World Sauntering Day

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world sauntering day

Grand Hotel porch: made for rockin’ and strollin’

Today is World Sauntering Day, also known as International Sauntering Day. Initially conceived as a curative to the scourge of jogging, this holiday is perfect for our age of screens and short attention spans.

The first official saunter reportedly took place at Michigan’s Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. Participants strolled across the 660-foot porch, which the hotel claims is the longest in existence.

W.T. Rabe invented the holiday in 1979 in response to what he saw as an alarming rise in the popularity of jogging. He saw World Sauntering Day as a way to counteract the tendency to rush through life, to remind people to slow down and enjoy themselves.

“You don’t care where you’re going, how you’re going, or how long it takes to get there,” Rabe explained. “The idea is to smell the roses and to pay attention to the world around you.”

That wasn’t Rabe’s first contribution to the world of wacky holidays. In 1976, as public relations director for Lake Superior State University (LSSU), he created the Banished Words List. (Its full name is List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-Use, Over-Use or General Uselessness.) The college receives nominations for banishment from around the world, encompassing all manner of words and phrases worthy of exile.

W.T. Rabe passed away in 1992. We wonder if he had any idea just how prescient his tongue-in-cheek creation was; how much we would all need to pause, look up from our screens, forget the to-do list, and amble, mosey, and sashay through our day.

Happy World Sauntering Day!

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June 16 is Ladies’ Day

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ladies' day

It’s a good thing they changed the logo.

Today is Ladies’ Day, originally devised to attract women to baseball games and convert them into fans. In actuality, it was designed to sell more tickets by getting men to bring their wives and, by extension, their children to games. (While women wouldn’t win the right to cast a ballot for nearly 40 years, we hope they got a vote in this case.)

The New York Gothams’ management held the first Ladies’ Day on Tuesday, June 16, 1883, at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan. All women, both escorted and unescorted, were admitted free of charge. This was quite progressive for the time, since unescorted women were considered “loose” or “of ill repute.” The Gothams beat the Cleveland Spiders 5-2 that day. (The team later changed its name to the New York Giants.)

Ladies’ Day proved so popular that it became a weekly tradition for many ball clubs. As more women began to fill the grandstands, baseball games gradually evolved into a more family-oriented affair. Never underestimate the power of marketing to change the world.

Happy Ladies’ Day to one and all!

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June 15 is Magna Carta Day

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magna carta dayMagna Carta Day, explained in the style of Jeff Spicoli:

In 1215, the king of England was a total wad, so a bunch of rich baron dudes got together and decided his divine right was bogus, so they drew up some cool rules they called the Great Charter until somebody said it sounded way more righteous in Latin. They took it to the king on June 15th and told him, “Sign it, or you’ll never party again,” which was a gnarly scene for a minute, but then he signed it. 

The Pope was not cool with that and said, “Later, dudes!” and kicked all the baron guys out of the church. But none of it matters anyhow because Julius Caesar’s calendar was a mess so we use a different one now, which means the Carta got signed on June 8th, but then, like, did it even happen?

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Buzzard Day

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June 14, 2025, is Buzzard Day in Glendive, Montana, and neighboring Makoshika State Park, Montana’s largest park, which spans 11,538 acres at an elevation of 2,415 feet above sea level. It falls on the second Saturday of June and celebrates the return of turkey vultures to eastern Montana.

Buzzard Day

The name Makoshika (Ma-ko’-shi-ka) is derived from a Lakota phrase meaning bad land or bad earth. The park contains rock formations, the fossil remains of Tyrannosaurus Rex and Triceratops, and miles of hiking trails and scenic drives.

Buzzard Day
Today’s main event is Montana’s toughest 10k run. There will also be a 5k run, mini-train rides, and a cornhole tournament. Kids can participate in a fun run, play miniature golf, and jump in a bouncy house. Gomez, a turkey vulture, will visit from ZooMontana, a 70-acre wildlife park in Billings that is the state’s only zoo.

Gomez at ZooMontana

A “Native American Heritage Display” will be on view. Since a 2023 census showed that only 1.22% of Glendive’s 4,831 residents were Native American (90.2% Caucasian, 5.2% Hispanic, 0.1% African American, and 3.3% of other races), we’re guessing there may not be many Lakota on hand to staff the booth.

Makoshika State Park’s visitor center houses a Triceratops skull, other kid-friendly exhibits, and, of course, a gift shop. Pick up souvenirs of your visit and learn about other park events, including a concert series, Montana Shakespeare in the Park, and a summer youth program.

Happy Buzzard Day!

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