APRIL FACTS

  • April begins on the same day of the
    week as July every year, and as January
    in leap years.
  • April's flowers are the daisy and sweet
    pea.
  • April's birthstone is the diamond.
  • April in the Northern Hemisphere is the
    seasonal equivalent to October in the
    Southern Hemisphere and vice versa.
OBSERVANCES
    & IDEA NUGGETS

    Alcohol Awareness Month
    Contact National Council on Alcoholism
    and Drug Dependence, Inc., 20 Exchange
    Place, Suite 2902, New York , NY 10005-
    3201 . (212) 269-7797 or http://www.ncadd.
    org.

    Cancer Control Month
    American Cancer Society, 1599 Clifton Rd.,
    NE, Atlanta GA 30329.  (404) 329-7650 or
    http://www.cancer.org.

    Child Abuse Prevention Month

    Community Services Month
    (California)

    Freedom Shrine Month

    Grass Month

    Holy Humor Month

    International Amateur Radio
    Month

    International Guitar Month

    International Twit Award Month

    Keep America Beautiful Month

    Listening Awareness Month

    Mathematics Education Month

    Month of the Young Child

    Multicultural Communication
    Month

    National Anxiety Month

    National Florida Tomato Month

    National Food Month

    National Garden Month

    National Home Improvement
    Month

    National Humor Month
    “LAUGHS MORE THAN EVER, WE NEED IT
    NOW MORE THAN EVER”   National Humor
    Month focuses on the therapeutic value of
    laughter and programs for health care
    professionals. Send a self-addressed,
    stamped envelope to The Carmel Institute
    of Humor, Attn: Larry Wilde, 25470 Canada
    Dr., Carmel, CA 93923-8926. (831) 624-
    3058 or http://www.larrywilde.com.

    National Knuckles Down Month

    National Occupational Therapy
    Month
    To recognize the services and
    accomplishments of occupational therapy
    practitioners and promote awareness of
    the benefits of occupational therapy.
    American Occupational Therapy
    Association, Communications Group, 4720
    Montgomery Ln., Box 31220, Bethesda, MD
    20824-1220. (301) 652-6611 or http://www.
    aota.org.

    National Parkinson's Awareness
    Month
    Contact NATIONAL PARKINSON
    FOUNDATION, INC. 1501 N.W. 9th Avenue /
    Bob Hope Road, Miami, Florida 33136-
    1494. (305) 243-6666 or 1-800-327-4545,
    Fax: (305) 243-5595 or http://www.
    parkinson.org.

    National Sexually Transmitted
    Diseases Education and
    Awareness Month

    National Welding Month

    National Woodworking Month

    Pets Are Wonderful Month

    Philatelic Societies Month

    Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
    Month

    Sea Cadet Month

    Sports Eye Safety Month

    Stress Awareness Month

    Thai Heritage Month

    VD Awareness Month

    Famous Weeks

    Week 1

    Consider Christianity Week

    Hate Week

    Medic Alert Week

    National Bake Week (begins 1st
    Mon)

    National Birth-parents Week

    National Healthcare Consumer
    Advocacy Week  

    National Public Health Week
    American Public Health Association, Attn:
    Lakita Mayo, 800 I St. NW, Washington, DC
    20001-3710. (202) 777-2742 or http://www.
    apha.org

    National Reading a Road Map
    Week

    Publicity Stunt Week

    Straw Hat Week

    Week of the Young Child

    Week 2

    Be Kind to Animals Week

    Harmony Week

    National Building Safety Week

    National Garden Week

    National Guitar Week

    National Home Safety Week

    National Library Week

    National Medical Laboratory Week

    National Patient Advocacy Week
    Honor the healthcare professionals who
    work to ensure that residents and
    consumers receive high-quality healthcare.
    Society for Healthcare Consumer Advocacy,
    American Hospital Association, One North
    Franklin, 31st Floor, Chicago, IL 60606.
    Email: shca@aha.org or (312) 422-3851 or
    http://www.shca-aha.org.


