T HE E THICAL Y EAR Holiday and Special Days in Ethical Societies: Traditions and Opportunities

A UTUMN September - November

A UTUMN : S EPTEMBER - N OVEMBER  Opening Sunday  Labor Day  Rosh Hashanah / Yom Kippur / Sukkot  9/11 Anniversary  Columbus Day  UN Sunday (on or before October 24)  Halloween / collecting for UNICEF  All Saints Day  A favorite of Felix Adler’s – for remembering people  DST ends  Election Day  Veterans’ Day  Harvest festivals e.g. Wampanoag  Stone Soup  Sunday before Thanksgiving?  Thanksgiving Click to continue

W INTER December - February

W INTER : D ECEMBER - F EBRUARY  Hanukkah  Winter Equinox  Winter Festival (before Christmas or after New Year’s)  New Year  Superbowl Sunday (Feb 2, 2014)  Sometimes it’s lower attendance, a kind of anti-holiday  Martin Luther King Day  Groundhog Day  Valentine’s Day  Darwin Day / Lincoln’s Birthday  Presidents’ Day Click to continue

S PRING March-May

SPRING: M ARCH - M AY  Spring Festival (various formulae)  April Fool  DST begins – some may come late  Hold a pre-meeting brunch?  Tax Day  Spring Equinox  Passover (moveable feast)  Palm Sunday, Easter (moveable)  Earth Day (April 22)  Day of Reason (May 1, 2014)  Cinco de Mayo  Buddha’s Birthday  Chinese/lunar calendar dates: 2014/5/6; 2015/5/25; 2016/5/14  Founder’s Day (around May 15)  Mother’s Day (2 nd Sunday in May)  Memorial Day Click to continue

S UMMER June - August

S UMMER : J UNE - A UGUST  Flag Day  Father’s Day  Last meeting before summer break?  4 th of July / Independence Day  Interdependence Day (July 4 th )  Bastille Day  Felix Adler’s Birthday  Ramadan – 2014: June 28 – July 28  moves around the year Click to continue

Y OUR T URN Moving Into the Future

Y OUR T URN  What holidays does your society celebrate now – listed or not?  What holidays does your society deliberately not celebrate?  What are your annual themes (by month? by season?)  What would you like to have your society begin to celebrate regularly? Click to continue

L ET THE CREATIVITY BEGIN !