Category Archives: The Lobby
- by Matthew McNairy, June 10, 2011
The third Sunday of June marks the day to celebrate Fathers, Dads, Daddys, Pops. The ways to celebrate and honor our fathers varies as much as the personalities of each of them. Some dads want to hit the golf course while the kids scram. Others just want a day surround by their loved ones with the grill fired up to cook up their favorite BBQ fare.
Father’s Day celebration traces back to 1909 when Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, WA was inspired to start a holiday dedicated to fathers. She heard a sermon in church about celebrating Mothers Day. Her own mother had passed away during child birth and her dedicated father raised her and her five siblings. Her church supported the idea and marked the first Father’s Day celebration as June 19, 1910 (Dodd’s beloved father’s birthday.) It was not proclaimed an official holiday until 1966 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. In 1972, the celebration date was declared the third Sunday of June by law.
Gift giving to the top man in your life can be challenging. Most mothers love getting flowers which always makes for an easy fall-back gift for Mother’s Day. Dads can be a bit more tricky. Ground Floor Creative has few suggestions to help you pick a gift that is sure to please your dad.
For the Golfer:
- Buy him a round of golf at his favorite course or at a course he’s always wanted to play but won’t fork over the greens fees. Feel him out if he’d like a golfing companion (you) or if he’d rather be out on his own for the day.
- Is your golfing dad always trying to figure out where to store his clubs, balls, shoes, etc? Check out this organizer available at Bed, Bath, & Beyond.
For the Grill Master:
- Is your dad always trying to come up with the next big thing to char? You can help his inspiration with BBQ Sauce of the Month. All he has to do is pick his favorite cut of meat and wait for the next bottle to show up on his door step.
- Okay, so he makes his own sauce. He can never get sick of having the latest and greatest in tools for the grill. Here are some great grill utensil suggestions.
For the Reader and History Buff:
No matter the gift, your dad just wants to hear from you. If nothing else, be sure to get him a card that tells him what he really means to you. Do you have any great gift suggestions or memories of Father’s Days past? Please share your comments here.
- by Matthew McNairy, May 4, 2011
Mother’s Day is celebrated throughout the world in April or May. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson declared the second Sunday of May as national recognition of Mother’s day. One woman, Anne Jarvis, made it her life’s work to have a day dedicated to the celebration of motherhood. Once the holiday was nationally recognized, she fought the commercialization of the holiday…to no avail.
Mother’s Day has been celebrated with flowers since the tradition of pinning carnation on mothers in the Methodist church started in 1908. Mother’s Day quickly grew to a commercialized holiday with greeting cards and flowers.
According to a 2010 BIGresearch survey for National Retail Federation, two-thirds of those who celebrate Mother’s Day will buy flowers for their mommy dearest, totaling $1.9 billion in flower sales for the one-day holiday.
Mother’s Day is also the most popular day to dine out according to the National Restaurant Association. They project that 75 million adults will be taking their mother’s and wife’s out for a meal.
“Restaurants are at the center of Mother’s Day celebrations, providing moms much-needed reprieve from the chore of cooking at home to instead spend quality time with their family and friends,” said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the Research and Knowledge Group for the National Restaurant Association.
So how will you honor your mother or the mother of your children this year? We’d love to hear your comments below.
- by Matthew McNairy, May 3, 2011
Cinco de Mayo, the fifth of May, is the Mexican Independence Day, right? No. It is actually the celebration of Mexico’s victory over France in the Battle of Pueblo on May 5, 1862.
Mexico won its independence from Spain on September 15, 1810, but stayed in a state of war for many years to follow. The newly independent Mexico fought America from 1846-1848 and then endured a civil war that started in 1857. These struggles left Mexico with little means to repay debt to its European backers. After Mexican President, Benito Juarez, declared a 2-year suspension on its loans, England, France and Spain came to collect armed for battle.
Napoleon III had more in mind than just debt collection – he wanted Mexico as a French colony in the Western World. England and Spain removed their support of France when they discovered his plans. In 1861, France invaded Mexico and forced a retreat of the Mexican president towards Mexico City. France encountered great resistance as it pushed toward Mexico City in the town of Pueblo on May 5, 1862.
The French army had not been defeated in nearly 50 years. The exhausted Mexican battled the army in Pueblo under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín. The outnumbered Mexicans surprised the French army behind fortified walls and sent the French army retreating.
While Cinco de Mayo was not the ultimate victory for Mexico, it was a rallying point for the exhausted country to battle on to drive France out.
Today, Cinco de Mayo, is mostly celebrated throughout the United State and regionally in Mexico in the state of Pueblo. You can find local Cinco de Mayo celebration in Indianapolis, too.
Many bars and cantinas will be offering drink specials and festive celebrations such as La Jolla Mexican Cantina, 921 Broad Ripple Ave and also at El Sol Del Tala, 2444 E. Washington St.
- by Matthew McNairy, April 13, 2011
Easter Sunday symbolizes the emergence of spring and new life – tulips and daffodils, baby bunnies hopping in the yard. Easter is the holiest holiday of Christianity, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, so where did the fuzzy bunnies and colorful eggs come from? Roman Catholicism used eggs as symbol of Jesus’ resurrection, according to History.com.
The egg yolk symbolizes new life, but this representation did not form until 1500’s when the Catholic Church became the dominant church in Germany where pagan rituals were strongly embedded. The German pagans worshipped many gods and celebrated Eostra as the goddess of spring and fertility, according to msnbc.com. Feasts were held in her honor on the Vernal Equinox and her symbol was the rabbit for its high reproduction rate.
Marry the two traditions, and you get a bunny delivering colorful eggs in baskets for children. Today, Easter-egg hunts are a cherished tradition of this holiday (even on the White House lawn.) You can find Indianapolis Easter egg hunts on the momslikeme.com discussion. Tell us about your favorite Easter traditions or egg hunt in the comments below.
- by Matthew McNairy, March 30, 2011
The origins of this day of pranks are not certain but for many it is a signal to spring’s arrival. Modern thought is that April Fools or All Fools Day is a product of the calendar reform in France in the late 1500’s under Charles IX. New Year’s Week changed from March 25 – April 1 to January 1. Word didn’t travel to all very quickly (no tweets and posts; just horse and buggy.) It took years for some countryman to follow the right calendar. Those last to receive notice were often referred to as fools as they boasted New Year’s celebrations on the wrong day.
France still celebrates April 1 with Poisson d’Avril, which literally means the “April Fish.” The common prank is to tape a cardboard fish on an unsuspecting target and see how long it takes for them to notice (those crazy French). In the Western world, we know this day as April Fools’ but similar days of shenanigans are celebrated in other cultures around the same date, such as the Festival of Hilaria in Rome and the Huli Festival in India.
One of my favorite April Fools Day pranks was Google’s 2010 “name change” to Topeka to honor Topeka, Kansas for changing its name temporarily to Google. It took me almost all day to finally figure out it was April Fools Day. This year, I won’t be fooled! Do you have your April Fools pranks planned yet? Check out Mashable’s suggestions for trickery and hoaxes around the office. We’d love to hear your favorite April Fools prank in our comments.