    Private Property Week (10th-16th)

    Week 3

    Astronomy Week

    Bike Safety Week

    Boys and Girls Club Week

    Crime Victims Week

    Lefty Awareness Week

    Library Forgiveness Week

    March of Dimes WalkAmerica
    Week
    The nation’s biggest and oldest charity
    walking event involves more than a million
    volunteers at 1,450 sites across the
    country. March of Dimes Birth Defects
    Foundation, Attn: Tony Choppa 1275
    Mamaroneck Ave., White Plains, NY 10605.
    (914) 997-4601 or http://www.modimes.org.

    National Bubblegum Week

    National Coin Week

    National Minority Cancer
    Awareness Week
    American Cancer Society, 1599 Clifton Rd.,
    NE, Atlanta, GA 30329. (404) 329-7650 or
    http://www.cancer.org.

    National Police Week

    National Volunteer Week
    The Points of Light Foundation sponsors
    National Volunteer Week. The Points of
    Light Foundation, 1400 I St., NW, Suite 800,
    Washington, DC 20005. (202) 729-8168 or
    http://www.pointsoflight.org.

    National Week of the Ocean

    Pan American Week

    Talking Book Week

    Week 4

    Administrative Professionals Day
    and Week
    The event is celebrated worldwide, bringing
    together millions of people for community
    events, educational seminars, and
    individual corporate activities recognizing
    support staff with gifts of appreciation.
    Administrative Professionals Day is April
    26, 2006. International Association of
    Administrative Professionals®, Attn: Rick
    Stroud, 10502 N.W. Ambassador Drive P.O.
    Box 20404, Kansas City, MO 64195-0404.
    (816) 891-6600 or http://www.iaap-hq.org.

    Big Brothers/Sisters Appreciation
    Week

    Consumer Protection Week

    Egg Salad Week

    Forest Week

    Grange Week

    Intergenerational Week

    Jewish Heritage Week

    Keep America Beautiful Week

    National Give-A-Sample Week

    National Lingerie Week

    National Pain Management Week

    National Volunteer Week

    National YMCA Week

    Professional Secretaries Week

    Reading Is Fun Week

    Sky Awareness Week

    T.V. Turn-Off Week

    Teacher Appreciation Week
    (begins Last Mon)

    Week of the Young Child
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

April 1st:

  • Lon Chaney (Actor, Silent Film Star) "The
    Man of a Thousand Faces" was born April
    1, 1883 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He
    died August 26, 1930. See Web site: www.
    lonchaney.com.
  • Gordon Jump, 1932 (actor) best known for
    his role in TV's sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati
    and the as the Maytag repairman in the
    1990's commercials. He died September
    22, 2003.
  • Ali MacGraw
  • Jane Powell
  • Debbie Reynolds

April 2nd:

  • Hans Christian Andersen
  • Dana Carvey  
  • Buddy Ebsen, 1908 (actor/dancer)  Best
    known for his TV role as Jed Clampett on
    The Beverly Hillbillies.He died July 6, 2003.
  • Marvin Gaye
  • Sir Alec Guinness
  • Emmylou Harris
  • Reggie Smith
  • Jack Webb

April 3rd:

  • Alec Baldwin, 1958 (Actor)
  • Marlon Brando
  • Doris Day
  • Don Gibson was born Donald Eugene
    Gibson on April 3, 1928 in Shelby, NC. He
    was inducted to the County Music Hall of
    Fame in 2001. He died November 17, 2003
    in Nashville TN at the age of 75.
  • Washington Irving
  • George Jessel
  • Marsha Mason, 1942
  • Eddie Murphy, 1961 (Actor)
  • Wayne Newton, 1942
  • Tony Orlando
  • David Hyde Pierce, 1959
  • Sally Rand
  • Debralee Scott, Actress (Mary Hartman-
    Mary Hartman, Welcome Back Kotter) Born
    April 2, 1953 in Elizabeth NJ, died April 5,
    2005 in Amelia Island, FL of natural
    causes. Her fiance, John Dennis Levi, died
    September 11, 2001 in the World Trade
    Center attack. See photo & bio at www.
    nndb.com/people/566/000030476

April 4th:

  • John Cameron Swayze, 1906 - News
    Broadcaster
  • Robert Downey Jr., 1965 - Actor
  • Steve Gatlin, 1951 - Musician, The Gatlin
    Brothers.
  • Cloris Leachman, 1926 - Actress
  • Nancy McKeon, 1966 - Actress
  • Craig T. Nelson, 1946 - Actor

April 5th:

