Mark National Coloring Book Day & Others With A Local Celebration

Written by Kathy Witt

Did you know there is a national day earmarked solely to Sneak Some Zucchini into Your Neighbor’s Porch? (Should you need to rid yourself of excess produce, it’s coming up on August 8.)
 
There’s a national day designated for honoring your unmentionables: National Underwear Day, August 5, salutes tighty-whities and mothers who warned us to always wear clean underwear.
 
There’s even a World Rock Paper Scissors Day. August 27 is set aside to not only revel in the joys of this iconic hand game, but to use it to settle a dispute. But, like so many national days, it’s all in the name of fun.
 
Here are four of our favorite national day celebrations in August—and ways to celebrate them in Georgetown.
 ·      August 2—National Coloring Book Day: Everyone’s favorite childhood hobby—coloring—gets its due with a celebration for kids and adults alike. And more and more adults are relaxing and de-stressing over a good coloring book. Dover Publications, founded in 1941, released its first coloring book for adults, Antique Automobiles Coloring Book, in 1970. Forty-five years later, in 2015, they created National Coloring Book Day.
 
Ways to mark the day? Gift yourself a coloring book. Give a coloring book to a friend. If you have houseguests coming, leave a coloring book or two in the guestroom for downtime. em+me boutique, a local business known for its love of Georgetown and everything Kentucky, has a coloring book featuring some of the most historic and iconic buildings in downtown Georgetown, including the em+me building, Fava’s and Miss Behaven’s, among many others. With hand-drawn images, the Color My Town coloring book is $18. See (and buy) it here.

·      August 4—International Beer Day: The first Friday in August is the time to raise a toast to ales, lagers and pilsners that put the international in International Beer Day. It is a day for beer lovers everywhere, to celebrate in backyards, taverns, pubs and breweries all over. In Georgetown, that means visits to Country Boy Brewing and Chinkapin Brewing are in order. At the former, it’s the perfect day to sample flagship brews Cougar Bait, Shotgun Wedding, Cliff Jumper and Halfway Home. At the latter, it’s a chance to help celebrate the release of this new brewery’s very first beer.
 
There are more ways to celebrate International Beer Day than you can shake some suds at:
o   Enjoy a glass with friends—both Georgetown breweries have a taproom and convivial gathering spaces.
o   Try a new beer. Even better, try a new beer paired with pub grub from each brewery’s onsite eatery.
o   Do a tour and tasting and get a behind-the-scenes look at how that cold one goes from grain to your glass.
o   Order up a flight—the bartender will help you make selections.
 ·      August 5—National Sunflower Day: Symbol of adoration, loyalty and longevity, sunflowers are the color of happiness and this national day, annually marked on the first Saturday of August, encourages everyone to tap into their inner sunshine and, like a field of golden sunflowers, spread it around.
 
Georgetown makes it easy to fete this flower that has historically been around since about 1000 BC. August 5 is also the Sunflower Festival at Evans Orchard and Cider Mill—and what they have planned will make you very happy.
 
Special festivities begin at 4 p.m. with an evening opportunity for photos plus more than 60 vendors, live music and more. There is no gate fee to enjoy festivities, Evans’ store or café and music. Admission for sunflower field access is $10. Evans expects to have blooms for about two weeks, but Mother Nature will have the last word on that.

·      August 17—National Thrift Day: Thrifting isn’t just to help the bottom line; it helps others in the community, and it helps the environment. It is recycling at its best—with every item purchased from a thrift shop one more that will benefit someone else and one less item that will go into a landfill.
 
In Georgetown, making a day of shopping for children and adult clothing at the Amen House Closet Thrift Store is great way to observe the day. If you have items you no longer use, consider donating them. Another option: Find out how you can volunteer. Nobody seems to know how National Thrift Day came into being, but what seems to be a universal truth among thrifters is that Monday and Tuesday are generally the best days to shop because lots of donations are made on weekends.
 
By the way, August 17 is also National Nonprofit Day, a day to recognize nonprofits’ primary altruistic goals (awareness, research and aid) as well as to acknowledge the added positive impacts they have on communities and the world. And with its mission to end hunger in Scott County, Amen House certainly has a positive impact on Georgetown, Scott County and beyond.

Author: Kathy Witt

Kathryn Witt is an award-winning travel and lifestyle writer, syndicated columnist and author of several books, including Secret Cincinnati, The Secret of the Belles and Atlanta Georgia: A Photographic Portrait. A member of SATW, Authors Guild and the Society of Children’s Books & Illustrators, she lives in northern Kentucky.

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