When we think about traditions surrounding the coming of spring, we often think of celebrations outside of the United States... the colors of Holi, red and white strings of Baba Marta, or green shamrocks of St. Patrick's Day. We look for signs that spring has sprung with the promise of warmer weather and blue skies ahead.
Believe it or not, there are some amazing (and some peculiar) ways that people mark the beginning of spring across the United States. Here are just a few of them:
- Frozen Dead Guy Days (Colorado) - celebrated in the second week of March since 2002, it is a day that commemorates the cryopreservation of Bredo Morstoel by his family in the town of Nederland. The whole town watches a documentary on Bredo Morstoel's life and celebrates with polar plunges and coffin races.
- Elkfest (Wyoming) - a celebration of nature and auctioning of elk antlers, which are shed in mid to late March (the shedding does not hurt the animals). Money raised goes to western Wyoming Scouting programs and the National Elk Refuge.
- Baltimore Mac & Cheese Festival (Maryland) - an annual event for mac and cheese lovers everywhere; you can sample numerous types of the beloved dish and take part in all the mac and cheese -themed activities.
- Waikiki Spam Jam (Hawaii) - another food-centric celebration, Spam Jam invites participants to serve unique SPAM recipes, participate in SPAM-inspired activities, and donate to a food drive.
- Fire Ant Festival (Georgia) - a celebration where all are invited, except the ants. Activities include fire ant calling, arts and crafts, a carnival, contests, and more.
Even in Chicago, the act of dying the Chicago River a radioactive-looking green may seem quite odd to those looking at the tradition from the outside. When I saw the river for myself for the first time a few years ago, I surprised at how green it was and questioned its purpose.
Of course, after doing a little digging, I was surprised to find out that the green dye was originally used to identify the source of leaky pipes; it was part of an initiative to clean up the Chicago River's waterfront areas by discovering where sewer water was coming from. It inspired the Plumbers Local Union to use it for a more a festive purpose in 1962 - and it has been an iconic Chicago event ever since.
No matter quirky or wacky some celebrations of spring came to be, they all stemmed from a desire for warmer weather. I personally wouldn't consider fire ants symbolic of the changing of the seasons, but it makes a memorable way for communities to come together to welcome the transition from the cold of winter and to the warmer, sunnier skies of spring.
Committee Members
- Katherine Ellison, Glen Grove Principal
- Aurora Joaquin, Glen Grove Speech-Language Pathologist
- Katelyn Kelleher, Glen Grove Psychologist
- Hedy Helfand, Glen Grove English Langauge Learning Teacher
- Pam Leister, Glen Grove English Langauge Learning Teacher
- Lisa Funke, Glen Grove Learning Resource Center Director
- Nicole Bright, Glen Grove 4th Grade ClassroomTeacher
- Marie Chang-Pisano, Glen Grove Reading Intervention Associate
- Sylvia Gorski Duarte, District Title III Family Resource Teacher
- Lindsey Lurie, District Multilingual Instructional Coach
- Amina Terry, Mongolian Community Coordinator
Email: GGCommunityProject@gmail.com