  • Bette Davis
  • Arthur Hailey, 1920 (Author - Hotel, Airport,
    TV writer.) Died November 24, 2004 from a
    stroke.
  • Gregory Peck, 1916 (Actor) died June 12,
    2003. Won an Oscar for "To Kill A
    Mockingbird."
  • Colin Powell, 1937
  • Spencer Tracy
  • Ronnie White, The Miracles - was born
    April 5, 1939 in Detroit, Michigan (Died  
    August 26, 1995)

April 6th:

  • Candace Cameron, 1976 (Actress - Full
    House)
  • Butch Cassidy
  • Ivan Dixon, Actor - Hogan's Heroes) 1930
  • Merle Haggard (Country Singer) was born
    on April 6, 1937 in Oildale, CA. See www.
    merlehaggard.com.
  • Jason Hervey, 1972 (Actor - The Wonder
    Years - played Wayne Arnold)
  • Marilu Henner (Actress - TV Series Taxi)
  • Harry Houdini
  • Michelle Phillips
  • Andre Previn
  • TomCatgbni (Happy Birthday to our visitor
    and thanks for submitting Candace
    Cameron & Jason Hervey!)
  • Billy Dee Williams

April 7th:

  • Francis Ford Coppolla
  • Jackie Chan, 1954
  • Russell Crowe, 1964
  • Tony Dorsett
  • Percy Faith
  • David Frost
  • James Garner, Born April 7, 1928 in
    Norman, OK.  Actor, director, producer.
  • Billie Holiday, 1915 (Jazz singer) - Born
    Eleanora Fagan on April 7, 1915 in
    Philadelphia PA and spent most of her
    young life in Baltimore MD. Died on July 17,
    1959 at the age of 44. The unofficial Billie
    Holiday Web site: www.ladyday.net
  • John Oates
  • Wayne Rogers
  • William Wordsworth

April 8th:

  • Patricia Arquette, 1968
  • Betty Ford, Former US First Lady - married
    to Former US President Gerald Ford.
  • Catfish Hunter
  • Julian Lennon
  • Mary Pickford

April 9th:

  • Hugh Hefner, 1926
  • Dennis Quaid, 1954

April 10th:

  • Chuck Conners
  • Ken Griffey
  • John Madden, Sportscaster - Born April 10,
    1936 in Austin, Minnesota
  • Harry Morgan
  • Omar Sharif

April 11th:

  • Joel Grey
  • Ethel Kennedy
  • Louise Lasser

April 12th:

  • David Cassidy
  • Thomas L. Clancy, Jr. (Author) Born April
    12, 1947 in Baltimore MD.
  • Lionel Hampton
  • David Letterman
  • Ann Miller (Dancer), 1919.  She died
    January 22, 2004 of cancer.
  • Sally Rand
  • Tiny Tim
  • Billy Vaughn

April 13th:

  • Butch Cassidy
  • Thomas Jefferson, April 13, 1743. The third
    president of the United States. (Died 1826.)
  • Rick Schroder, 1970
  • F.W. Woolworth

April 14th:

  • Brad Garrett, 1960 (Actor, TV Series
    Everybody Loves Raymond)
  • Sarah Michelle Gellar, 1977
  • Loretta Lynn
  • Pete Rose, 1941
  • Anthony Perkins
  • Rod Steiger

April 15th:

  • Heloise
  • Leonardo Da Vinci, 1452
  • Elizabeth Montgomery
  • Emma Thompson, 1959

April 16th:

  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
  • Edie Adams
  • Charlie Chaplin
  • Diane Krall, 1964
  • Martin Lawrence, 1965
  • Henry Mancini
  • Dusty Springfield
  • Peter Usinov
  • Bobby Vinton
  • Wilbur Wright

April 17th:

  • Boomer Esiason
  • Jennifer Garner, 1972
  • Sherlock Hemlock (Sesame Street
    character)
  • William Holden
  • Nikita Krushchev
  • J.P. Morgan
  • Harry Reasoner , 1923 (Journalist - 60
    Minutes)  Born April 17, 1923. Died August
    6, 1991.
  • Lela Rochon, 1966

April 18th:

  • Melissa Joan Hart, 1976 (Actress - well
    known for her TV Series Sabrina)
  • Hayley Mills
  • Conan O'Brien, 1963
  • James Woods, 1947

