Five Traditions We Don’t Celebrate Anymore

Whatever happened to Groundhog Day? February 2 was always a fun mid Winter Festival we celebrated growing up in places as diverse as Punxsutawney Pennsylvania and Sun Prairie Wisconsin.

On Groundhog Day, oversized rodents were hoisted high above our shoulders as the critter would hopefully predict an early end to winter.

It was one of Bill Murray‘s greatest movies ever, just a silly celebration to mark the return of longer days and hopefully fewer snowstorms ahead.

But like other traditions, it has all but faded away, and we have barely noticed these departures.

Who remembers Flag Day, the mid-June holiday where we salute the stars and stripes?

All Saints Day wasn’t just the day after Halloween. November 1 marks the annual remembrance of souls lost in the past 12 months. Sadly, the older we get, the more names are added to that yearly list.

April 1 isn’t as funny as it used to be. April Fools’ Day used to be filled with pranks and gags but thanks to lawsuits and “fake news“ today you simply can’t tell the difference between April Fools’ Day and any other damn day.

We used to honor both Abraham Lincoln's and George Washington‘s birthdays in February, but out of convenience we've combined them into one Presidents’ Day.

In all fairness, if you didn’t know that Victoria Day was May 18, it doesn’t make you a bad person. It just means you’re probably not Canadian. I think she was a queen or something.

But seriously, everyone should know about May Day, and Juneteenth.

So in honor of those seem-to-be-forgotten remembrance days, let's at least honor the observation and traditions of Black History Month. It is celebrated in February in the US and Canada, and in October in England, Ireland and the Netherlands.

In case you were wondering