his plans. When presented with the concept, Burnham balked, doubting it could safely carry people to such heights. Ferris persisted. He spent $25,000 of his own money, he paid for safety studies, obtained $600,000 more from investors, hired engineers and built the 250-foot diameter wheel and hoisted it up between 140-foot twin towers. It was a colossal success at 26 stories tall and made $726,805.50. In today’s money that would be $22,000,000! Only a few years after the fair, in 1896, Ferris died of typhoid fever at the age of 37. While the original wheel was demolished and used for scrap metal in 1906, Ferris’ idea has lived on in wheels around the world and in the echoes of every child’s delighted squeal, “I want to ride it again!” While we might not have a Ferris wheel to ride nearby on February 14, you can find quite an array of virtual Ferris wheel rides on YouTube to enjoy the experience from home.