April 19th:

  • Don Adams
  • Kate Hudson, 1979
  • Ashley Judd, 1968
  • Jayne Mansfield
  • Dudley Moore
  • Hugh O'Brian
  • Dick Sargent, 1933 (actor "Bewitched.") He
    died July 8, 1994

April 20th:

  • Jessica Lange, Actress - born Jessica
    Phyllis Lange on April 20, 1949 in Cloquet,
    Minnesota.
  • Ryan O'Neal

April 21st:

  • Edmund G. "Pat" Brown - 32nd Governor of
    California (1959-1967) Born in San
    Francisco California on April 21, 1905. Died
    February 16, 1996.
  • Tony Danza
  • Charles Grodin
  • Queen Elizabeth II
  • John Muir, Preservationist - born April 21,
    1838, died December 24, 1914. www.
    johnmuir.org (Listing thanks to Robert
    Stone, Research Assistant, Tennessee
    Players, Inc.)
  • Anthony Quinn

April 22nd:

  • Eddie Albert
  • Glen Campbell
  • Peter Frampton
  • Jack Nicholson, 1937 - Actor
  • Aaron Spelling, 1923 - TV Producer

April 23rd:

  • Eddie Albert, 97 (best remembered for his
    role on the TV Series Green Acres)
  • Valeri Bertinelli, 1960
  • David Birney
  • James Buchanan, 1791 - 15th US
    President 1857-1861. Born April 23, 1791
    in Cove Gap PA.  Died June 1, 1868 in
    Lancaster PA.
  • Shirley Temple Black
  • Glen Campbell, 1936
  • Sandra Dee
  • Melinda Kanakaredes, 1967
  • Lee Majors
  • Roy Orbison
  • William Shakespeare, 1564
  • Herve Villachaize  

April 24th:

  • Jill Ireland
  • Shirley MacLaine, 1934
  • Barbra Streisand, 1942


April 25th::

  • Ella Fitzgerald
  • Edward R. Murrow
  • Al Pacino, 1940
  • Talia Shire

April 26th:

  • Alan Arkin
  • Carol Burnett, 1933
  • Bobby Rydell

April 27th::

  • Judy Carne
  • Sheena Easton
  • Ulysses S. Grant
  • Coretta Scott King, 1927
  • Casey Kasem, 1932
  • Jack Klugman
  • Walter Lantz (creator of Woody
    Woodpecker)

April 28th:

  • Jessica Alba, 1981
  • Lionel Barrymore
  • Sadam Hussein, 1937
  • Jay Leno, 1950
  • Ann-Margaret, 1941
  • James Monroe

April 29th:

  • Andre Agassi, 1970
  • Duane Allen, 1943 (Musician, Oak Ridge
    Boys)  Source:  RockOnTheNet.com
  • Duke Ellington
  • William Randolph Hearst
  • Mike Hogan, 1973 (Musician, The
    Cranberries.) Source:  RockOnTheNet.com
  • Tommy James, 1947 (Musician)  Source:  
    RockOnTheNet.com
  • Michelle Pfeiffer, 1958
  • Jerry Seinfeld, 1954
  • Carnie Wilson, 1968 (Musician - Wilson
    Phillips)  Source:  RockOnTheNet.com

April 30th:

  • Eve Arden
  • Jill Clayburgh
  • Cloris Leachman
  • Willie Nelson, 1933
APRIL HOLIDAYS

April 1, April Fool's Day

  • Mawlid al-Nabi, Check calendar for date.
    This holiday celebrates the birthday of
    Muhammad, the founder of Islam. It is
    fixed as the 12th day of the month of
    Rabi I in the Islamic calendar.

  • Passover (Pesach), Check Calendar for
    date. The Feast of the Passover, also
    called the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
    commemorates the escape of the Jews
    from Egypt. As the Jews fled, they ate
    unleavened bread, and from that time
    the Jews have allowed no leavening in
    their houses during Passover, bread
    being replaced by matzoh.

  • Palm Sunday,  Observed the Sunday
    before Easter to commemorate the
    entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.

  • Good Friday, The Friday before Easter, it
    commemorates the Crucifixion, which is
    retold during services from the Gospel
    according to St. John. A feature in
    Roman Catholic churches is the Liturgy
    of the Passion; there is no
    Consecration, the Host having been
    consecrated the previous day. The
    eating of hot-cross buns on this day is
    said to have started in England.

  • Easter (Resurrection Sunday)  which
    falls on a spring Sunday that varies
    from year to year, (check calendar for
    date) celebrates the Christian belief in
    the resurrection of Jesus Christ. For
    Christians, Easter is a day of religious
    services and the gathering of family.
    Many Americans follow old traditions of
    coloring hard-boiled eggs and giving
    children baskets of candy. On the next
    day, Easter Monday, the president of the
    United States holds an annual Easter
    egg hunt on the White House lawn for
    young children.


  • Orthodox Easter (Pascha). Check
    calendar for date.  The Orthodox church
    uses the same formula to calculate
    Easter as the Western church, but
    bases it on the traditional Julian
    calendar instead of the more
    contemporary Gregorian calendar. For
    this reason Orthodox Easter generally
    falls on a different date than the Western
    Christian Easter.
Bob's Journal
By Robert Lucas

STALKING THE
MYSTERIOUS MOREL

It is an annual ritual...a sacred rite of
Spring...a Hoosier tradition... handed down
from fathers and mothers to daughters and
sons. It goes back to the time when the
Indians inhabited the woodlands of
Indiana.  From mid-April to mid-May both
the males and the females of the Lucas
clan become hunter/gatherers once again...
stalking the mysterious morel.
It was warm that early morning in late April...
slightly raining...misty...perfect weather for
growing mushrooms.  My father rousted
me from sleep.  It was still dark as we put
on our deep woods clothes...the boots...the
light jackets...the paper sacks to carry
home our bounty.  Mom was frying bacon
and eggs.  Their aroma mingled with that of
the coffee and filled the house so heavily I
could taste them on my tongue.
I was ten years old and already a veteran
mushroom hunter of five years.  I was
convinced that my father and my
grandfather had hunted the same prey
back in the pioneer days; back when
Indiana had been one county...Knox.  Of
course that wasn’t true.  However, our
family did trace back to 1812 in Indiana
history.  My mother was always proud of
that fact. We were of Hoosier pioneer
stock...original land grants and all.
But this morning belonged to the men of
the Lucas clan.  We hopped into our cars
and trucks and descended on the woods
near my grandfather’s farm.  It was dawn.  
We attacked the woods in four groups of
two...spread out...and would meet at the
natural spring in the south meadow in two
hours.
Dad and I carefully combed our section of
the woods, turning over every leaf...looking
under every mayflower...searching every
rotting log.  At first the morels blended with
the ground cover and were hard to spot.  
But once we found a few it became easier
to recognize even the smallest section of
hidden mushrooms.
After a while, I was coming up empty. I
couldn’t find a thing.  Mostly, I came across
turtles, toads and the occasional snake.  I
spent a lot of time whacking my walking
stick against the dead branches and
weeds.  That irritated my father to no end.  
Finally he told me to either stop hitting
everything and pay attention...or go back to
car and wait for the others.
At that I sat down on an old log and began
to wish I had never come.  I knew everyone
else would return home with full sacks.  
Me?  I’d be lucky to keep a box turtle.
It was mid-morning and it was hot...it was
humid...and I was bored.  As I silently
whacked my walking stick on the old log a
small chunk of bark flew off and I watched it
fly across the fallen fence row and land in
the briar patch.  Something about the
raspberry growth attracted my attention and
I took a few steps in that direction.          
There was a large, yellow sponge
mushroom.  It was the kind every morel
stalker dreams about...the king of heap...
the ultimate trophy of the season.
With renewed excitement I picked the giant
morel and plopped it into my paper sack.  
Then I remembered what Dad had always
said.  “When you find a mushroom, look
around.  Where there’s one there’s usually
another.”
Sure enough,  underneath the growth of
raspberry briars was the mother load of
mushrooms.  There I found nearly two
dozen, full grown, giant, yellow morel
mushrooms.  Enough to completely fill my
sack.
















Although several of the fellows found more
mushrooms than I did that day...I was the
only one to find the grand prize of all
mushrooms...the giant yellow sponge...and
I found a bonanza of them.  - END
JAN      FEB      MAR      APR      MAY      JUN      JUL     AUG      SEP      OCT      NOV      DEC
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